Sense vs Emporia vs Span, what load monitoring works best in 2026?

[Alan]

I wanted to start a direct comparison thread for the Home Battery Forum, because in the USA in 2026 a lot of people planning storage end up comparing Sense, Emporia, and Span for load monitoring. They all promise visibility, but the real question is which one gives data you can actually use to plan backup loads and runtime.

Which one are you running, and which gives you the most useful data for battery planning? I’d love real experiences on how clear the reporting is, how accurate the device detection feels, how easy it is to separate critical loads versus “nice to have,” and whether it changed what you keep on your backup panel.

 

[SwordArseid]

Span looks awesome for control and backup planning, but it also feels like a bigger commitment and cost.

 

[OrdineKnight]

I’ve only had hands on time with Emporia so far, but for battery planning it’s been the easiest for me to turn into actual numbers. I don’t need perfect “device detection,” I mostly want clean circuit level kW and kWh so I can do realistic runtime math. It made me realize a couple “small” loads were not small at all, so my backup list got tighter fast.