Thank you for the great in-dept detail on how to use this product. I do want to purchase this. However, I have a question. I have two breaker boxes in my house. One that is for electricity for appliances and the other box which is for the air conditioner. Will I need to buy two separate unites in order to record everything? Or would I need to place this on the outside box? My electric bill is usually between $200 - $299 a month and I want to find the source of what's causing the high bills.
It would have to go on the box that is supplying everything. Unless you just want to monitor the appliances. It can only monitor what flows through the clamps you place in the panel.
My sense worked great for the first two years. Now it applies so of the solar generation to load using. I can tell because it the solar generation and load usage 5rack together.
Glad to see a review after actual real-world usage. Not sure why you need the background music track. You are soft-spoken and it's drowning out your voice.
I'm glad to see you liked the video. There are times I am pretty quiet when the wife is sleeping, I'll pay more attention to the volume, thanks for the tip!
@@HouseDadLife My observation is that UA-camrs in their early days feel that background "music" is needed and as they mature they don't use it except during transitions and when no one is speaking. Background music just isn't needed IMHO. Good content and interesting information is needed, but not canned music.
I just watched your video today. It was well made. I have a question, most of your usage while showing the consumption bubbles was "Other", I am guessing that means the system doesn't know what those are? It was a large portion of your 2.5kw usage at that moment, 1.8kw. (real time, not kwh) I would have thought after 5 months the Other bubble would have been gone, not 72% of your load. Am I misunderstanding what the Other represents?
Nope you are correct, most of the time it is pretty good, some of my undiscovered other is the washer and the oven preheat, these were being used at the time of recording. A bunch of my devices have been discovered but, it is the weakest part of the device, getting better, but still slow. Thanks so much for the compliment about the video, I do put a bunch of effort into every video you see on the channel. Time and practice, I hope I can continue to make them better!
If you want to monitor your voltage use I wouldn't see why not. I'm not an electrician though so I'm not sure how you receive your power, as long as you have 2 110v hot lines I can't see why it wouldn't work but you might want to reach out to sense or an electrician.
Having multiple same devices consuming same amount of energy at different intervals (e.g. two space heaters) can easily throw sense off which is to be expected. I am still debating if I should get this, or a much cheaper alternative with multiple individual clamp sensors and risk not.beimg to fit them all into my panel.
I think both could be a good option depending on what your needs are. Either way getting a chance to see devices that leech power and save money by eliminating them is a great idea. It looks like Sense is having a holiday special right now $60 off, not sure if that helps you choose. amzn.to/3GX2oR8
@@HouseDadLife well I have a tp link plug but the weird part is using surge protectors and or ups units have all my networking equipment plugged into it in case of a power outage and it hasn’t picked up anything on that 30amp circuit. I have seen other channels use similar ups units and the devices are detected
"What smart plugs are compatible with Sense? - Sense" help.sense.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012089393-What-smart-plugs-are-compatible-with-Sense-#:~:text=Sense%20is%20currently%20only%20compatible,plug%20questions%2C%20see%20the%20FAQ.
@@HouseDadLife so all you do is connect the top two power clamps and that allows it to find most of the items in your home without added another clamp to each circuit breaker ?
Licensed electrician, eh? I electrocuted myself once. I know why they do electro-shock therapy to people... it makes you SUPER mellow for about 3 weeks. Weird experience. Cool setup. I rate this a big blue thumbs up. I hope all is groovy.
All is well my friend, I've zapped myself a few times, definitely a memorable experience. Massive respect for electricity. You have any experiments going on?
@@HouseDadLife Electrical experiments? Fortunately, no. In the growing world, I'm trying Daikon radishes... kind of funky results, not what I expected. I might shoot a video when I harvest next week.
If I change the water heater, it will automatically sense the new one after some time goes by. You can delete any device at any time as well if you change anything it has picked up.
Im looking to buy two of these and monitor each 100 amp breaker box for each side of my duplex to accurately be able to charge each tenant. Would this be accurate enough that I am not losing money? There is not a phone number to call "Sense." I keep getting emails from their company that does not understand exactly what I am asking. Thank you!
Mine has been very accurate, it's almost identical to the actual meter, less than 1 % difference. Just make sure you have the clamps closed all the way, I ended up taping mine closed because installing the panel cover opened it just slightly which really makes the readings go out.
Does the device tell power consumption against both live sides of the power coming into the panel? or, does it only show the total power consumption? Having balanced power against both sides of the 240 volts coming into the house is important.
My solar company just installed mine a few weeks back but the solar production is reading in the negatives. During peak sunlight hours it’s reading -8000w. Is this normal or is the problem in the install?
Sense will also detect devices in other panels as long as the sub panel is supplied from your main panel after where you have placed the clamps. If not you can use the optional solar sensors for another panel.
@@VLandrew You can watch me put mine in ua-cam.com/video/YLZ-pweMmjY/v-deo.html it's the first video I ever put on UA-cam so please mind the quality. Installation is very easy, just a clamp on each main, a wifi antenna and a power wire for the device from each main on a breaker. If you're not comfortable setting it us, it shouldn't cost you much to have an electrician do it.
Is there a way to 'assist' sense to identify? I see that you can turn on and off devices to see the load, but can you then label that device that you tested?
Right now there is no way to assist detection. You can add a sense compatible plug or the solar clamps to get devices live, but if you remove them the device is gone as well.
I like this sense. I have question. So the sense will try to name the appliances running on it's own, then you can name them? It does this even without a connection to the individual breakers?
That is correct, it finds devices by looking at the pattern of the waves. Although it does take time for it do identify them. You can customize or change devices to but it's been pretty good for me at knowing what it finds.
@@HouseDadLife thanks. That's frustrating since I mainly wanted to use it to verify that my panel and service was correctly sized by monitoring the usage throughout the year for min/max/average. I had hoped it would be there since the data is already collected and converted
@@HouseDadLife no worries. Thanks again. I just don't see the point of spending $300 to reverse calculate something that the monitor is collecting and converting to watts. If I were to do the calculations I guess I might as well look at my energy consumption and calculate from that. Won't give me real time numbers but historical usage. Thanks again. Great video.
So, does everything you need come in the box? I want to get one and get a surge protector at the same time, so I can have them install both at same time.
Thank you for the great in-dept detail on how to use this product. I do
want to purchase this. However, I have a question. I have two breaker
boxes in my house. One that is for electricity for appliances and the
other box which is for the air conditioner. Will I need to buy two
separate unites in order to record everything? Or would I need to place
this on the outside box? My electric bill is usually between $200 -
$299 a month and I want to find the source of what's causing the high
bills.
It would have to go on the box that is supplying everything. Unless you just want to monitor the appliances. It can only monitor what flows through the clamps you place in the panel.
Thanks for the great run down of the sense. Appreciate the candid approach!
You're welcome glad you took the time to comment!
My sense worked great for the first two years. Now it applies so of the solar generation to load using. I can tell because it the solar generation and load usage 5rack together.
Very interesting, sounds like something their support should be made aware of.
Glad to see a review after actual real-world usage. Not sure why you need the background music track. You are soft-spoken and it's drowning out your voice.
I'm glad to see you liked the video. There are times I am pretty quiet when the wife is sleeping, I'll pay more attention to the volume, thanks for the tip!
@@HouseDadLife My observation is that UA-camrs in their early days feel that background "music" is needed and as they mature they don't use it except during transitions and when no one is speaking. Background music just isn't needed IMHO. Good content and interesting information is needed, but not canned music.
@@emmgeevideo I appreciate you taking the time to leave very constructive feedback.
I just watched your video today. It was well made. I have a question, most of your usage while showing the consumption bubbles was "Other", I am guessing that means the system doesn't know what those are? It was a large portion of your 2.5kw usage at that moment, 1.8kw. (real time, not kwh) I would have thought after 5 months the Other bubble would have been gone, not 72% of your load. Am I misunderstanding what the Other represents?
Nope you are correct, most of the time it is pretty good, some of my undiscovered other is the washer and the oven preheat, these were being used at the time of recording. A bunch of my devices have been discovered but, it is the weakest part of the device, getting better, but still slow. Thanks so much for the compliment about the video, I do put a bunch of effort into every video you see on the channel. Time and practice, I hope I can continue to make them better!
Thank you for this thorough review!
And thank you for taking the time to comment.
Hey. I’d like to be notified every time my well pump turns on. Will this send me a push notification to let me know this?
You can choose to be alerted once it identifies the device.
Question, I have an lg top frig with ice maker on the bottom I don’t use
How can we tell if the ice maker is using power or not
There probably isn't an easy way to do that, you'd need an amp meter clamped to the draw wires, only way I can think of off the top of my head.
So you save money by learning what uses the most power, and you have to turn it off manually when not in use to eliminate waste
I have two 200a panels in my house. I guess I need two of these devices or can they support two meters but one app?
I'm not sure to be honest sorry I couldn't help.
Sir, it good to use a Sense device in west Africa of a voltage 220v
If you want to monitor your voltage use I wouldn't see why not. I'm not an electrician though so I'm not sure how you receive your power, as long as you have 2 110v hot lines I can't see why it wouldn't work but you might want to reach out to sense or an electrician.
Hi and thanks for posting. I purchased the sense unit for solar. Does it get installed differently?
Same install except you have 2 more clamps to install that get placed around your solar input wires.
Having multiple same devices consuming same amount of energy at different intervals (e.g. two space heaters) can easily throw sense off which is to be expected. I am still debating if I should get this, or a much cheaper alternative with multiple individual clamp sensors and risk not.beimg to fit them all into my panel.
I think both could be a good option depending on what your needs are. Either way getting a chance to see devices that leech power and save money by eliminating them is a great idea. It looks like Sense is having a holiday special right now $60 off, not sure if that helps you choose. amzn.to/3GX2oR8
I love it so far two weeks in still not sure how to add things like ups units and lights etc
Glad to hear you like it. If you don't want to wait I think tp link has some smart plugs that are immediately identified.
@@HouseDadLife well I have a tp link plug but the weird part is using surge protectors and or ups units have all my networking equipment plugged into it in case of a power outage and it hasn’t picked up anything on that 30amp circuit. I have seen other channels use similar ups units and the devices are detected
"What smart plugs are compatible with Sense? - Sense" help.sense.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012089393-What-smart-plugs-are-compatible-with-Sense-#:~:text=Sense%20is%20currently%20only%20compatible,plug%20questions%2C%20see%20the%20FAQ.
Hopefully they are on the list of compatible. I haven't added one personally so I can't be much help here.
Question
Will Sence find all my devices if I have a 26 circuit breaker and I can’t connect to all of them
It is supposed to find anything, it just takes time.
@@HouseDadLife so all you do is connect the top two power clamps and that allows it to find most of the items in your home without added another clamp to each circuit breaker ?
@@coreysgmail7261 You bet.
Licensed electrician, eh? I electrocuted myself once. I know why they do electro-shock therapy to people... it makes you SUPER mellow for about 3 weeks. Weird experience. Cool setup. I rate this a big blue thumbs up. I hope all is groovy.
All is well my friend, I've zapped myself a few times, definitely a memorable experience. Massive respect for electricity. You have any experiments going on?
@@HouseDadLife Electrical experiments? Fortunately, no. In the growing world, I'm trying Daikon radishes... kind of funky results, not what I expected. I might shoot a video when I harvest next week.
I'm running a daikon experiment right now as well, about 2 weeks in here. There will be a video to follow, more great white tests.
Good video, thank you ! When you change the water heater settings will it sense or create a new device? Thanks in advance.
If I change the water heater, it will automatically sense the new one after some time goes by. You can delete any device at any time as well if you change anything it has picked up.
@@HouseDadLife thank you Dad! Ordered one.
You're welcome, let us know what you think when you have it set up.
Im looking to buy two of these and monitor each 100 amp breaker box for each side of my duplex to accurately be able to charge each tenant. Would this be accurate enough that I am not losing money? There is not a phone number to call "Sense." I keep getting emails from their company that does not understand exactly what I am asking. Thank you!
Mine has been very accurate, it's almost identical to the actual meter, less than 1 % difference. Just make sure you have the clamps closed all the way, I ended up taping mine closed because installing the panel cover opened it just slightly which really makes the readings go out.
Will this Sense device works for a commercial space, such as a Beauty Salon, with air dryers, two air condition units etc.?
As long as you have a standard 220v 2 phase power I can't see why not.
Does the device tell power consumption against both live sides of the power coming into the panel? or, does it only show the total power consumption? Having balanced power against both sides of the 240 volts coming into the house is important.
Only the total power consumed is currently shown. You could use the solar clamps that come with the device to monitor both sides.
My solar company just installed mine a few weeks back but the solar production is reading in the negatives. During peak sunlight hours it’s reading -8000w.
Is this normal or is the problem in the install?
Negative, that's a great day, means you're making more than you are using. I salute you.
Has Sense been able to find your devices pretty accurately since your solar company installed it?
How do you mount the antenna when the panel is recessed in a wall?
You knock out a panel hole, and the antenna to get out of the electrical box comes with the kit.
Curious if anyone knows; can the app handle multiple Sense devices at once? I have multiple breaker boxes in my home.
I took a quick look and couldn't find an option. If you put the device at the source to the home I don't see any reason why that wouldn't work.
question: i also have a sub-panel. do i buy 2?
Sense will also detect devices in other panels as long as the sub panel is supplied from your main panel after where you have placed the clamps. If not you can use the optional solar sensors for another panel.
How did you Integrated sense in hubitat
No integrations with hubitat yet, but, you can use some of the same devices in both. All the screen images are from Sense ui.
@@HouseDadLife do you have any examples or how to set it up
@@VLandrew You can watch me put mine in ua-cam.com/video/YLZ-pweMmjY/v-deo.html it's the first video I ever put on UA-cam so please mind the quality. Installation is very easy, just a clamp on each main, a wifi antenna and a power wire for the device from each main on a breaker. If you're not comfortable setting it us, it shouldn't cost you much to have an electrician do it.
@@HouseDadLife I have it installed and working but trying to integrate with hubitat
Is there a way to 'assist' sense to identify? I see that you can turn on and off devices to see the load, but can you then label that device that you tested?
Right now there is no way to assist detection. You can add a sense compatible plug or the solar clamps to get devices live, but if you remove them the device is gone as well.
@@HouseDadLife Just ordered some - TYVM
I like this sense. I have question. So the sense will try to name the appliances running on it's own, then you can name them? It does this even without a connection to the individual breakers?
That is correct, it finds devices by looking at the pattern of the waves. Although it does take time for it do identify them. You can customize or change devices to but it's been pretty good for me at knowing what it finds.
@@HouseDadLife Thank you that's very helpful!
My pleasure
Is there a setting to display amperage? I think the app coverts the current data, so I’m hoping it can show a graph of the amps used…
I took a look and didn't see a setting to change it.
@@HouseDadLife thanks. That's frustrating since I mainly wanted to use it to verify that my panel and service was correctly sized by monitoring the usage throughout the year for min/max/average. I had hoped it would be there since the data is already collected and converted
Watts is easily converted to amps if you don't mind doing the math, watts / volts I think. Maybe it does it, sorry I couldn't be more help.
@@HouseDadLife no worries. Thanks again. I just don't see the point of spending $300 to reverse calculate something that the monitor is collecting and converting to watts. If I were to do the calculations I guess I might as well look at my energy consumption and calculate from that. Won't give me real time numbers but historical usage. Thanks again. Great video.
Are there any monthly or yearly fees for this device to access their website? Also, are you able to export data to run your own reports?
There is no monthly fee, I personally don't export any data so I'm not sure how that works.
So, does everything you need come in the box? I want to get one and get a surge protector at the same time, so I can have them install both at same time.
Everything you need comes in the box! Adding a surge protector, great idea.
How much does your ac unit use I know it's probably not the same just trying to find out if mine is reading right?
My AC is using 1493w, it is a year old high efficiency unit.
@@HouseDadLife ok thanks
What’s with the stupid music?
Ouch noted.