Sense Energy Monitor - Track Electricity Usage in Real Time and Save Money - Meets Rigorous ETL/Intertek Safety Standards

I have had a Sense for over 4 years now and I still enjoy it very much. I have used it to reduce overall energy consumption in my home by helping raise awareness of "Always On". More on Always On in a moment.My one warning - its not a "Buyer Beware", but more "Buyer be aware". Sense's ability to live up to its marketing hype with device detection is affected by many variables. Some homes have good results. Others don't. I've had reliable detections that work great for a while, and then stop working when the seasons change.Another thing to keep in mind. We tend to think of appliances in their whole. "The Fridge". "The Washer". Sense uses Machine learning algorithms to detect devices. Notice I said devices, not appliances. Your Fridge is actually a whole bunch of different parts that do different things at different times. Sense may detect your "Fridge" but it has actually only detected the compressor. It may not detect the defroster, or the ice maker. Or it may detect those things, but not necessarily as "Fridge". There are tools to allow you to merge detected devices. So if it finds "Fridge" and then it finds "Light" and you know that "Light" is actually the Fridge Light, you can merge them together so it all gets tracked together.This leads me to the next item. Sense doesn't always know what its detected. It knows it found something, and it can generally put a category to it (Motor, Heating Device, Light etc..) but the leg work on finding out which motor, or which light may be on you. Sometimes this is really easy. You turn on your bathroom vanity lights and see "Light" turn on in Sense, and you know and can then rename "Light" to "Bathroom Vanity". Other times, its harder to track down, especially when the device detected is a part of an appliance. This is where the active community forums comes in. Sense's Machine Learning is good, but at times, a human is better. Frequently people will post the graphic of the device that was detected, and other community members can chime in with suggestions. "I have a Garbage Disposal that has a waveform like that. Do you have a Garbage Disposal?"While I say a human eye is sometimes better, this is another item to mention. Training Sense is NOT something you can do. People always ask "can I train it". The short answer is no. Sense's ML system will do its work and find devices on its own. There is no training mode. Turning something on and off a bunch of times to try to "help" Sense see it is not always useful.Now, back to Always On. While my device detection has been so so, the Always On feature is what has really saved me the most money. After running Sense for about 48 hours, it will come up with an Always On number. This is basically the "low water" mark for electric usage in your home. At any given point in time, you are always using around xxx Watts. If you have an always on of 100w, using the average US rate of electric of 13.28c/kWh, that is $9.70/month or $116/year on your electric bill. While Sense cannot help you identify the Always On devices, just the awareness of the always on is enough to help you start making changes (if you want) to your home. Seeing my always on power of 600w (~$700/year) made me start looking for things that didn't turn off. I had a fan in my basement that ran 24/7 that I had never thought about. Now that fan is on a timer and only runs 12 hours a day.My TV stereo system which was always on is now on a power switch. Savings of 15w of Always On power. And the list can go on. Without too much effort, and more importantly, without impacting the comfort of the home, I have cut that always on number down to 300w.A last benefit of Always On. Once you learn your homes baseline, if that always on changes significantly in one direction or another, it can help to notify you that something is amiss. Always on goes down? Maybe a failed pool recirculating pump. Always On goes up a lot? Someone left the fan in the guest bedroom on. And so on.So all in all, I highly recommend a Sense. Whether it detects many of your home devices, or you just use it as a live instant power meter, it can bring savings and knowledge to your electric consumption in your home.

I'm Thailand customer who want to try this cool gadget.Of course, the warranty will automatically voided.And i'm fully awared my risk and acknowledged.I hope my review could provided valuable information for other international customer.And you may use it at your own risk.My electrical system. (In Thailand, which is common in EU-standard.)Is 1 Phase (Non-split like US), 220 Volt, 50 HertzWhich means... i have 2 wire goes to my house.One is LINE, another one is NEUTRAL.And voltage across Line-Neutral is 220 Volt.I'm am Mechanical Engineer and have some basic knowledge about electrical system.So, i'm doing this on my own (With my Dad's help) without certified electrician.We use extremely caution, and use probe to double check which wire is Live (Always have electricity) and which line is Neutral.Installation step :(Find the picture) I detach the main-panel and on the left side.You will see main circuit-breaker with two big black-wire (That coming from power-line) connected to it.Black wire on the LEFT pass thought breaker and connected to upper uninsulated Bus-bar. (This is Neutral zero Volt)Black wire on the RIGHT pass through breaker and distribute electricity through all of Circuit-breaker on the right. (This is Line 220 Volt)For electrical wiring, i have two breaker empty (the 6th and the 7th)So, the Black-wire (Power supply & voltage sensing to SENSE) goes to 6th breaker.And White-wire obviously goes to upper busbar (Neutral)For the Current sensing (The clamp), just attached only one to the Line.Setup :When i switch on the power.The app show that something wrong with the installation :)I just continue and go to the main screen.And yes, its showing Power consumption for only one phase.Testing :I do initial testing, like turn on the light.Use the Induction hobs, oven.The app show the power consumption very accurate.Problem :Yes, i use this in Thailand.So, after 3 hour of data-sampling. The main menu indicate warning say about"Sense detected an installation problem and unable to fix automatically. Support team will take a look."Because i use only one phase with abnormal 220 Volt.And SENSE probably cannot analyse my current and voltage data to map electronic devices in my house.I'll try to contact SENSE team... if they could make my account as an exception.And analyst my data...Another problem is, when SENSE was running for a while.The real time data of Power (Watt) indicate the app seem to be shift. and its getting larger by the time passed.For example, on the 10:45 its showing live feed of data on 10:40.I thought this might be internet connection or bug. So, i reset my router and SENSE.Its still happening and three hour passed. The gap was larger.Like.. on 13:50, SENSE live-feed time showing data from 13.35 !Conclusion :Regardless to problems (exclude i cause by using it in Thailand).I'm satisfy with the futuristic concept of tracking power consumption in household.The setup was quite simple, If you have electrical knowledge.If you don't, just call professional guy to take care that for ya.I can't try this AI-feature yet. But still love it !Update : 2/2/2020Day 0After SENSE detected installation problem and cannot analyse electrical signal to map my house appliance.I've sent an email to support team to unlock or by-pass.And at the end of day, App show that installation diagnosis is OK and start listening now.Day 1My Pressure booster water pump was detected. (Brand : Grundfos)App saying that most user voted this might be 97% match to the "Pump"I do some verification, on the pump on.. see if SENSE detect this pump.And yep, this is definitely the pump.Day 2Sense notify that two new device detected.Heater & Motor...Identify the "heater" was a little bit difficult.Because i have... Water heater, Rice cooker, Induction stove ?But after i click at the usage data. I can see that this Heater was active around 6 p.m.At that time, i was't shower or use the stove !So, 100% this is rice-cooker. (Electrolux-brand)App suggest Coffee maker 50% & Rice cooker with 40% confidence, Good guess !For motor, i just click and see the activity.This one was active on 11:00 p.m. until 8:00 in the morning.Also, it keep cycling ON-OFF for 50-70 times during nightApp suggest this one was A/C with 97% confidence !