Over time, Sense will find many unique devices and give them basic labels like “Motor 1,” “Heat 8,” "Device 4," and so on. The strategies below will help you get more information and zero in on what exactly these unnamed devices are!
Community Names
Tapping on a new device notification will bring up the Devices screen and present you with a number of suggestions under the Community Names section. This feature uses crowdsourced data from other Sense users who had similar device signatures recognized. If one of the suggestions seems correct, select it and tap “Name it.” If you’re uncertain, just mark “This is a guess” and keep an eye on it for a few days. The other strategies below can also help to inform this decision.
Device Timeline review
Click your unnamed device and scroll down to view your device timeline (Devices) to see when an unnamed device is firing. Is it at regular intervals? The same time each day? What might that tell you about what it could be? Maybe that unnamed heat running before 8 AM every day is your hair dryer!
Device statistics
At the Devices screen, select any individual device, then:
- Tap the Stats card to see statistics for average run time, usage this month, and more.
- Review the Usage card to see a Power Meter for the device. Tapping the arrow in the top right corner of the Devices screen will allow you to rename the device (once you think you've found it!), enable notifications, choose whether or not you want it displayed on your timeline, and merge it with other devices.
Notifications
Navigate to Settings and tap Notifications to access your alert settings. Make sure notifications are turned on for "New Device" to get alerted when a new unnamed device is detected so you can kick start your detective work. The Devices screen also allow you to enable the notifications for a specific unnamed device. When you see a notification for it, stop and think: What may have just turned on? If you're not home, it might be something automatic, like your hot water heater. If you are home, did someone just manually start something? The dishwasher? A hair dryer?]
To help kick off your detective work, here are just a few examples of devices that might appear as unnamed heats or motors:
|
Type |
Examples |
|
Heat |
Kitchen: Hot plate, electric kettle, toaster, coffee maker Bathroom: Hair dryer, curling/flat iron, heat lamp Bedroom: Electric blanket, water bed, humidifier Living room: Television Any room: Space heater, baseboard heating, incandescent light Utility: Dryer, hot water heater (electric) |
|
Motor |
Kitchen: Mixer, blender, coffee grinder, exhaust fan, dishwasher Bathroom: Ventilation fan Bedroom: Fan, humidifier Living room: Fan, or pump in a water fountain or fish tank Any room: Vacuum Utility: Washing machine, sump pump, HVAC, hot water heater (gas) |
Note: Any of the above could be a single component within a device. For example, most clothes dryers have both a heating element to heat up the air and a motor element to tumble the clothes. As Sense continues to learn both about your house and variations in types of devices in general, these may be combined and renamed by our intelligent modeling system.