Finding a hog

I installed Sense around oct 2021, at that point my average energy consumption was ~900-1000 kwh/month. All of the sudden it jumped to ~1400kwh/month. From the Sense’s data, all i can tell is that it’s between “always on” and “other”. I cant think of any new devices i added in that timeframe.

All i can come up with is:

• something wrong with my HVAC system (we’ve ha to have a transformer and a couple of relays replaced over the years)
• I have a few USB outlets here and there in the house, maybe one of them is somehow shorted or damaged (this feels like a longshot though)
• Some faulty wiring

any other ideas?

I think it would be pretty challenging to diagnose this issue for you, as you have far more knowledge of your house than anyone else. All I can do is share what I did to track down devices that were using too much power.

I first set up a spreadsheet for every outlet and switch with columns for watts used when on versus watts used when off or idle. For the switches I know what lights are connected and the wattage of the bulbs in those lights so I could figure that out easily enough. For the outlets I used a Kill-O-Watt (and have also used outdoor Z-Wave devices that report energy) to get the values of the loads.

In my case I was leaving my TV amplifier on all night and it uses 500w of energy, shutting that off saved me a ton of kWh each month. I systematically figured out my power hogs, calculated stuff I couldn’t test like large appliance, the furnace, etc and was able to be within about a hundred kWh of my bills.

Not being aware of your load, all I can do is offer a couple of suggestions;

  • light(s) left on in a storage area. I’ve done this a few times

  • It’s been a hot summer in North America. Depending on your location, it could be A/C load.

  • oven light

  • a device turned on by HA that your not aware of. A device being turned on during sleep hours

I highly doubt the items that you listed would cause the increase.

Do you have a hot water cylinder that runs off electricity? You could have a faulty thermostat.

no, it’s a heat pump on a schedule… at first i thought it was bypassing the schedule and running all the time, but it’s running fine.