Like others, I’m using a combination of Wemo’s (equivalent to, but pricier than, the HS110 – the single outlet TP-Link) and the HS300 power strips. A few notes:
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If you end up plugging a small AC unit or other higher-power devices (less than 1800W) into a Smart Plug you should be plugging it into a dedicated plug. Having a strip it’s tempting to overload things.
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The same goes for IMPORTANT devices like a fridge that you don’t want to fail or unplug/switch-off by mistake. See below! Use a dedicated Smart Plug for those.
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The low overall power standby-energy-sucker electronics that will register in AO (Always On) are typically the least interesting Devices from a “geeking out poking around” perspective but all that individual device data (on an HS300, say) will help Sense in the long term and it will help you establish the individual responsibilities for aggregated energy use that you may miss. Once, though, you see a true AO device like a modem has a fairly flat profile it becomes an easy calculation. Putting a paper shredder or a laser printer on a Smart Plug is much more revealing and fun and you may find will save you more power. “Who keeps printing and shredding??”. Watching the energy spikes from a laser printer was a personal revelation for me.
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Sense has expressed intent to develop a more sophisticated detection model (always!) where you will be able to move a Smart Plug around after having detected a device … i.e. to use just one plug as a mobile detector. Future Sense potential: “OK, I recognize your fridge now, you can take it off the Wemo”.
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Not to lower expectations, but it’s a good place to start: Assume that most devices won’t be detected. Then every time something is detected you will be surprised AND, as you roam around attempting to help Sense disaggeregate your electrical devices by plugging things into Smart Plugs you will have a better idea of how your priorities match up with Sense’s abilities.
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I’ll end with a reference to past lessons …