Can devices be “found” if hooked thru a HS110 plug?

I just bought a humidifier. Debating about using my HS110 plug or just wait to see if it is ever found. If I use the plug, can Sense identify it separately and then I can remove it from the plug?

My understanding is that Sense “sees” the HS110 smart plug and reports the activity that is produced by the plug, and that Sense does NOT (as a result) recognize the humidifier signature… And when you remove the plug, it is “blind” again and will continue to not-see the humidifier…

I could be wrong though… I’ve been wrong before! :slight_smile:

Sense tries not to identify / detect something you put on a smartplug today (the detect it if it is already on smartplug), but occasionally will still detect that device. If it does and the detection looks reliable, you can pull the smartplug off that device. One warning - it is very hard to remove the history of a smartplug from Sense, so when you move it, the smart plug will carry around the history of the old device as well as the new.

So best to see if it will detect it. Anyone had success with Sense detecting them? Seems like maybe would be a challenge. I did understood the smart history dilemma from before which is why I was hesitant to do it immediately. Also, I don’t expect to keep the humidifier running during humid months so it is a winter only thing primarily. Thanks for the insight!

Sense hasn’t “detected” anything I’ve had on a HS110, and I didn’t expect it to. I didn’t put those devices on HS110 in a learning attempt, but because it’s been made clear from Sense support and engineering that Sense was never intended to be able to detect those kinds of devices…too bad their marketing and product specifications didn’t get that memo.

The combination of HS110/HS300 (and now the newer 115’s) with Sense does provide an excellent (if expensive) solution for that whole range of devices, NOW what’s needed is an appropriate/similar solution for wired in 220/24v devices. Think a 115 with pigtails not plugs.

That’s important because most of us bought this to track our major consumers, and surprise, most of those are 240v!

I had Sense learn a freezer behind a KS-115. I was able to move the KP-115 to something else.

I had Sense learn a dehumidifier behind an HS110. Note that my dehumidifier draws about 600w when active. I also have a humidifier, but it only draws about 6w when active. That difference in power draw makes a big difference in the success of eventual detection. Unless your humidifier draws at least 50w, you have no hope of eventual native detection.

My dehumidifier was connected behind the HS110 for over two months. When it was found, Sense back-filled data for almost that whole period. Thus I was able to make a comparison in the detection efficiency (graph below). Note that native detection was only for the compressor in the dehumidifier, while the HS110 measured both the compressor (which cycles on and off as determined by the internal humidistat) and the fan (which blows continuously at 50w while the machine is on). This is why the smart plug value is always more than the native value.


Shortly after native detection, I removed the HS110 and used it to monitor something else.

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I thought you were asking about DEhumidifiers and I was going to say that Sense found my first one right away. Then it broke and support was literally non-existent (told you to call another number that was deactivated) so we bought a second. Sense found that right away too. I don’t have any experience with humidifiers, but I’d say give native detection a shot first.

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