I bought the Sense Solar knowing I would add Solar later on. In the meantime would it be advantageous to use them as a DC to measure the Mitsubishi? I read the dedicated circuit posts and most of them are more complex such as multiple circuits on one, balanced/unbalanced, etc. Mine is simple. One item, one circuit no common. Questions are,
Would it help with the detection of the Mitsubishi?
If it is detected will it show up separately or always be shown as the DCM.
How are Dedicated Circuits displayed? I haven’t seen any examples of this.
When I do add Solar and move the CTs how will that affect the system and will the Mitsubishi then be lost?
Is there an advantage to doing this IF the Mitsubishi data is lost once the clamps are relocated?
I’m guessing you are referring it to the native detection of Mitsubishi at some point in time ? Perhaps, because it allows Sense to see the behavior of that device.
If there is eventually a native detection, it will show up separately, but you’ll be able to merge the native detection into the DCM device to avoid double counting.
It looks just like any other device except in a couple aspects, that are also present for smartplug devices. The Manage tab will have entries specific to a smartplug/DCM - things like the ability to tell Sense what negative detections this smartplug/DCM is associated with, plus settings for standby.
You’ll lose the DCM detection when you do Solar setup with the CTs. Can’t remember if the history remains or disappears. If you have had native detections, they will stay but you might want to disconnect your native detections before you redeploy the CTs and do the solar setup.
You absolutely want to move the CTs for solar usage when you add solar. You won’t get good useful results from Sense without migrating the CTs and setup to solar.
You’ll lose the DCM detection when you do Solar setup with the CTs. Can’t remember if the history remains or disappears. If you have had native detections, they will stay but you might want to disconnect your native detections before you redeploy the CTs and do the solar setup.
when you say “disconnect your native detections” do you mean to unmerge them (if I had) before I move the DCM?
losing the DCM data won’t be a issues since it was a temporary measure with the goal of helping to find the Mitsubishi
See the entry in the screenshot above entitled “What’s connected to this ?” For DCM and smartplugs, that’s the special “merge” function that enables you to select one or more native detections that correspond to and underlie the device you are measuring with the DCM or smartplug. Unchecking your formerly “merged” native detections in that entry reveals them again.
I have had sense for 30 months or so, and Sense hasn’t detected either of my Mitsubishi mini splits. That might be part of the problem: I have two of the exact same unit. I’ve tried playing games of turning on off while leaving the other on, but the handful of times I’ve done this doesn’t seem to be enough for Sense to identify an already very hard to find device. I set up DCM for both of my mini splits with one clamp on each. That lets me see how efficient each is compared to my regular 3-ton AC
Living Room Mini Split: $34 est./year
Kitchen Mini Split: $17 est./year
Upstairs AC: $467 est./year
I’m only now noticing that the kitchen is exactly half the living room. I’m going to keep an eye on that.
One question for you: are your mini splits cool only, or heat also? Mine aren’t set up to do heat and IDK if they can.
Brian5 Your system would depend on which model you bought.
My Mitsubishi system is a Heat pump system outside (MXZ-4C36NA) with three indoor units (MSZ-GL12NA). It can cool or heat. That is a 3 ton (36K) unit with three 1 ton (12K) inside units.
I replaced a 25 year old York all in one outside unit. It was a 3 ton AC with gas heat. I don’t have numbers on the Mitsubishi yet BUT, the first summer I saved over a $100.00 a month in the summer on the electric bill and of course used NO gas in the winter. The winter is a little harder to figure. The old York was basically just gas heat and one fan blower. The Mitsubishi drove up the winter electricity some but again, No gas used.
Two exact units differing by exactly half seems suspect. It may be in the way you placed your clamps but I’m sure someone else will have better advice on that subject.
