Glentronics is showing no signs of slowing down and plans to introduce a new product soon.
This year has been one of the wettest in recent history. Significant flooding occurred across several central and southern states as the rain fell continuously from March until May. While homeowners labored to keep their homes dry, the importance of a good sump pump became clearer than ever. Unfortunately, a sump pump is one of those items people don’t think about until it fails, and then, it’s all they think about.
Alan Schulman knows a thing or two about the importance of a well-functioning sump pump. As the founder and owner of Glentronics Inc., he has designed, built and sold hundreds of thousands of sump pumps throughout his career to protect homes from water damage. Many homeowners are familiar with Glentronic’s Basement Watchdog – a popular line of battery-backup sump pump systems that can be found at major retailers nationwide.
The manufacturer is also known for the PHCC Pro Series brand of sump pumps sold by wholesalers and plumbing contractors across North America. This year, Schulman’s company turned 30 years old. Considering all the recent rain and flooding we’ve had, it seems fitting to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his sump pump company this year.
Glentronics’ history dates back to 1989, when Schulman built the first backup pump with a battery, power and pump alert system. He had seen many people frustrated by backup pumps that failed when they were needed because the battery had not been maintained. The result was the Basement Watchdog, a system that would monitor the battery, pump and power conditions, and sound an alarm when maintenance was needed. It was the first of its kind and continues to be the leading seller today at retailers such as Home Depot, Lowe’s and Ace Hardware.
The success of the Basement Watchdog led Schulman to create the PHCC Pro Series line of industrial-grade products for the residential market. Sold by wholesalers across the United States and Canada, these systems are for professional builders and plumbing contractors looking for sump pumps to install in residential projects.
Not interested in making “me, too” products, Schulman again created an AC, primary sump pump with technology that couldn’t be found on the market. He devised a machine that was both energy-efficient and high-tech. The Pro Series Connect can monitor pump and power conditions to sound an alarm and send a message to an app on the homeowner’s phone if a problem arises.
These energy efficient pumps were introduced in 2005, after Schulman devised a formula of “gallons per watt-hour” to determine approximately how efficient a sump pump is. He found that most pumps were using an excessive amount of amps, so he incorporated a permanent split capacitor (PSC) motor into the PHCC Pro Series to put out more force using one-third the energy as standard pumps that use shaded pole motors.
The PHCC Pro Series pump uses three to five amps to do the same job as others that use 10 to 12 amps. It saves homes more than 500 million kilowatt hours since its introduction and counting. That’s an average of $50 to $60 savings per year for each household.
“I have always been involved in nature – gardening, fishing, etc. – and the delicate balance of environmental factors allows us all to live and thrive on our planet,” Schulman says. “With CO2 emissions from humans upsetting this balance, I was determined to implement this technology in the products I am creating that would lower CO2 emissions when sump pumps are powered. I consider saving this massive amount of energy and CO2 emissions my contribution to saving the earth.”
After more than 30 years in the business, Schulman shows no signs of slowing down. Up next is a newly patented product that should hit the market in a few months. It is an innovation that will improve how unwanted water is detected and provide a method for connecting to the current PHCC Pro Series CONNECT Wi-Fi and Home Automation Module for remote monitoring. The new monitoring sensor will be a low-cost option as a standalone alarm or for connecting to existing multiple sensors. “I am very optimistic about how our innovative water sensing technology will be adopted into our marketplace,” Schulman says. “The introduction of a sensor that is always in the correct monitoring position will allow users to be totally confident that unwanted water will be instantly detected. I envision unlimited applications for this product in everything from residential to commercial usage.”
