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Home automation can enhance comfort and efficiency. With careful planning, a seamless experience can be created for you and any future homeowner.
The first step in Home Automation should be planning to sell your home. Set guidelines allowing easy transfer of your Home Automation assets to the next owner. Here are my guidelines:
Choose an Assistant or Hub
A Smart Home Hub is the central control system for your smart devices. Hubs allow smart devices to interact or to be put on a schedule, which allow more complex automations. Examples of Home Hubs are: Samsung SmartThings, Wink, Hubitat, OpenHab, Lutron Caseta or even a home security system. There are many other hubs. Professional installations in the US, generally use Lutron Caseta. A change to Caseta requires a service call.
A home hub requires deep knowledge to maintain and configure. Maintaining and configuring a hub is not the best use of my time. Yes, there are benefits to a hub. However, I opt for simplicity. I choose to use a voice assistant (Amazon Echo) as my home automation hub. I get 90% of a hub's beneffits with little efffort.
Don't use your personal email address or username
Set up a dedicated email account for your home automation. Using your personal email can complicate transferring accounts to new owners. Also, create a username for your home.
For many home automation products and services, an email is the username to your account, and the only way to change the email is to remove all the devices, and then reinstall them using the new homeowners account.
If possible get a credit card for Home Automation accounts.
I tried to never use a product or service that had recurring charges, but some require it.
When you move, you don't want the product or service to break, but you also don't want the new owner to be charging on your account.
A simple solution is to have a credit card linked to the house and to its home automation accounts that an be canceled when you move. The new homeowner can login using the username/email and passwords set above, aand change the credit card.
Use a password manager not tied to your browser
Most browsers, like Google chrome, will generate and store strong passwords. When you move, you will need to view all of these passwords and turn them over to the new owner. It is much easier to use a multi-platform password manager (e.g., LastPass or Bitwarden) tied to the home's email account and turn this over to the new owner.
You can also create a strong password that is used for all accounts. However, if one account is compromised, then they all are. Many home automation devices and services are provided by countries that have laax security rules. So, it is best to have a unique password for each account.
Decide what stays and what moves
Home automation can be costly. Before installing a home automation device, decide if it will stay when you move.
A common real estate rule is if the device is attached to the house, then it stays.
Services or Devices that stayed in my lasst home sale:
Home Security System
Irrigation System (OpenSprinkler)
Smart Light Switches (Kasa/TP-Link and SmartLife)
Wireless Access Points (WAX214)
Outdoor Security Cameras
Smart Doorbell (Arlo)
Smart Door Locks (August)
Smart Overhead Garage Door Opener (MyQ)
HVAC Controller (Lennox iComfort)
Home Movie Theater (Optoma)
Surround Sound System (Denon, part of home theater)
Local TV access (antenna, FireTV recast)
Services or Devices removed:
ISP
Streaming services
Most switch, racks and Amazon Echos (I left one of each)
Create a notebook
A well-organized notebook ensures smooth transitions for new homeowners, especially for those less tech-savvy.
I bought several three ring binders and sets of colored tabs. I have an industrial strength 3 hole-punch. All the necessary documentation to setup, trouble shoot or change common items on each project was printed or 3-hole punched and put into the binders. I also included a link to the project's webpage.
When required, I included login credentials, for each device or service. I also included any warranties.
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