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 Device Details screen and present you with a number of suggestions under the Community Names section. This feature uses crowdsourced data from other Sense users that 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 (Device > Device Timeline) 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: In the Devices screen, you can select any individual device and tap the Stats card to see statistics for average run time, usage this month, and more. A Power Meter for the device is also available here. Tapping the gear icon in the top right corner of the Devices screen will allow you 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 "Device Detection" 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 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 devices in general, these may be combined and renamed by our intelligent modeling system.