I have two fridges/freezer combos; a newer whirlpool with ice machine/water upstairs and a '95 Roper with freezer/fridge one downstairs. The Sense system found two fridges at the same time…I labeled them based on which was running at the time but now the labels make no sense. When a fridge bubble shows up a fridge is indeed running but it is never consistent, it is either the upstairs or downstairs fridge…that is the case for both labeled fridges.
I understand like devices like two heaters of the same brand or two garage door openers (I am seeing this as well) can easily get confused where it doesn’t matter which one you operate the one bubble shows up but two different fridge manufacturers built almost 15 years apart seems unlikely.
So then I was thinking maybe it is two components in the basement fridge so I unplugged each fridge independently and saw both bubbles still showing up. So my thought is now that somehow the old fridge, a Roper built in 95 and a new whirlpool with ice machine and water have the same electrical profile but that seems extremely unlikely knowing how sensitive the Sense system is. The fridge devices have been in the system for four days now, do you think they will sort out which is which over time?
Hi @bjf5051 - my assumption here is that Sense has detected the compressors for your fridges and is conflating them because they operate similarly/at similar wattages.
My typical recommendation is to let Sense continue to track the device and keep an eye on it over time - if it doesn’t improve, that’s when I’d recommend deleting the device and wait for it to be redetected, hopefully with a more accurate model. One way around this entirely would be to get a KP-115 smart plug for your new Whirlpool fridge (if there’s room by the outlet.)
Hi @JustinAtSense, thanks for the details. Sounds good, I saw that as a recommendation on another thread you posted in "High Energy Items Not Being Detected’ thread this morning. How long would you recommend waiting before taking action, 2 weeks? I would love if the system would find them natively without the need of installing another device so I am up for waiting.
The downstairs fridge I could add a KP-115 to but the upstairs would not work with the spacing behind the fridge and the front of the fridge sticking out of its framed box in the kitchen.
After giving up on Sense finding my Kenmore refrige (one of the new models that ramps up and down as needed and runs almost continually at very low power levels), I did install a Kasa for monitoring. It was a bit difficult for two reasons, but is working great now.
My fridge is in a tight fit cabinet, with zero access from the sides. Further, the room between the front of the cabinet and the island across the aisle is only about ½” bigger than the fridge depth. So that took some maneuvering, raising the wheels onto slides (after carefully cleaning the floor) so I could slide it sideways for a couple of feet after pulling it carefully out.
The second problem is that the Kasa 110 is very thick, and I couldn’t afford the extra space behind the fridge. So I went to the hardware store and got a short extension cord with one of those flat right angle plugs (less than a half inch deep, same as the fridge’s own plug). I used the extension cord to locate Kasa on top on the fridge, where there was a bit of spare room. Then I carefully moved the fridge back into its cabinet.
Blockquote So I went to the hardware store and got a short extension cord with one of those flat right angle plugs (less than a half inch deep, same as the fridge’s own plug).
Lol I have one of those in my cart right now, I see my fridge plug is actually one of those pancake plugs already so I will have to do something similar to what you did…my fridge has a small divot on the back of it so it may be able to fit there nicely.
The nerdy side of me still wants to be able to watch the individual components (ice maker, defroster, compressor) but it sounds like per a different thread that the kasa will not interfere with finding signals AND it can be removed once/if devices are found.
Yes. My fridge was the same…flat plug with space allowed for it. The extension cord fit perfectly and I taped the Kasa at the fridge top under the cabinet above.
You should be able to get Kasa attached and running. For things that do have distinct on and off spikes (like perhaps your icemaker), Sense should be able to detect those components eventually despite the Kasa monitoring the whole consumption, but of course that is going to give you doubled readings for those components.
That said, I’ve seen no evidence of such detection, but then according to Sense engineers my house is “extremely noisy electrically” (due to my constant pressure deep well pump), which interferes with Sense in general…both detection and monitoring accuracy.
@andy that is good to know, yes I am seeing the double readings inflating my total usage. I’ll keep an eye on it and hopefully it will be able to distinguish soon or I’ll just use two Kasa plugs. I’ll give it a month or two.
My thought goes down a different road… I think… Have you checked to see if the ‘frig’s’ are on different legs of the service. Another words one on the one side of the 220 and the other on the other side. This is load balancing. I always look at this when we look to balance for backup generators. Frigs, furnaces, pumps etc … Primary items looking to backup… ie… high loads… put on different ‘legs’. My 2 cents… Later…Gerry
Yes I do recall going over this briefly with the electrician when they were adding the breaker for the hot tub. They are on separate lines. Thanks Gerry!