Sense users can now use the middle port to track up to two separate 120V/240V circuits in their electrical panel. Dedicated installation requires that the middle port is unused by solar, generator, or 400A split-service monitoring (or another feature.) For instructions on setting up Sense with Dedicated Circuit Monitoring, please consult the Sense with Dedicated Circuit Monitoring Installation Guide.
With clamp-on current sensors, the Sense Home Energy Monitor takes current and voltage measurements over 1 million times every second. From this incredibly high-resolution data, it derives the electrical signatures of individual devices. In comparison, most “high resolution” smart meters only take measurements every couple of seconds…hardly real time! You can read more about how Sense works in this blog post. Within the first week of installation, Sense should be able to find some common devices that cycle on and off frequently, like your refrigerator or microwave. Some devices will take longer to identify, until the algorithms have seen enough contextual data to reliably detect them. There are devices that Sense won’t be able to recognize right away, but as more Sense Home Energy Monitors are installed across the US and Canada, our machine learning algorithms will have more data to generate models from, and the device detection capabilities will just keep growing!
To ensure you have the best experience with Sense, the following compatibility specifications are recommended: Your home has: 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi network with consistent internet connection. Sense is not compatible with 5Ghz Wi-Fi signals. Its own electrical meter and accessible electrical panel. Your mobile device runs on iOS or Android and has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. Your electrical panel: Is a split-phase 120/240V or a 400A split-service residential panel with individual panels up to 200A. Must have enough space to fit sensor clamps with HxWxD dimensions of 3.375″ x 2″ x .75″ (85.73 x 50.8 x 19.05mm), and an inside diameter of 1”. The Sense current sensors may not be able to fit around busbars. Our sensor cables are 46″ (116.84cm) long and our power cable is 36″ (91.44cm) long. Does not drop below 32°F (0°C) or exceed 154°F (68°C). Is not exposed to water or areas with high condensation (Sense complies with ANSI/IEC 60529 Rated IPx0). For more information on electrical panel compatibility, check out this support article. For information on Solar system compatibility, take a look here.
No. There is only a one-time cost for the Sense energy monitor. Use of the Sense mobile and web apps is included. New features and enhancements are free via app updates and over-the-air software upgrades.
Even before Sense discovers devices in your home, it’s easy to see how much energy they consume just by turning them on and off and watching the Power Meter in real time. Check this video to learn more. Once Sense completes the signal check process, it will start detecting devices in your home. Sense is able to identify many electrical devices in typical homes, and we continue to expand our device detection abilities via crowdsourced data as more Sense monitors come online. However, it likely won’t detect everything. Low-wattage consumer electronics like computers, smart devices, and game consoles can be especially tough to track. As we get data from more and more homes, the performance and coverage of our device detection will improve. In the meantime, many of our users have had great success tracking these more challenging loads via our smart plug integration. Learn more about the machine learning technology that undergirds Sense here
At Sense we take security very seriously and we do everything we can to ensure your data is secure. All communications between the Sense monitor, the Sense cloud servers, and Sense apps are encrypted with AES 128-bit encryption and TLS/SSL (HTTPS). Sense uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) for cloud servers and online storage. Personally identifiable information like email address and account information is stored in physically separate systems from any application data. Physical security is managed by Amazon and access to these production systems is limited to a very small group of Sense engineering team members. Automated systems process the data collected from Sense monitors to detect devices, send notifications, generate report emails, and power the Sense apps. Sense never shares any of this data with 3rd parties without explicit user opt-in on a case-by-case basis (for example, when a utility wishes to provide discounts/services to their customers in exchange for sharing limited power data.) Sense support employees will on occasion need to access some of this data to troubleshoot issues, but again we will only access this data with explicit permission from you. You can read our full privacy policy here.
