Bubble color meaning, is it on or off?

General Tech
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I’ve searched all over the web for a detailed explanation of why some bubbles are brighter than other ones and found nothing that explains why that is.

I was sorta thinking that the dimmer bubbles could indicate that the device is off but then bubbles appear when I turn on something like the basement lights and that’s a dim bubble too. The whole thing is confusing to me without a detailed explanation for why that is.

There’s always multiple devices showing up with a dimmer bubble but in most cases I know that item is off which is another issue I’m having.

And if that’s not enough the devices are also not adding up to the total current draw either.

Mike

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Three answers:

  • Color of bubble is purely aesthetic - if there is a bubble, Sense thinks the device is on. Don’t try to read anything more into it, though they might add color cues in the future.
  • Sometimes Sense misses seeing a device that is On turn Off. That leaves the bubble up, even though the real device has turned off. Eventually Sense will extinguish the errant bubble as part of its clean-up. Sense should get better about spotting Offs over time.
  • If Sense misses an Off, the device totals can be greater than the Total Usage. One obvious sign that something like this is happening will be the complete disappearance of the Other bubble (Other is actually negative).
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For me, different colors to distinguish ‘ground truth’ devices from ‘detected’ devices would be useful to help focus on possible issues with ‘detected’ devices.

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I think it would be nice to have some additional icon in the expanded bubble, at least. Something that symbolizes a smart plug. Perhaps a small icon at the very top or bottom.