Pedestal sump pumps: a narrow category, with two real advantages

Submersibles won this argument years ago. There are still two situations where a motor standing above the water is the right answer.

A pedestal pump puts the motor on top of a column, above the water line, with only the intake and impeller down in the pit. Twenty years ago this was the standard residential arrangement. Submersibles have taken the category for good reasons — quieter, cooler, tidier — but two advantages survive.

The two reasons to still buy one

It fits where a submersible will not. A submersible needs a pit wide enough to hold it and deep enough that it is not running dry. In a narrow crock, a shallow pit, or an old homemade sump, a pedestal column takes up almost no floor area and simply reaches down into whatever space there is.

It is far easier to service. The motor is at waist height, dry, and visible. When something goes wrong you can see it, and when the motor finally dies you unbolt it rather than hauling a soaked cast-iron lump out of a hole on the end of a pipe. For anyone who maintains their own house, that is worth something real.

The three reasons most people should not

• Noise. This is the big one. The motor runs in open air and sounds like it.
• You cannot seal the pit properly. The column passes through the lid, so a pedestal installation is a poor fit for radon mitigation or for a basement where humidity is the problem. See pit covers.
• Exposed moving parts. The float rod and linkage are out in the open at child and pet height, and anything that catches the rod stops the pump.

#1A shallow or narrow pit

Zoeller 1084 / M84 pedestal pump

The pedestal most installers still name, with the motor out of the water and a 32-inch column.

8.6/10★★★★★Our editorial score: 8.6 out of 10

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Specifications, as published by Zoeller

Type	Pedestal, motor above the water line
Horsepower	1/2 HP
Electrical	115 V, 7.3 A, 1,725 RPM
Discharge	1-1/2"
Column height	32 in
Maximum head	15 ft
Flow, by lift	3,900 GPH at 0 ft · 3,840 GPH at 10 ft
Warranty	Two years

Zoeller's pedestal is the one model in this category we would still recommend without hesitation, and the reason is the flow data: it holds nearly all of its output at 10 feet of lift, which is unusual and genuinely useful.

Accept the noise. A motor spinning in open air two feet off a concrete floor is loud, and nothing about the installation will change that. If the pit is under a bedroom, buy a submersible instead.

What it gets right

• Motor sits above the water, so a motor failure is a bench job rather than a wet lift
• Fits pits too shallow or too narrow for a submersible
• Holds its flow remarkably well at 10 feet of lift

Where it falls short

• Audibly louder than any submersible, because the motor is in open air
• The column needs vertical clearance, which rules out a tight crawl space
• Cannot be run under a fully sealed lid the way a submersible can

Specifications from Zoeller 84-0001 (M84) pedestal pump listing.

If a pedestal is right for you, check these first

1. Vertical clearance. A typical column is around 30 inches tall and needs headroom above the pit, plus room for the float to travel.
2. Pit depth. Pedestals suit shallow pits, but the intake still has to stay submerged at the switch-on point.
3. Discharge arrangement. You still need a check valve, still need the discharge ten feet from the foundation, and still need to think about winter freezing.

For the full head-to-head, including flow comparisons and noise, read pedestal vs submersible.