The best thing to do to think about Always on is to look for the minimum power level over the past 48 hours. I prefer to use the web app for that, primarily because you can drag the measurement line over all the “bottoms” to look for the lowest.
Just because a point is the lowest, doesn’t mean that will be your Always On. A higher point might be the Always On point for a couple reasons. If you have smartplugs (Always On part) and detected devices, they get subtracted off of Total Usage as part of the Always on calculation. Also the 1% binning means that the near lowest, but not the absolutely lowest power over the past 48 hours, is selected as the current Always On.
There are many more device situations your might need to add into your estimates
Furnace power boards that also run thermostats (7 Watts)
Garage door openers listening for the remote to tell them to open/close (8 Watts)
Devices on timers that together may cover the whole day - I have a 45W hot water recirc pump that is off for 12 midnight to 6AM, and some outdoor lights that are switched to go on at dusk and off at sunrise (50W). Some parts of the year, these two add 45-50W to my Always On, even though both are on smartplugs and timers.
Absolutely. I didn’t mean to imply that the lowest point was also one’s Always On. Still, it would likely be relatively close (and not hundreds of watts off). In my home, it’s pretty close.
This is something I’ve been experimenting with for over a week to drop the number. It’s been night than 900 at times. I’ve gone as far as unplugging all chargers not being used and the garage door openers. I’ve been turning things off at night like my cctv and security system (smith and Wesson dozens turn off, still covered for security).
As to point 1. How would the lowest number be always on when that lowest number also includes whatever else is on at the time? This is why I think there is some “other” mixed in. At night when things are quietest my always on will be 506 or 514 and will have a couple hundred “other in at the same time.
I don’t know how else to get it lower but have calculated everything you mentioned and I come up with about 280 and I’m figuring a touch high by rounding up.
I still think it’s that 245 Keurig in other causing this.
There certainly could be other non-detected/identified devices contributing to Always On. Only the identified ones that are on at the time get subtracted off. Once again, I would look at your main Power Meter for the lowest points, especially late at night/early AM when your house is most electrically quiet. It looks like you have a clear bottom around 3 or 4AM, in between the bigger usage spikes.
You might want to try pulling off devices/breakers while looking at your Power Meter at 3-4AM and try to see how low you can go. You might also try looking carefully at your low spots to see if you can see your Keurig spikes (can’t see at the resolution of your screenshots). If you had only one short super low period and the Keurig was spiking, 8.3% of the time, that might affect the Always On calculation…
After unplugging both my NAS drives, CCTV DVR, screen and security system for almost 2 days (some for just one), my always on went from 506 to 547.
I’m determined to get this lower and surprised that after putting in effort that it hasn’t dropped where I think it should be. My February report put me at 542.
When I look at the lowest pints @kevin1, it’s 750-900. I’m always awake at those times (1:00-3:00 am) and my other is usually around 300. I think it’s my sons PS4 downloading that mostly uses that.
Dan, sounds like you have a real puzzle on your hands. If your lowest point is around 750-900W, and your Always On is around 500-550W, then you are going to have to look at what other devices are on and identified (either via Sense or smartplug) during some of the lower points, because that’s likely to be the driver of your Always On “near minimum”. Remember that identified on devices get subtracted off of total usage as the first step in the Always On calculation (for smartplugs, it’s only the Always On part that gets subtracted, not the full amount).
When everyone left this morning I went around the house and unplugged everything I could get to and didn’t need and turned off all the lights. My other was sometimes blank meaning zero and always on dropped after 8 hours to 402.
I did have my garage lights on during this which is 6 led 4 foot bulbs at 19 watts each. Those should have been showing in other but did not. Other than that it was just the led lights on the oven, fridge and microwave.
See how strange?
The low point of the day was right before plugothings back in and total use was just below 500
Just to add my 2 cents, I’ve had my Sense for 2 weeks now. it was reading around 388W Always On until yesterday or the day before maybe. Now it is reading 710W Always On which seems very high. How often does this get calculated/recalculated? It’s making me question the validity of the readings in general.
You are really early into it at 2 weeks but the always on only goes back 48 hours.
I’ve had my suspicions about always on because I’ve had it double from 459 to 900 at times and when I do try to get it down, it doesn’t seem to move.
In my case, I’m sure there is somoim missing and I just need to find whatever it or they are.
Here is a thread worth reading and a website link
That linked blogpost needs to be updated. It’s a bit out of date. At this moment, Always On looks back for the “low water mark” over a 48h period (bit of a simplification, but that’s the essence of it). There really isn’t a way for it to be “wrong,” unless you’re having data dropouts that are causing it to recalculate or lose data.
I should add that I did find a portion of my problem yesterday. While sitting in my garage, I could here this constant humming. The panel is in there but not where this sound originated from. I thought I ha unplugged both garage openers but one was still plugged in. I unplugged it and the hum stopped. My normally 506-514 lowest always on has now reduced to 406.
When I unplugged this, I didn’t notice anything on the timeline but maybe this was contributing
CORRECTION: 356 as of right now
I think the opener is faulty in some way @jonhawkes.
I had to test the other identical opener for the same when I found this one and it doesn’t do it. I do have a problem with the electric eyes right now that needs repair or replacement and wonder if that’s the cause.
Definitely no lights as the bulb is removed since I’ve changed the fluorescent 4’ bulbs over to direct wire LEDS.
I thought always on had been fixed. I started in the mid 400’s then climbed to over 900. My feeling was I should have seen around 280. A few days before the fix mine dropped to 356 and I felt was right after finding a fan that was always on. Now it’s climbing again. 450 a few days, 577 a few more and today at 627.
I really believe Sense has a problem calculating an accurate or even useful always on right now. While I don’t have an. Answer as to why this is happening or what needs attention to make it right, I would like to be able to get rid of always on and not have to see it.
Sense needs to tell us EXACTLY how this is calculated in my opinion.
The problem I see with number 2 and using the power meter for the lowest point of usage is that lowest point has more than just devices always on showing. It’s the lowest point of use but that figure or what’s showing also includes detected devices and other. Let’s say my lowest point shows 1,000 watts. At that point I ha e an undetected device that isn’t on all the time consuming 800 watts and it’s the only thing on other than my always on. I wouldn’t be able to deduce that always on is actually 200 watts because of this. I have yet to see a time where always on was the only device(s) on.
And I haven’t tried to find that number by turning everything else off if that’s even possible.
My always on changes from day to day as well but it stays pretty low because I’ve been making sure things are getting turned off lately and even made a game of it with my 7 year old.
I’ve buckled down on it and something is just not adding up. It does these sharp climbs and even my always on from app to web app is different.
If I turn anything else off then it’s going to be things we need to run like refrigerators and freezers.
Here is another screenshot 1 day later.
If you’re seeing issues with your Always On that you don’t think are related to actual changes in your home power consumption, please write into Support.
Apparently this still has issues.
I went from 356 to 460 in an hour a couple days ago and today it’s 593.
Wondering if others that were also experiencing this are still seeing high numbers?
