Air handler fan wastes energy

Sense saved me about $500 the first day it was installed.

Even before Sense had identified any devices, I started looking around for devices that might be wasting energy. We’d just replaced our HVAC system with an energy-efficient air source heat pump system and were looking forward to realizing savings over our old oil heat and AC units. I discovered that the air handler fan for the upstairs was set to constantly run at medium speed. Using the Sense app I discovered that this was using about 450W just moving air around. It being Spring, there was no heat or cooling needed in the house. I switched the fan off and saw a dramatic drop in power usage. Without Sense, I would never have known that this so-called energy-efficient system was wasting so much energy! While I have a long way to go, Sense has given me the information I needed to take charge of excessive energy usage in my home. The fan is now set to Auto mode, and although it’s still using energy, it’s far less than the 450W if was using at constant medium speed.

Share how you used the Sense app to help. Be specific!:
I used the Sense app like a diagnostic meter. I walked around the house turning things off and back on and looking at the power graph to see how much power was being used. I logged the numbers in a spreadsheet. I also assessed parasitic load by unplugging devices that were supposedly not being used. Some of them were just consuming energy for no purpose and I unplugged them.

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