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Add to SafariWhen comparing Sense vs Brultech GreenEye Monitor (GEM), the Slant community recommends Brultech GreenEye Monitor (GEM) for most people. In the question“What is the best whole house electricity monitors?” Brultech GreenEye Monitor (GEM) is ranked 1st while Sense is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose Brultech GreenEye Monitor (GEM) is:
If using the DashBox, internet outages or router downtime will not necessarily mean gaps/holes in data.
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Detecting electronic devices is unique "smart" feature
As more houses come online with Sense installations, the library of electronic devices that the Sense system can recognize should improve. The Sense company intends to add more smart features later such as notifying the user if some devices are faulty once they have enough data to build on.
Pro Can work completely offline
If using the DashBox, internet outages or router downtime will not necessarily mean gaps/holes in data.
Pro Monitors water, gas, temperature, and electricity usage simultaneously
There are four pulse counter inputs which can be used to measure gas, water, possibly other things.
1 temperature bus/ 8 temperature inputs for tracking heating patterns.
32 current transformers
Overall a comprehensive monitoring solution for utilities.
Pro Flexible and modular
It's nice that they let the user modify the package to suit their needs, particularly network method and whether to use a cloud service, keep it local, or a combination of both.
Even if no module is selected it still comes with a DB9 cable for RS232 access.
Pro Measures true power
Other options are inaccurate. This option is supposedly as dead on as the electric company metering is.
Cons
Con Slightly inaccurate
Measures apparent power (S).
Con Must create & log in to the company's cloud service to access data
If the company ever goes under, this unit could potentially become useless.
Con Slow and unreliable about discovering electronic devices
Discovery of devices/appliances is incredibly slow. Booting up your system for the first time you can expect to wait a minimum of 24 hours before the first device is recognized. One YouTube review (video here) has stated that the Sense unit has only identified 16 appliances in over a month for him. Some electrical appliances may never get recognized at all, especially smaller ones.
Consistent identification of devices cannot be expected when connectivity drops or you have to reboot the sense system.
Multiple items for the same appliance can't be merged or grouped.
In short, the identification of electronic devices is still in it's early stages. It is supposed to improve over time but currently it's not a great experience.
Con Expensive
Once you add optional modules such as Wifi, Ethernet, Zigbee connectivity options; DashBox (data storage /local webapp server for presenting the data), and Current Transformers the cost approaches $700.
Con Not really "smart"
GEM can only report whole house energy measurements and measurements per circuit. It can't tell you anything "smart" about your appliances. This means more investigative effort involved to understand how much your appliances use. Especially if something is faulty or working inefficiently.
Con Installation & setup is lengthy
It will take a long time to install all the monitors and setup the system to show you everything about your home's carbon footprint.
