Great Progress Last Weekend

As I am usually fairly passionate / critical about Sense I thought I would ensure I shared both sides.

Last weekend I got a notification that a Samsung TV had been identified right down to the model number. Shortly thereafter another Samsung TV was identified. They are similar LED TVs but slightly different screen sizes and I was impressed Sense identified them down to the model number. I have one more similar Samsung TV… so I am waiting on that one as well.

Later in the weekend another mystery device was identified. I had a suspicion it was my landscape lighting so I went to my shop where the transformers are and cycled them a few times. Sure enough they were identified. My landscape lighting is a bank of 3 transformers tied into a Lutron smart switch connected to Smartthings. They turn on and off together at about the same time each day.

As I turned the lights on to the shop Sense identified another device. I cycled the lights off and bingo another device. The shop lights are a bank of about 12 fixtures of fluorescent lights.

For me 4 devices in 2 days is a world record. in the last 6 months I probably had 2-3 unidentifiable devices identified so this was a pleasant surprise. It might inspire me to try and track down the many unidentified devices. Hopefully the progress continues.

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Are your landscape lights halogen or led? Trying to sort out if it’s detected natively or with help from “network identification.”

Mine are all led, run through smartthings (sunset/sunrise based). I have them on a few different circuits though, each using probably less than 50w, but they all come on almost in unison.

My Samsung TV was also picked up this past weekend. I was quite surprised when it showed up, also with the model #. It is a smart TV and do have network identification turned on. I’m guessing that’s how it was detected if it could get the right model #.

They are halogen. I have 3 separate 150 watt transformers running them. I have been debating changing the bulbs to LED but I assumed that each of the transformers would continue to run at 150W regardless… then again I could probably eliminate one or two of the transformers. I priced out LED bulbs the other day for the landscape lighting and they were expensive at the box store. Amazon has them much cheaper.

Same here… Network Detection turned on.

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Mine are on a pair of transformers, but I certainly noticed the drop in consumption when I installed the LEDs…meaning that you could potentially add more lights if you wanted to a single transformer.

No doubt, they are expensive - like $10 a bulb I think?, so I guess it depends on how long you leave them on for and how confident you were about getting the full life out of them. I went with Phillips from Home Depot because I was worried about some of the Amazon bulb reviews. You’ll want to be careful about some of these brands…even the generic EcoSmart interior bulbs I purchased at HD had a ~10% failure rate after a year. They do have a 5yr warranty, but that’s also a hassle.

You’ll also want to make sure the ones you get fit into your landscape fixtures :wink: