Device detection has provided very little value

Hey there @dnh1263 - something does seem to be amiss here. Please reach out to our support team if you haven’t already!

https://sense.com/contact

Sorry for the troubles!

I like this Sense gadget mostly because it is a gadget to play with I suppose. The Sense box may be accurate detecting my power usage and solar production but that’s about it. This thing shows I have 7 Fridge devices and that is funny. I don’t have a lot of faith in its detection ability but it is fun to watch streaming the power turning on and off on the graph. I would still recommend it for anyone wanting to know the total power they use and when, but the device detection ability has some needed development for sure. 7 Fridges hahaha

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I had too many fridges show up initially (6). I did a reset last Aug, and now don’t have enough though the 3 it found were completely accurate. It even spotted one of the fridges dying.

I have a variable speed condenser as part of an American Standard heat pump installation. It is still detected as other after 2+ years. If I turn on the furnace blower is recognized, not sure how accurately, but condenser only activates other. I would like to get it identified. Any suggestions?

Hi @stefanovm - are you currently using Sense Solar (or any of the other middle port add-on features?)
If not, we’d love to get you started with an extra pair of sensors to utilize Dedicated Circuit Monitoring, just shoot me a PM.

I have had my sense for one and a half years. At first it picked up a lot of things. Now it has forgotten quite a few.

I bought the extra current sense leads and put them on various circuits. One circuit was for the furnace since it has a complex energy usage pattern. First it has a 10watt always on component for the internal computer. Then it has the inducer fan, burner igniter, and variable speed blower. In summer there is the A/C plus the blower.

The washing machine is also complex with it’s VFD motor and multiple cycles.

Even the fridge is difficult. The light, compressor and fan and the defroster. However, sense originally detected the fridge, then forgot it. Currently it thinks it knows the fridge light, but list the fridge.

Sense does OK on the well pump, sump and ejection pumps. It even gets some lighting circuits reliably. I am glad it gets the pumps since a sump pump failure is a big deal. It still knows the microwave too.

It has failed to pick up on the yard light, garage door openers and has lost track of some electric heaters. It also doesn’t get the electric blanket. It also hasn’t been able to identify electronics including computers.

On the plus side it allowed my to assess the always on by turning off all but one breaker at a time to evaluate individual circuits. I found that GFIs draw about 1 watt each and such. Since always on is a big percentage of my bill managing always on is one of the biggest concerns.But I think Sense depends on the start up signature and always on by definition doesn’t have this signature.

Been using with Solar for several years. This was installed by Momentum as a package. Started about 4/2019, so almost 3 years.HVAC is 2017 model.

To add a counterpoint, I’ve had my sense energy monitor for a week now and it has exceeded my expectations in device detection.

So far Sense has found:

  • Kitchen fridge
  • Basement fridge
  • Oven (two different sets of heaters)
  • Furnace (detected the blower and the draft inducer)
  • Dishwasher

Yet to detect:

  • Chest freezer
  • Cloths Washer
  • Cloths Dryer
  • Stove heating elements
  • Microwave
  • Coffee makers
  • AC (to be fair, it’s not summer time, so this breaker is turned off right now)

We’ve got ~500W of “always on” load. A lot of that is stuff like computers, network gear, Sonos gear, a vivarium, smart home stuff, etc.

I like the Philips Hue integration, and my biggest wish would be for integration with Lutron Caseta. I’m guessing that the Caseta switches don’t really know how much power is being used, but that’s something that could be configured by the user.

I purchased the Sense with the additional “flex” sensors anticipating that I will need them to help if I have poor detection, but I decided to not install Sense with them for now because I wasn’t sure where Sense would have trouble. But with detection going as well as it has heretofore, I may not end up needing them.

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Installed a couple of years now, still hasn’t found some basics like dryer, dish washer.
This week I replaced my well pump due to age and Sense stating it was running more then 15 minuets at a time. New pump does the same thing. Installed a Hobbs meter, found out Sense is not stopping the timer when the pump shuts off! It does show the pump off in Devices.

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Hey @user220 - it sounds like Sense has a partial detection of your well pump and is missing that off transition. If this behavior is consistent, I would recommend deleting the device to have Sense hopefully redetect it with a more accurate model.

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