This behind-the-scenes update improves device detection on multiple fronts.
We’ve made broad improvements to how and when Sense issues updates to detected devices, with improvements that should reduce losses to the reliability of detected devices. In addition, we’ve improved the logic behind how and when Sense combines devices and how you’re notified of such combinations. As a reminder, Sense may automatically combine devices in your home if we have strong evidence that suggests they’re exact duplicates or tracking the same devices across two different legs of a home’s electrical panel.
You may notice a few changes as this update rolls out, including new or combined devices.
General improvements to the consistency and reliability of detected devices
Overall reduction in duplicated devices
Improvements to how and when we automatically combine devices
Communicating device updates in a more helpful way, so you know why Sense made certain changes
Please note that this is a backend update and is not connected to any particular app or firmware version. All Sense monitors are using this updated software. There is no user action needed.
Definitely huge improvement in detecting my Mitsubishi mini split. Previously sense would only detect it on one leg, so half the power use was categorized under Other, which made its historical usage off by a factor of 2. Now my Other device is gone, and the mini split shows its full power consumption.
Time will tell whether that continues to be the case as the heating season ramps up, but I’m optimistic!
I’d agree that there have been improvements. Both of my Teslas are being picked up under the Tesla device now. I have a Model 3 and a Model Y so the signatures should be virtually identical as long as the charging logic doesn’t change between firmware versions. I never expected to be able to differentiate because they are in fact identical battery packs, inverters, etc.
I did decide, maybe a bit prematurely to delete a couple of appliances that weren’t fully detected to “reset” them and let the system relearn. Going to see how that goes over the coming weeks.
After a few weeks with the Tesla integration for Home Assistant broken, the 2021.5.0 update to HA fixed things and I’m able to watch Sense detections closely again. Sense continues to nail the Model 3 and Model S detections, though the Model S still comes in low on the actual energy value. Not a big issue since I just add a multiplier when thinking about Model S usage. The charge cycle in red is done at a different location than my home and the charge cycle in orange is a supercharger. And there really was no charging for the Model 3 this past week.
A mini split is a way of adding heating or cooling in a house without adding ducts like a traditional forced-air system. I have two mini splits in our 1919 bungalow: one in our living room and one at the other end of our house in the kitchen. They use much smaller, more efficient compressors. When my upstairs forced AC turns on, it uses 4K-5K watts for however long it’s on, then turns off, then when it needs to cool again uses 4K-5K watts. The mini splits can use as little as 30w for the interior circulator fan and when the compressor turns on, still uses less than 1,000w. They run constantly vs. hard on and offs, which combined with their variable speed motors and all over the place electrical waveforms, makes them extremely hard to detect.
A mini split refers to an air source heat pump. In the summer it pulls heat from inside your house and dumps it outside where a condenser re-compresses the refrigerant to send it back images to gather more heat. In winter it runs backwards, gathering heat outside (even when it’s quite cold) and compressing the refrigerant inside the house to warm it up. Insanely efficient compared to resistance heating, and the ability to reverse the direction of refrigerant flow let’s them supplement your backup heat to significantly reduce overall energy use in the winter in cold climates.
