Over time the insulation and seals break down on all sump pumps, causing the pump to stop working, often with no warning signs. When this happens, flooding can occur - causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage and repairs.
When Wayne Water started looking for a better sump pump solution to help their customers avoid basement flooding, they knew they wanted to get to market fast and that they didn’t have the internal resources to get them there.
To achieve this goal, they partnered with Grid Connect.
“Speed to market was why we called on Grid Connect to be our IoT development team and manufacturing partner,” said Eric Tinnemeyer, President at Wayne Water’s parent company, Scott Fetzer Consumer Brands. “We needed a partner who could work with us for a successful market-launch from idea to consumer research to store shelves in less than a year.”
Identifying Customer Needs
Grid Connect started out by interviewing Wayne Water’s customers to identify the specific use cases the proposed product had to meet. From this research, three distinct personas emerged:
- Those who buy IoT-enabled sump pumps to provide peace of mind about the possibility of a flooded basement
- Smart-home technology enthusiasts looking for a smart sump pump to conveniently link to their mobile devices and deliver notifications
- Data-hungry customers interested in checking the sump pump’s real-time condition, especially when the forecast predicts flooding while away from home
A Smart Way to Protect Homeowners From Flooding
With this knowledge in hand, the Grid Connect engineers got to work designing the Wayne® Basement Guardian HALO™—the world’s first smart home, Alexa-compatible sump pump.
“The consumer research we conducted with Wayne Water informed our IoT engineering design and gave us a laser focus to design the function and layout of the mobile app,” said Adam Justice, CEO of Grid Connect. “We built a system from the ground up by analyzing customers’ concerns and what would reassure them.”
An IoT controller integrated into the sump pump constantly analyzes electrical signatures from the sump pump’s components and predicts problems - alerting homeowners that maintenance is needed before trouble occurs.
A mobile app and dashboard show the pump’s operating history, activity, and conditions such as the water level inside the sump pit and maintenance issues that could cause the pump to fail.
“The combined project team was able to incorporate Grid Connect’s smart power-sensing technology to build intelligence around our patented Air Switch, detect leakage current, and monitor starting capacitor inrush current,” added Don Williams, Vice President of Engineering at Wayne Water’s parent company, Scott Fetzer Consumer Brands. “All of this intelligent design enables homeowners to monitor our sump pumps, so they can avoid having a flooded basement.”
Improving Functionality 10x
The Grid Connect team didn’t stop at adding IoT functionality and a mobile interface though. They also reviewed the design of the sump pump itself and found ways to enhance its longevity and performance. By optimizing materials, redesigning key components, and conducting extensive testing, Grid Connect helped increase the life of Wayne Water’s sump pump from 1 million to 10 million cycles - a 10x increase. This substantial improvement boosted reliability of the sump pump while also significantly reducing the overall total cost of ownership.
Providing Peace of Mind
By working closely together to understand customer needs and design a new product, Grid Connect and Wayne Water were able to quickly provide homeowners peace of mind and proactive flood prevention - all within the original goal of hitting store shelves within 12 months.
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