We are excited to introduce a new comparison feature, allowing you to see how your usage compares to other similar homes in your area. Here is how it works:
The Trends view has been updated to include a new Compare card. On the mobile app this is a small preview that you can then go into the full view for. On the web app, it is next to the Usage view. The Compare screen will show how your usage compares to other Sense users over the past 30 days. By default, it will show how you compare to the entire Sense userbase. If you’ve filled in your state location in Sense previously, you’ll also see how that compares to Sense users in your state. The most exciting addition is a comparison to “similar homes” in your area. For this, you’ll need to fill out the new Home Details and Device Inventory section (see next bullet).
Under Settings > My Home > Home Details, you can now tell Sense more about your home, as well as filling in information about which devices you have. This information will help Sense improve device detection over time with some helpful clues, but in particular the postal code and square footage information will be used for the similar homes comparison mentioned above. Over time we do plan on using more than just square footage and postal code, so this is just a starting point.
Note: Your Similar Homes comparison requires 15 similar homes in your area before it will populate.
Perhaps you can prompt users about the new Home Details tab under Settings – I was intrigued by the new compare features but did not find that menu until I came across this blog post. Also, on that page under “Major Appliances” why are “Less Common Devices” listed at the top? I feel like that would make sense flipped around.
Following up on notifying users, even if you just prompted users who click on the Compare feature to fill their details out it will significantly improve it’s visibility. Mine simply said to hang tight, even though I hadn’t filled the info out.
My home is heated with electric baseboard heaters so the electric consumption will vary a lot throughout the year. Be nice to sort out homes based on electric vs non electric heat. I’m in Nova Scotia Canada so not likely to be similar homes to compare in my area so comparing based on heating type would be more useful.
I could be mistaken but I recall reading somewhere that heating with electric baseboard is not common in the US but quite common in Quebec and eastern Canada.
Thanks for posting that pic. Is there anyway you all can add a running total like the web app V7 usage where it shows total kWh and price based on your location you enter?
It would be nice and convenient to have the kWh and price (in text, without hovering over the graph) running total be on the same page for the day, week, month, and year incorporating it into all the pages like on the banner or just one page like this.
If it makes you feel better, I’m even higher in CA, but we do have 3 EVs (and solar). And I’m not sure if that number is based on Total Usage or Net Usage.
I just spent some time copying the make and model numbers of my previously detected devices to the Home Details / Device Inventory screens. It will be helpful if Sense can automatically copy, reconcile, or link the device details entered on the detected devices screens with the new device inventory screens.
