Systems and methods for a connected sump pump
Systems for monitoring a sump pump are provided. A system includes a power adapter designed to receive power from a power source. The power adapter is provided in the form of a controller establishing a wireless connection a wireless network and a housing having a first receptacle and a second receptacle. The first receptacle and the second receptacle are designed to accept a float-switch input and a sump pump input, respectively. The float-switch input and the sump pump input are electrically coupled to controller and the power source when accepted by the first receptacle and the second receptacle, respectively.
1. A system for monitoring a sump pump, the system comprising:
a power adapter designed to receive power from a power source, the power adapter provided in the form of:
a controller establishing a wireless connection to a wireless network; and
a housing having a first receptacle designed to accept a float-switch input and electrically couple the float-switch input to the controller and the power source, and a second receptacle designed to accept a sump pump input of the sump pump and electrically couple the sump pump input to the controller and the power source.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the power adapter further includes an energy storage system provided in the form of at least one of a battery, an ultracapacitor, or a fuel cell.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the energy storage system is designed to provide power to the power adapter when power from the power source is interrupted.
4. The system of claim 1 further comprising a relay in communication with the controller and the sump pump, wherein the controller operates the relay to selectively provide power to the sump pump.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the power source includes a power outlet; and
the housing includes at least one prong extending away from the housing, the at least one prong designed to couple with the power outlet.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is designed to send alerts to a remote device.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the float-switch input is coupled to at least one of a vertical float switch, a tethered float switch, or an electronic float switch.
8. A system for monitoring a sump pump, the system comprising:
a power adapter designed to receive power from a power source, the power adapter provided in the form of:
a housing;
a controller positioned within the housing, the controller establishing a wireless connection to a wireless network and transmitting a message over the wireless network;
a first receptacle designed to accept a float-switch input, the float-switch input in electrical communication with the controller upon insertion into the first receptacle;
a second receptacle designed to accept a sump pump input, the sump pump input in electrical communication with the controller upon insertion into the second receptacle; and
one or more terminals designed to couple with a supplementary input, the supplementary input in electrical communication with the controller upon coupling with the one or more terminals.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the supplementary input is coupled to a secondary switch designed to detect a high water condition.
10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the supplementary input is coupled to a secondary switch, and wherein the power adapter indicates a float switch fault when the float-switch input is opened and the secondary switch is on.
11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the power adapter is designed to receive one or more instructions from the wireless network for controlling the sump pump.
12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the power adapter is designed to send alerts via at least one of an email, a text message, or a push notification.
13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is designed to operate in one of a plurality of power modes, and wherein the controller consumes less power when operating in a first power mode than when operating in a second power mode.
14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the power adapter includes one or more indicators designed to indicate when the power adapter is undergoing a firmware update.
15. A system for monitoring a sump pump, the system comprising:
a power adapter designed to receive power from a power source, the power adapter provided in the form of:
a housing;
a first receptacle designed to accept a float-switch input, the float-switch input in electrical communication with the power source upon insertion into the first receptacle;
a second receptacle designed to accept a sump pump input, the sump pump input in electrical communication with the power source upon insertion into the second receptacle; and
a controller positioned within the housing, the controller establishing a connection to a network and designed to selectively perform a health test on the sump pump, wherein when the controller performs the health test, the controller energizes the sump pump for a predetermined period of time and collects operational data from the sump pump.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the network comprises at least one of a Wi-Fi network, a peer-to-peer network, a cellular network, or a wired network.
17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the system performs the health test in response to an automated schedule.
18. The system of claim 15 , wherein when the controller performs the health test, the controller generates a health test report from the operational data and sends the health test report to a user device.
19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the controller is designed to detect one or more abnormalities in the operational data of the sump pump.
20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the power adapter further includes an input device designed to initiate a pump process or to establish communication between the power adapter and a user device.