New device detection: specify 120V vs 240V

I’m sure I’m not the first to suggest this, but it would be very helpful if Sense would indicate if a newly detected device is 120V or 240V.

I’m currently trying to track down a device that Sense is calling ‘water heater’ that is most certainly not my water heater, because it isn’t using nearly enough power. Though it is possible it is a part of my water heater (I have an on-demand electric water heater powered by 3 individual 240V 40A circuits, so it could be just one of these circuits).

This particular item might be just junk data too, as it claims it cost me ~$76 worth of power in August, and less than $5 per month for the rest of the year. Doesn’t make sense with my house’s energy profile. I don’t have AC or a pool or anything that runs in the summer only.

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Pretty much any spike in the Power Meter over 15A x 120V = 1,800W or 20A x 120V = 2,400W has got to be a 240V signature.

With big (relative) power load devices like a water heater it should be pretty easy to nail it down:

  • Look at the model number and confirm the wattage. Most heaters will run at that wattage or half of it if one of the two elements is active.

  • Look in your Mains Power Meter for spikes of that magnitude cooinciding (in on/off timescale) with the “Water heater” Power Meter. Currently you can only do that with iOS/Android apps. Maybe the quick method is to bring up the Mains meter on a desktop browser and compare with your phone/iPad showing the “Water heater”.

Thanks for the feedback. I think you’ve nicely laid out all the reasons why I think Sense should do this automatically, since as you’ve said above a certain wattage it must be a 240V circuit. However, a 240V appliance could be running at less than 1.8 kW or 2.4 kW in certain modes (for example, an EV charging slowly at the very end of its charging curve, when the battery is nearly full).

As for comparing timescales and meters, that’s something a computer can do far more easily and effectively than I can! But in the meantime, I’ll give what you described a shot.