Quick question. Of course, any outlet with energy monitoring that Sense can direclty interrogate is easy to monitor energy use.
But, if the intergration is complete between Kasa and Sense, why can’t Sense sort of detect easier when a Kasa device is used, identify it, and be able to detect more easily the device ?
If i have a Kasa outdoor plug, when I start it, could Sense detect the “start plug 1 on outdoor unit #2” and anaslyze that 1300w is being used, and that when the device receives the “stop plug 1 on outdoor unit #2” that the current dropped 1300w ? The intergration can get the name in Kasa and help with device detection, no ? Am I missing something about the intergration limitations ?
My speculation - there are a couple of technical issues and one associated business issue that make this type of integration a non-starter:
time offset - Sense collects millions of samples per second but only collects smartplug data every two seconds. That time offset might be too big for Sense native detections that watch the detailed waveforms with a 1/2 second of so window. BTW-Sense has had some experience with doing this kind of on/off power association with NDI, but they have also noted that it is harder than it looks, even when the on/off info comes in with a much smaller offset time.
devices that are variable speed or primarily Always On - a big chunk of the devices that Sense has difficulty today are ones that don’t have clean on and offs - variable speed, electronics, etc. Power monitoring plugs help fill in the blanks for these but simple on/off devices don’t.
why invest for an uncertain return when power monitoring plugs have a far greater benefit ? - The business question. Even though what you suggest is feasible, it doesn’t cover as wide a swath as power monitoring plugs do, plus would require additional, uncertain development. Again, I’ll point back to NDI, a similar, seemingly no-brainer approach, that proved harder and less robust/applicable than expected.