Sense helps optimize water heater settings

Device: Water Heater
Make: A. O. Smith
Model:
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We have your normal electric tank water heater but also have a recirculation system it’s connected to. We knew it did cost us extra money each month to have instant hot water by having a pump run and the extra load of keeping the water in the pipes the same temperature of the tank. After testing different run times for the temperature controlled pump, we were able to determine the perfect “happy medium” to keep the convenience of instant hot water and balance the cost to where we were comfortable. Without Sense I would have left it setup in the original configuration that was making our water heater makeup almost 20% of our electric bill. Now that is down to 13%. We are probably saving much more because now the family is “aware” of the cost of hot water in general and they don’t leave water running standing at the sink and I’ve noticed that showers have gotten shorter for all four of us.

Vacation home electric way too high for years.

Device: Other Heater
Make:
Model:
Estimated Savings:

For years, the electric bill (from our electric baseboard heaters) in our vacation home was way too high, even when the house was unoccupied. There were obviously things that I didn’t understand, but nobody could offer any advice. Even though Sense could be better at detecting devices, I was able to monitor the overall usage, flip breakers, do some experiments, and determine that those unnecessary heating zones were making up a huge portion of my bill. It took a little bit of effort, but using Sense along with smart plugs, a Wi-Fi thermostat, Wi-Fi thermometers, and some oil-filled radiant heaters allowed me to cut my winter electric bill in half!