Do you need a sump pump in northern climates? – GreenBuildingAdvisor

We had hoped to avoid a sump pump in our finished crawl space to avoid possibilities of mold or mildew in the home (pretty serious allergy with a family member). We have a sloped site that would accommodate a drain to daylight. However, we’re being told that in our region, even if you can drain to daylight you should have a sump pump installed as a backup as drain to daylight can get plugged by animals and sometimes freeze shut in the winter. We live in a fairly wet area and I know our neighbors with full basements have sump pumps that run constantly (also why we’re only doing a finished/ventilated crawl space, building up as much as we can, and bringing in dirt around). They do not have drain to daylight.