Yep, and it doesn't look like I'll ever be able to do that. I spent some time last week turning breakers on and off and watching the overall power consumption. There's no surprises other than I didn't realize I was using 175w for all my IoT stuff, NAS and switch. But that's a non-negotiable for me That stuff is as efficient as it's going to get.
I could replace my kettle with a rapid boil model and I'll save a little. I could replace my refrigerator with a newer, more efficient model and save a little (although the reality is we'll probably get a model the consumes more because my wife wants the bottom freezer next fridge). I could also replace my Microwave/Convection oven and save a little too (which is already the plan at some point when the new Amazon version is available here). But I will not save money by replacing working devices, with new devices that only save a little.
So for the consumption part, I'm so much at the low end already, I'm actually a bad example for that. So it may actually be wiser for me to focus on the device announcements I want to achieve. But I do love my gadgets, and so goes my personal struggle.
My use for Sense was to learn and (gradually) minimize my energy use footprint. It also picked up a malfunctioning fridge before it broke down completely. But I don't use it for any home automation (although it would work for the dryer and water heaters). It will not work for my washer - I have to use a power-monitoring plug for that.
It's not that you didn't set the expectation with me. I wouldn't call this buyer's remorse, but maybe just an enlightened view of what I really needed here, versus what I like. It's a good product and I'm not discounting it's viability in anyway.
I will let things run their course and see what happens before I make any rash decisions.
I have the Emporia Vue.. I am pretty happy with it cost of the system is great. Its not local but the data is minimal. it monitors the mains and 8 circuits. I can watch each circuit or overall usage.
the app is decent the cloud server seems pretty reliable. They are a new product but I have no complaints.
Wow! It has some shortcomings vs Sense, but for $145 CAD delivered, it would be really nice to see a local integration with that in the future if possible. I'm a little concerned by companies like Nero and the lot that are cloud based. Funding and partnerships were definitely weighting factors with Sense that made me less apprehensive about their dependency on cloud. Nothing worse than a smart device that you spent $145 on and it's suddenly unusable, by no fault of your own.
From strictly the perspective of device power monitoring for triggers, that Emporia is a great price. Too bad that nothing exist yet, but definitely one to watch. Thanks for pointing me to it.
No problem. I am happy with it for what it is. Hopefully it gains popularity.
Agreed the cloud thing is pretty worrisome. I only paid 89USD for it when I got the expansion version. It has went up to 99 now. that price for just a energy monitor is pretty hard to beat. and it has the fancy graphs on the app that better half can view.
I have talked with the support about integrations did not seem to be their focus. They do have a web integration for computers coming from what I was told.
they have a zigbee based unit coming out for people with smart meters. I think all it does on the zigbee side is connect to the meter socket which is zigbee then it bridges to wifi and their cloud.
Around 3 months or so it tends to find devices that pulls a fair amount of amps quicker than the smaller things. I have had my sense for over a year and although I have since changed things and deleted a few I'm up to 31 devices that includes hue and tp-link with there direct integrations though. Like I said we changed some appliances it had already found so I deleted those roughly 7 or so devices. I really like sense though the detail it provides and the ability to base smart automatons off dumb devices is cool and worth the investment for a single device to me.
We bought a new gas stove recently and it found it in no time as well. Which was pretty cool it seems anything to do with heat so I assume pulling a lot of amps it finds pretty quickly. Hell it even identified part of my Samsung fridge just wish it would find the lights in that so I could automate things if the door is open to long.
The one thing that kills me is I have two servers running 24/7 and it has yet to identify them but I imagine most people don't have enterprise grade servers in there home environment so maybe one day?
I just wish the hubitat community would find an easy way to integrate it in the hub. I still have my SmartThings hub though and I'm considering bringing that online just for that ability now. Tired of waiting for a good solution with Hubitat.
I forgot to mention I have a fairly busy household so to me that's not to bad it really finds tools easily as well. Such as miter saw I rarely use and a few power tools My always on is above 80% of normal sense users just to give you an estimate of how busy it is.
Well, I reached out to Sense, used my Aeon HEM app data to give them the precise time my washer cycle started and stopped. Was hoping with their experience, they could tell me the likelihood of Sense finding my washer before my Amazon return window closed.
The response was kind of shocking, especially since the front load washer they show in this video at 5:02 min, really isn't that drastically different from mine. Suffice to say, it's boxed up and ready to ship back.
|||Zach (Sense)
Oct 23, 10:13 EDT
Hi there,
Thanks for confirming.
Taking a look into this from my end, it appears that your particular washer is a newer, high-efficiency model. As such, its electrical signature varies from what we would typically expect from a washing machine. With this in mind, Sense will not be able to directly detect your washer as its own device. We do apologize for the inconvenience here.
I would like to point you toward is our smart plug integration feature. This allows Sense to communicate with smart plugs and directly monitor certain usage in your home in this manner. This is a useful way to gain insight into devices that may otherwise be difficult for Sense to detect.
Again, we apologize for the inconvenience here. We do hope that you find enough value in your Sense monitor to keep with it and I would encourage you to check out Sense Saves to see how other people in Sense community have done this. If there is anything else I can do to help, just get in touch.
Maybe. The washer is 10 years old, so by “newer” high efficiency, I’m not sure what they mean. It’s made in Germany, but I really don’t think their washers are 10 years ahead in technology advancements.
Anyway, I was warned and this kind of confirms it. I was looking to Sense for improved tracking of my washers state, so I’m not going to mess around with this anymore. It’s a really cool device, but at this time anyway, it’s not for me. Maybe I’ll revisit it in the future when I have to replace this washer.
I have a HE front load washer as well. It's true though that sense detects parts of the appliances then you combine them as one after all parts are detected. It has done that in several of my appliances. For one on a washer it will detect the pump that adds water. It will detect the motor that spins the washer for example but they can be combined in the app as one unit.
a) It takes time. For example, on my HE washer - Sense has only just detected the solenoids that control the water valves - after close to 2 years. BTW, it picked them up as appliance bulbs.
b) Sense is incredibly accurate at measuring total power consumption (for my house), and really good at identifying devices with a high resistive load (electric furnace, dryers, water heaters, iron, oven, etc.). It is also good at small single-speed motors (saws, vacuum cleaners, leaf blowers etc.).
c) On the other hand, Sense is terrible at accurately identifying variable inductive loads. Anything with a variable speed compressor (or even a two-speed compressor). Like newer refrigerators, newer variable speed AC compressors etc.
Sense has been good for my purposes, but it for reason "c" that I was hesitant to recommend it to @SmartHomePrimer as a replacement for an Aeotec HEM.
Yeah I really enjoy it. I can see where others would be frustrated though. I know over time it will keep getting better so for my part I'm willing to wait it out. I was actually going to buy a couple of sensors just for my washer and dryer for roughly $90 a piece and then came across sense. For me it was a no brainer. I just wished Hubitat support was in place. I hooked my ST hub back up last week for this reason. I still need to configure ST to work with sense again to many projects on my plate. Hopefully this weekend I will get around to it.
No love lost. It's a good product, just not right for me at this time. For @joetlawson, it sounds like your heavy energy use is a perfect scenario. In fact, I think your Sense is trying to tell you something! And for @aaiyar, where A/C is a must, I'd be looking really hard for energy savings too, so again a great fit!
For me, being in the low end of Sense energy users, and not being willing enough to just wait for it to maybe find my washer, it is just a wrong fit. I know myself. I'm going spend the money somewhere, so might as well get the best use for our home out of it. In fact, I think I feel some IKEA blackout shade coming on....
For 120V plug in devices like washer, microwave etc. why not get something like the Securifi Peanut Smart Plug for $15 with energy monitoring. Leave it always turned on and use the wattage value to determine when the cycle is over? If you ever put a water leak sensor in your laundry room you can also use it to shut down your washer.
TRÅDFRI are the only repeaters I have on my Zigbee network because I have Xiaomi devices paired directly with HE, so peanut would be incompatible. I have to use Z-Wave for that.
For my microwave I already bought a Zooz ZEN15 and it’s perfect for finish notifications on that. Might do the same for the dishwasher, or I may just move one of the Aeon CT clamps over to that, and use a relay and contact sensor for the dryer. I investigated using a contact sensor on my 220v washer again, but it’s just to energy efficient. They don’t even hold the door lock relay ON during the cycle. They have a lock mechanism that only needs a solenoid to move one way or another briefly to lock or unlock the washer door. There’s maybe a 220v contact point that’s only powered during the cycle on the washer controller board, where I could maybe attach a 220v relay to close a contact sensor. Or I could think of a different plan, and NOT blow out my washer controller board. That’s plan “A”
Does the Peanut now work for energy reporting in hubitat? When I got mine to act purely as a signal repeater about a year ago the energy reporting was not supported.
That stuff is as efficient as it's going to get.
|Zach (Sense)
And for 
