About Basement Watchdog
Basement Watchdog is a brand of Glentronics, Inc., a family-run manufacturer founded in 1989 by Alan Schulman in Glenview, Illinois, and now headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois. The company's origin is specific: Schulman had run a battery distribution business and kept seeing customers return marine batteries they'd bought for their backup sump pumps, blaming the battery when the real problem was unmaintained fluid levels and corroded terminals. That observation became the founding idea, a backup pump system that actively alerts the homeowner to a problem with the pump, the power, or the battery, rather than failing silently.
The lineup has grown from that first hand-built backup system, sold to a hardware store in Arlington Heights, Illinois in 1989, into standalone battery backup pumps, primary AC pumps, and combination primary-plus-backup systems sold under the Basement Watchdog and Pro Series Pumps lines, alongside Watchdog water alarms. Glentronics added WiFi-capable CONNECT monitoring in 2015 and holds patents on its pump designs. Our own testing lines up with that monitoring-first pitch: the Special CONNECT backup and the Big Combo CITS-50 both stood out in our sump pump testing for exactly the failure mode the company was founded to solve, a backup that quietly stops working and nobody finds out until the basement is already wet.
Brand website: glentronics.com
What Basement Watchdog makes
Basement Watchdog's range runs wider than the products we rank. We feature the lines that won their DIYRated categories:
Battery Backup Sump Pumps
Standalone DC backup systems, including the WiFi-capable CONNECT line, that install alongside an existing primary pump — featured on DIYRated
Combination Primary + Backup Systems
Preassembled, preplumbed units pairing an AC primary pump with a battery backup in a single install, including the Big Combo series — featured on DIYRated
Pro Series Pumps
Primary AC sump pumps sold under Glentronics' professional-grade line
Watchdog Water Alarms
Standalone high-water and leak alarms for basements and sump pits
Batteries & Sump System Accessories
Backup batteries, sump system cleaner, and float switch controllers sold alongside the pump lines
Why we recognized Basement Watchdog
The DIYRated Top Brand recognition isn't paid for and can't be applied for. We award it to the brands whose products independently earn top-pick status in our hands-on category reviews. Basement Watchdog earned it because its products came out on top in 2 separate guides — evaluated the same way every product on this site is: bought, put to work on real jobs, and judged on merit.
Basement Watchdog products we feature
The Basement Watchdog Special CONNECT Battery Backup System
Installs alongside a primary pump you already trust and takes over on DC power the moment the grid drops, with a WiFi-capable CONNECT module that sends a real alert to your phone for a power outage or pump failure. The dual-float design also cuts the false triggers that plague cheaper single-float backups, and its compact body fits pits too small for a bulkier combo unit.
Read the 11 Best Sump Pumps of 2026: A Licensed GC's Picks by HP, Basement, and Backup guide →
The Basement Watchdog Big Combo CITS-50 Primary + Backup System
A true single-box solution that pairs a 1/2 HP cast-iron primary with a 2,890 GPH backup, preassembled and preplumbed so there's no separate backup pump to source, mount, and plumb. The 24-hour monitoring controller adds an audible alarm and WiFi-capable alerts, making it the pick for a fresh install or a full basin rebuild where primary and backup need to be solved in one purchase.
Read the 11 Best Sump Pumps of 2026: A Licensed GC's Picks by HP, Basement, and Backup guide →What earned Basement Watchdog the recognition
- Founded in 1989 specifically to solve backup-pump failures caused by poor battery maintenance, not as a general pump maker entering the category later
- Family-run and still led by the founding Schulman family, with the same monitoring-first design philosophy the company was built on
- The Special CONNECT and Big Combo CITS-50 both earned runner-up picks in our own sump pump testing, standing out specifically for the outage-alert capability the company pioneered
- Added WiFi-capable CONNECT monitoring in 2015 and holds patents on its pump designs, ahead of much of the category on connected alerting
- One of the few brands offering a true preassembled, preplumbed combination primary-and-backup system (the Big Combo line) rather than requiring homeowners to source and plumb a backup separately