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Sense data leads to house main drain pipe leak

Device: Other Device
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Very slow leak in old cast iron house main drain pipe that runs through basement crawl space where a dehumidifier is located to keep humidity low. Called plumber to replace pipe. Savings difficult to estimate since it should include prevention of future erosion of drain pipe and serious damage to joists etc.

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An earthquake burst my well and Sense caught it

Device: Water Pump
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On 7/4 we had a 6.4 earthquake in Ridgecrest. My pressure pump was running nonstop.
I saw this on my Sense App. I wandered around my home and discovered my deep well tank had burst spreading 4500 gal on the desert

I knew I needed a visit from my well maintainer. I called first thing on 7/5 and they said go get a replacement tank,ASAP. Bought my tank at 8 am the 5th. They delivered the tank on the 6th and it was installed on the 8th.
My installer said there were no more tanks in the area.

3 weeks later the hardware store said they were getting their first delivery of tanks.

Without support from my Sense monitor, I might have been without water for 3 weeks.

My total cost for the new tank was $4000, installed

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Identified a short cycling AC!

Device: AC
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I’ve had sense for a week, and it (mostly) identified my AC after 2 days. I quickly noticed that my AC was starting and stopping a lot. For example, yesterday between 1 and 2 it cycled 6 times, running for as little as 5 minutes at a time and cycling back on with as little as a 4 minute break.

I did some research, and learned that short run times are inefficient and don’t let the system do a great job of dehumidifying the house (mine is very humid!). Also, short cycling is bad for certain components of the HVAC, causing them to break down more quickly.

After some investigation, I’ve determined that the short cycling is being caused by having many zones in my house, having a slightly oversized unit, and having thermostats with a 0.5 degree unadjustable swing differential. To fix this, I am buying new thermostats for each zone with adjustable swing differentials, which I plan to set to 1.5 degrees. This should make my AC run longer to reach the cooler temperature and take longer before needing to run again.

Reducing short cycling should make my house more comfortable by better controlling the humidity. It also should immediately save me a little bit of money by letting my unit run more efficiently and reducing the amount my dehumidifiers need to run. Finally, it should save me money in the long run by reducing the wear on my HVAC from too many startups.