I’ve noticed a couple interesting things in my data, neither of which have been detected yet.
The first is the curvy pattern that the variable speed motors in my heat pump system make. It’s a Fujitsu Halcyon mini-split system that uses DC inverters (I believe) to use only the power required at the moment. There are 3-4 of these motors in my system that run semi-independently from each other, which I imagine makes detecting them very difficult.
Would the presence of multiple variable speed motors make it more difficult to detect other more traditional devices in my home? If so, hopefully my detection will improve once my AC is turned off for the winter (thankfully still a few months away).
With hundreds of on-off cycles for the heating pad in the data, why is it not being identified?
Variable Speed Motors seem to be difficult for Sense to learn currently. I’m not sure the AC not running will improve much if the Blower in your furnace is a Variable Speed.
Funny enough, my readings look very similar to yours and it hasn’t detected mine as well. So the good news is you’re not alone
I wouldn’t be surprised if the heating pad is detected sooner or later; Sense seems to be very good at identifying heating signatures. It looks very much like a stove top burner, albeit much less power.
Our heat is a hydronic (boiler and radiator) system, so we’re lucky in that respect. The pump runs continuously during the heating season, so I imagine it will just be incorporated into the “Always On” category and filtered out.
I can understand that variable speed motors are a somewhat unique case, especially when they overlap, but hopefully this is an ability that the system will gain in the future.
I don’t think it will appear in the always on. Even in the heating season, the circulatory runs intermittently dependent upon demand.
Most boilers maintain a constant temperature in the boiler at all times and the circulator is turned on by the thermostat or a zone control. It should pick up the circulator easily unless it’s a cartridge pump, Like a 007 Taco pump. These use pretty low amperage, So it may be difficult at first.
It does pull a full amp more than the 007 (.74 vs 1.76), but my Taco 0011-F4 was detected after about a week after being installed much to my surprise. Just thought I would share.
@michael.davie, to answer your questions, it is likely that the heat element that you pointed out will be detected at some point. The speed of detection depends on a lot of factors, one being the number of times the device pattern has been seen, and another being what else is going on in the home.
Having variable a speed motor in your home should not greatly impact the identification of other devices, although they can be more difficult to detect themselves.
Perhaps my system is atypical, but in my case the temperature of the boiler is variable and the circulation pump runs continuously. When the thermostat calls for heat, the boiler lights up (it uses natural gas) and runs until either the thermostat cancels the call or the water temperature in the system reaches the setpoint.
Wow, that’s interesting. How long did you have Sense before replacing your pump?
I wonder if it picked it up so quickly because it was introduced after the device had somewhat stalled. That may be valuable information that could help diagnose why.
