I have 5 major devices that the Sense hasn’t discovered yet, and have two HS110 on the way. So which two get the plugs?
My devices are as follows:
• temporary work from home desk with a laptop, desktop, and monitor
• Bosch dishwasher (SHVM63W53)
• LG refrigerator (LRFXC2406S)
• OLD Amana Washer (LW6163WM)
• Alliance Laundry Systems gas dryer (AGS28AWF)
Im thinking the desk gets one temporarily. I can see what I’m using at my temp desk vs permanent desk, and then move it elsewhere. My dishwasher keeps getting confused with the toaster over because their heating elements seem to be exactly the same, only that the dishwasher is on for 20+ minutes at a time, while the toaster is one or two. The gas igniter heating element in the dryer has been detected, but no motor. Nothing of the washer Hs been found, which is very curious because it’s so old there are zero fancy electronics or lights or screens. Lastly, the fridge. My old school Amana fridge was the first thing Sense detected, but all it does is cool, not even an ice maker. My LG is brand new and has two ice makers, a defroster which Sense found, compressor, and who knows how many other electronics.
My thought process is desk gets one now along with the dishwasher, then the desk one could move to washer and dryer at some point. Also, how does me adding the Smart Plug to these help Sense learn these appliances if/when I take them off a plug?
Optimize native detections - No smart plugs on any large appliances that require uninterrupted power to function properly. It’s inherent on/off cycles will naturally displace them from “Always On” - affording a clear view of its sub-components energy consumption.
My quick thoughts, based on the premise of assessing which ones are most likely to have their component devices found as well as which one is the largest power draw. Put on on the desk / computer. Use the other HS110 as a Traveller and use it on the other 4 for a few days at a time on each. Then look at the waveforms for typical run of each cycles for both complexity (are there clear on / off point for different components during the cycles) and total consumption.
You might even want to post a typical cycle of each so we can comment.
Another, costly, solution dawned on me. Two HS110s won’t fit next to each other, we all know that, so I’d need to buy something else to get them both at laundry duty. I thought about a cube tap or power strip, but then if I’m doing a power strip, why not just a HS300, mount that on the wall behind the washer and dryer, and call it a day? Or better yet, I can start the power strip on my temporary desk and measure each of the three devices there, then eventually move them to the washer dryer. I’m guessing there’s no way to migrate the data from one device to another, but that’s fine. Of course this means it’ll cost me another $60 for the HS300. That would leave the 300 on the washer dryer, a 110 on the dishwasher, and maybe a 110 on the fridge or a traveler for my vacuum, garage door opener, or whatever else I come up with.
The question is really “how much detain do I need/want?” Since Sense is unable to monitor whole categories of devices (instead of what it’s claimed to do) and because adding monitoring individually lots of decice$ is very co$tly based on current products, It’s a matter of cost vs value
Personally, 2.5 years later, I’ve pretty much given up on both Sense and individual device monitoring. I rarely look at any more and if it wasn’t costly to get it removed, I probably would. It’s frustrating, because the hopes were so high and the reality so low.
#1: LG fridge. It’s a complex device made of lots of components and it’s very handy to know what the cycles are. You can get an idea of how loading up the fridge impacts the consumption and run cycles and so on. You can set an alert so if it runs for too long you’ll know something is wrong. Door left open, that kind of thing. Didactically speaking, seeing a fridge or HVAC ground-truth waveform is, IMHO, on equal par educationally.
#2: Traveler (or what I call Tester), initially on Work desk: Put all the devices on a power strip and plug that into the HS110. Most of those devices will be non-ramping fairly constant load and evident after a day or two. After a week or a month you can probably guesstimate the total “Work desk” load and then move the Traveler/Tester somewhere else. Printers and shredders are interesting, btw. Start with the washer and get a baseline … if its OLD that would imply you may consider replacement so it would be good to do some ROI on a new one, assuming it may use less energy/water.
Note: If you are migrating the gas dryer to electric (solar!) then absolutely go with a non-venting heat-pump based dryer. They have long cycles but are multiples more efficient than a “regular” electric dryer. Most will be comfortably within the max wattage of the HS110 and run on 120V.