@JustinAtSense, would you expect removing the smart plug to affect the quality of the native detection of that device? Technically the load that was natively detected was a smart plug with a hot water kettle plugged into it (+ the wiring between outlet and the Sense CT clamps, but forget this for now). Capacitors and other circuitry within the smart outlet contribute to the characteristics of the load natively detected. Could removing these circuit elements potentially confuse Sense to the extent that it may be better to delete the device that was natively detected thru the smart plug, and allow it to relearn this device natively w/o the plug in place? It seems reasonable that removing the smart outlet would have less of an effect on a resistive load like the hot water kettle you mentioned than it would on a reactive load like a fridge, so the best approach here may depend on the specific device.
Based on this, would an appropriate best practice be to hold-off on installing a smart plug on a device until it seems unlikely that device will be detected natively? Admittedly it would be hard to judge when the right time to turn to smart plugs is. I’ve been surprised that Sense hasn’t yet detected the Breville espresso machine I got back in December, but this could just be because it doesn’t get used often (1-3 times per week). Maybe it would be helpful to get a list going of devices that Sense has and has not been known to detect, especially those with relatively high power consumption – similar to my suggestion here.