Detection issue, I don't have ac

Good day!
Recently Sense found a device it named AC. Stating 99% of the community named it such.

To my knowledge we do not have an AC.
No central system. It’s all wall heaters.

This Device uses a fairly significant amount of energy. 6% to 14% of my weekly power.

Any thoughts on what this could be?

Interesting - like you are seeing real 3800W spikes for very short periods of time (10 sec ?). Since Sense thinks it is AC, it’s likely a motor of some kind. One question - have you enabled Sense Labs ? That might also give a clue.

I have almost immediately. Everything is showing good.

1 Like

As @kevin1 mentioned, those 3800W spikes are probably your biggest clue. Since Sense suggested an A/C, I agree with the thought of a motor here. Probably something on the bigger side. I usually start with a review of my labeled panel documentation to see if there’s anything i’m forgetting about (pumps, water heaters, etc.) that hasn’t been fully detected yet.

Looking back at the history I found when this device was on for a longer time frame. And it looks more like heat?

All my major appliances have been found or on a kasa plug. Even a pump that I am not sure where it is.

Those latest waveforms look like a water heater to me.

Waveform does look like a heater, but the amount of power is quite a bit less than most domestic water heaters draw (around 4kw). Possibly a smaller/local (like under the sink) unit? My prior house had one in the kitchen to provide instant hot water, but I have no idea what it drew or how often it ran.

My water heater has been detected. I only have the one. It does look very similar. But the start up is very different.

There is definitely overlap with the dryer.
If the dryer is 5k watts and ‘AC’ 2k watts my total should be 7k used. However this is not the case. My total current burn (pun intended) is under 6k.

I could speculate it’s a motor in the dryer. However, t that won’t explain the times “AC” comes in when the dryer isn’t in use. The previous examples of 10 second spikes.

Based on the magnitude of the power draw, this is a 240v item, so that should narrow the possibilities down significantly. Here’s how I’d ID it if I were you:

-Set up a notification in the Sense app for when the device turns on.
-When you see the device turn on and you’re home, go to your breaker panel.
-Pull up the Sense power meter (the realtime meter, not the bubble display, etc).
-Turn off each 240v breaker, one by one, and correlate a drop in the power meter usage equal to this “AC” device’s usage.
-Note that turning off the breaker for the device will not always make the bubble go away. The off pattern for a device turned off by the breaker is different than for the device’s normal switching mechanism. Therefore, sense can miss these “manual” off events.
-Also remember not to turn off the 240v breaker that feeds your sense monitor :slight_smile:

Lol true point not to turn off the sense breaker. Currently mine is lonesome on its own 220. I do have the notifications turned on. As I do for all new detected devices. Until I can figure out where they go.

I only have the wall heaters, oven/stove, the dryer, and a water heater on 220.

I’m inclined to think dryer drum motor, if it must be on a 220.
However The ‘AC’ spikes have occured all hours of the day. Even when I’m not using the dryer. It’s perplexing.

If I could better look at the timeline and see what’s on at the same time for the last week. it would be easier to figure out.

Here’s an interesting look.
Exact same time to the second.
First on general timeline.
Second on AC timeline.

No 220 devices are on.

I think some 240v device is on, unless you have some sort of awfully coincidental combination of 120v devices turning on at the same time. A standard 15A 120v circuit can supply 1800W maximum, even a 30A 120v circuit (uncommon in US residential settings) would be hard pressed to deliver the amount of power shown in your realtime usage chart there.

Definitely a head scratcher, but given the signature and amount of power this pretty much has to be a 220v circuit. Do you perhaps have an auxiliary breaker panel…many homes do? Typically places like a garage, a workshop, etc.

1 Like

@andy I don’t believe so. Not a very big home. We just purchased it. But I do not see any sub or auxiliary panels. The main breaker is in the garage.

This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.