Moved into a new home about 6 months ago which had been gut rehabbed.
Our mechanical room has 2 pits, one for the sump pump and another for the ejector pump.
I was planning on installing a battery backup system to our sump pump when I made a few surprising discoveries.
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neither the ejector pump or the sump pump were on GFCI receptacles.
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while the sump pump and the ejector pump receptacles are on different circuit breakers, the ejector pump is using a single dedicated receptacle, while the sump is on a dual receptacle, sharing with our alarm system.
my impulse was to switch each receptacle to a dual receptacle GFCI outlet, but I became skittish after seeing the single dedicated outlet for the ejector pump.
from what I understand, GFCI receptacles should be standard for this room since, by definition, we're talking about water with risk of flooding and shock.
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is there a particular reason the ejector has it's own dedicated outlet?
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if not, can a single dedicated receptacle be easily converted to a dual GFCI?
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if so, can the ejector pump and battery backup be on same dual GFCI outlet as I now have planned (with the sump remaining on it's own dual GFCI with the alarm, on a separate breaker)?
While I've never installed a GFCI plate before, I'm comfortable with very basic electrical and it seems pretty straightforward. however, I don't want to get in over my head or be unaware of some important point about the single receptacle, and then be faced with flooding, sewage, electrical shock… and worse, angry wife.
Best Answer
Current code leans to GFCI the heck out of it, and if it nusiance trips or fails (as they do with some regularity; typically about 10 years) and backs up sewage or water, tough noogies. People who sell GFCIs write the codes, and they have been expanding places where GFCIs are required for years. As of 2002 code (at least) there was still an exception for sump pumps and freezers, but those have been removed due to either "greater care for your safety" or "vast sums of money from GFCI makers .vs. no sums of money from people with flooded basements and freezers full of rotting food" in the code-writing cycles. [It should be self-evident that the linked page is from the side with all the profit in this game, and just a tad smug/biased.]
I would NOT change the ejector pump to a dual, nor add anything to its circuit - sewage backups stink. A dedicated breaker with one outlet is one way to be certain that nothing OTHER than a pump failure or power outage causes the ejector pump to stop; and depending on the pump, it may need the entire circuit to itself, period. Even if it does not, sharing is poor practice, IMHO. If you would like to add a GFCI to it, put in a blank face GFCI in-line before the outlet, or a GFCI breaker. If it's installed to code as of the time it was installed, I'd suggest leaving it alone, but that's up to you.