PitBoss cellular pump alarm notifies you of problems even when you’re not home [REVIEW]

I have enough things to worry about every day and I don’t need my sump pump to be one of them. That’s why there is no such thing as too much protection for me when it comes to preventing the sump pump in my basement from overflowing.

Prevention in my house has been a bit of a process. At first we had just the normal pump plugged into an electrical outlet. But my wife and I quickly found out that the primary pump doesn’t do a whole lot of good when it’s raining hard and the power goes out. That’s why we added a battery-operated backup pump which helped alleviate some of our worry.

But there’s still that whole problem of what happens when any of these things fail when you’re not home. This is where the PitBoss comes in.

What is the PitBoss?

The PitBoss is a small device (about the size if not smaller than your cable modem) that you plug into an outlet near your sump pump. Included with the PitBoss are two water sensors which, as the their name implies, detect the presence of water.

I placed one sensor on the lid of my sump pump pit and another underneath the water heater. There is a float included so you could easily place one sensor inside your sump pump pit if you so desire.

Alerts you even when you’re not home

Don’t mistake the PitBoss as being a couple of cheap water sensors. The difference is what happens when the PitBoss sensors detect water. Unlike other water sensors that just sound an alarm, the PitBoss will immediately text your mobile phone to alert you with what it has detected.

This is what makes the PitBoss so valuable to me. If I am out of town and my sump pump starts overflowing or I my water heater starts leaking, I immediately get a text message letting me know what is happening. I can then make the choice to hurry back home (depending on how far away from home I am) or to have a neighbor let a plumber or other service person into my house to start dealing with the problem immediately.

Easy to set up

If you think this is all difficult to set up, it’s not. It took me a whole 5 minutes to set up the device so that it would text my mobile phone and my wife’s mobile phone (you can add up to 3 numbers). Heck, if you have a really good relationship with your plumber, you might add him or her as the 3rd contact number so they can get to work without having to wait to hear from you.

The PitBoss will set you back about $189.00 which includes the first year of cellular service (a $30 value). While the PitBoss works with any mobile phone capable of receiving text messages, it is Verizon Network Certified just to give you Verizon customers a little more peace of mind.

You can find out more about the PitBoss by visiting their website at www.pumpalarm.com.