Does anyone have any opinions on this? Are there 'best practices'? Or even 'best plugs'?
I mean, you want to get some meaningful, unsolicited readings once in a while, but you don't want to max out the hub.
It all depends on the nature of the load I imagine, and the capability of the plug, plus what you want to do with the info.
One plug I have, a Zooz ZEN15 can do frequency of reporting (down to 5 seconds), percentage of previous reading (to 99%), as well as watts difference from previous reading (up to a very large, unrealistic watt limit). It also can suppress any and all readings. Other plugs have different capabilities.
So, what's the best approach? Tweak things until you obtain less than some number of readings per hour during normal operation? Percentage, Watts, some combo? Perhaps do frequency only? No reporting-just poll for it when you need it?
It's real confusing to me, but overloading the mesh is a reality with a multitude of these things.
I think you need to balance what it is you're trying to accomplish with the power reading vs the frequency of events. Keeping the frequency of events as lengthy as possible is probably wise, considering what I've read about power reporting and Z-Wave.
I do use a couple of power reporting plugs (zigbee in my case) and they're set to report at a specific change threshold, in my case 15 watts. The device they are connected to draws 26 watts and when it drops by 15 it means that the water reservoir (it's a humidifier) is empty and needs attention. If they go off once a day it's unusual.
I only use them for a few very specific purposes (not just routine/ongoing gee-whiz reporting), so the reporting settings for each plug is tailored to whatever "minimum" it needs to accomplish its desired task.
I don't use power reporting plugs anywhere I don't need them -- no reason to add unnecessary noise to the mesh.
Easy...I only use power reporting for stuff where I'm trying to incorporate power usage into a rule. Like notifications for when the washer/dryer finish. In both cases, I have power reporting threshold pushed as high as I can to get the notifications while minimizing reports.
Those are the only Z devices doing power reporting. Everything else is using the Kasa integration. I have two plugs that are involved in rules. Everything else, I only care about energy usage vs power reporting. Since Kasa runs on a polling schedule, I just have the rule update the polling interval once the time get's close to when we normally go to bed to catch me putting my phone on the charger. Once that happens, then I kicking the polling rate back up.
Plus I have an Aeotec whole house monitor clicking away at 5 second intervals. Power though. That's fun to watch though. Fun...that's sick.
I have some kind of crackpot generator load shed scheme in mind when away from home. The plugs have turn off after power outage and auto on/off timers. I did go crazy, not thinking of possible mesh issues. My future scheme will probably involve more turning off breakers and less smart plugs, lol.
