3 notes on your question.
- Right now, the smart plugs that are compatible with Sense actually MEASURE the power/energy used by the device (albeit at far a far lower sampling frequency than the Sense inputs) and feed it back to the Sense monitor and mothership. So there’s no direct “learning” going on.
- When you move the smart plug to another device, it will just start measuring the next device plugged in. But that has real value in teaching you about the usage of each device. Based on my experience, I recommend rotating a Roamer smart plug or two around your all the plugin devices in your house, for 48 hours per device before you decide if / when to use smartplugs on various devices.
- What’s the rational for trying smart plugs all around the house ? 2 reasons - 1) the rotation around the house taking a month or two should buy Sense enough time to discover many of the devices that it can discover, leaving you with a better picture of what might need smart plug help, and 2) Sense provides valuable guidance from the 48 hour trace for each device that can help you decide what to do (below)
For every device you put on the Roamer smart plug for 48 hours, you can glean two key numbers - Dynamic power is the difference between the highest usage and lowest usage during that 48 hour period. Always On power is number computed by Sense that is the near lowest usage of the device over the 48 hours. For me, Dynamic power = High happens around 25W, and High for Always On about 5W.
| Dynamic Power | Always On Power | What to do ? |
|---|---|---|
| High | High | Use smart plug |
| High | Low | Use smart plug |
| Low | High | Use Always On measurement from smart plug to itemize Always On power in Always On Devices list. No need for permanent smart plug. |
| Low | Low | No permanent smart plug needed. |
As for the list of compatible plugs, you can find it under the link below. I’m partial to the Kasa ones - you can find single plugs for about 10$ each.