The blips at the top of the power meter are my perimeter drain sump pump. We’ve had a lot of rain (again) and the sump started running yesterday early morning. How long should it take for Sense to detect the sump pump (about 530 watts for 9 seconds 2-3 times a minute).
I recognize that device detection is slow since I installed the system 2 weeks ago. Heat Pumps (low chance), cook top, oven, one of two water heaters, stand alone baseboard heater have still not been detected.
With that pattern, I’d imagine the pump should be found in a matter of 2 days or so. I think it took 2 days for my dehumidifier to be found, and it has a similar cycle pattern. Fewer cycles than that pump, but in the same neighborhood.
New device models seem to be pushed out to monitors overnight.
Also, I’ll add that my sump pump, which runs about once a day in the summertime only, took about 7 months to find. But it wasn’t in use for the bulk of that time, since it only works when HVAC condensate is being produced.
Thanks for the insight. I have two pumps that I worry about year round. This one handles perimeter drains. The other pumps septic liquids to the field. Next summer, I’ll worry about dehumidifier condensate pumps
My strategy for stuff like that is to add dedicated sensors for “hard” failures, like a water level sensor in a sump pit for a pump failure, and use Sense data for “soft” failures, such as a broken check valve that’s causing a sump pump to cycle too often, or a water leak that’s causing the pit to fill with water it shouldn’t be pumping in the first place.
I would imagine your effluent pump has a high level alarm already. There are a million solutions for sump pits, from a $7 high water alarm from Home Depot to zigbee water sensors that will tie in to your home automation hub.
Thanks again. As an aging retired engineer, I am trying a number of your proposed solutions. The Sense monitor is part of an attempt to provide additional information
My sump pump doesn’t run quite that often, more like every 10 minutes, but it was one of the first three devices identified and my Sense system was just installed two days ago.
