A couple of weeks ago, Sense found Device 2 and I’m having a hard time tracking it down based on the usage patterns, so I thought I’d post everything here and see if anyone has suggestions. I’m thinking it must be a component of something (based on when it turns on), but I just don’t know what.
It uses an average of 48W and runs for about an hour.
It seems to only come on in the morning. Scrolling through the power meter, I see on times of mostly 2am, and then either 7 or 8am. Sometimes there will be one inbetween around 5am. Here’s some of the device power meter showing the on times for a few days.
What does Sense suggest it could be? Running for an hour wouldn’t be a pump, like for a dump or water circulator, as my radiator pump is 100w and only runs when the boiler is on. Do you see any other devices turn on or off around the same time? What about a whole home fan? What about lights or…gosh this is a toughie.
I knew there was something I was forgetting. Sense says 49% heat pump, 40% HVAC, 5% Electric Vehicle, 3% TV.
It’s definitely not an EV or TV. It could potentially be part of my AC system, but that will be really hard to determine. I have a variable speed compressor and a variable speed fan. I had pretty much resigned myself to Sense never being able to detect my AC system but it recently did detect a device that said 90% heat pump and the timing was lining up with when my AC turned on.
If I turn only Device 2 and the HVAC devices on for the timeline, they don’t really line up. That doesn’t mean they aren’t connected in some way. Device 2 is only 50W so it’s definitely not any of the main big parts of the AC but it could potentially be a small component.
I was thinking the same thing, but on a hunch I just went and checked the main power meter for the last time it showed Device 2 as running. Despite there not being a spike at the beginning of the device waveform, I definitely see one. So I think it’s a motor of some kind.
It spikes by 782W, briefly drops to 529W, and then settles down at 101W for about 7 minutes, then drops to 48W for the next 10 minutes before turning off. Almost immediately when device 2 turns off, my AC starts ramping up.
I still need to examine other areas of the timeline to see if I see the same behavior. I find it odd that if it’s part of my AC that device 2 runs at the same time and only in the morning. It could just be that Sense is not reliably detecting Device 2 during the day yet when other stuff is running.
Some models of coffee makers even consume significant power periodically when “turned off”, one of My Keurig’s does…but the other not. I checked both with a Kill-a-Watt when I was seeing strange readings. Only way to be sure is to unplug it.
I’m guessing not a coffee maker. We have a regular Keurig, and while it does consumer some power while off (my thermal camera shows me that) when it’s on it uses 480 watts. That’s more than 10x what you’re seeing.
Out of curiosity, do you have a motion sensor light with CFL/LED variant bulbs? Looking at the trends, you don’t have the in-rush spike characterized by an induction motor…it looks like a resistive load, but small…makes me think of a light…
VERY interesting thought Mackenzie. My Sense has found a 200 watt fixture in my office. It’s some weird fixture and lamp type that isn’t easily replaced with an LED. Now that it’s summer, I also don’t spend much time upstairs and require less lighting than the winter. But I digress. I pulled the waveform for that and it is almost an exact match to this mystery device. That also doesn’t explain why you’d have a light come on in the mornings for an hour, but interesting anyways.
No doubt an extra light may not be needed, which is why I was thinking a motion detection light…something that is partially automated…it could capture someone going to/coming home from work, walking their dog, something like that.
The instances when the device turns on doesn’t look consistent enough to be activated by a timer, although the 30-min (approx?) duration does suggest that it could be timed. Made me think of a motion-sensor light, or something like that…
