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How do you move out of a smarthome?

shkspr.mobi

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Re: How do you move out of a smarthome?

#111

Post by tzs »

pythonaut_16 wrote: post #63
wyldfire wrote: post #20

> do we hand over all the cloud passwords as well? Or do we factory reset everything and let them go through the dull process of setting up new accounts? Wow, I hope this is rhetorical. No, you never give anyone your password for anything. Yes, you absolutely let them go through the dull process of setting up new accounts. > When I move into a house, do I want to spend the first day looking up manuals online to try a…

That could be a cool exercise for your home. Document the various quirks and routines in a Github repository, then the new owner can gain access by forking it. Taking it a step farther, your family could submit issues or pull requests for various issues as they come up, generating an easy list of things that should be documented or fixed. Now realistically the person buying your house probably doesn't know how to use…

I've thought of something similar, but much less fancy. I just keep an OmniOutliner document where I log repairs, maintenance, specs for things like air filters, and that sort of thing.

If I'm alive when I stop living here, my plan is to print out the log and have it nicely bound, and turn that over to the next owners as something like a ship's log, but for a house instead of a ship.

I'll also leave a thumb drive with the OmniOutliner document, exports of that document in various formats [1], and a PDF of the print out.

[1] Probably HTML, Word, OPML, and RTF.

Re: How do you move out of a smarthome?

#112

Post by brudgers »

junkcollector wrote: post #72
0culus wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fire code where? Requirement to be networked is a new thing to me, at least as far as single family dwellings go.

I've dealt with it in the state fire code for Massachusetts and Maryland. I believe it is also in the New York and New Jersey code books. I'm unsure of other states but, it is a relatively recent adoption in all of the aforementioned states and I expect that it will be common in nearly all states soon. If it seems to be a bit much just be glad you aren't in Massachusetts where they are currently trying to get arc fla…

Arc fault protection for outlets in dwelling bedrooms was was new in the 2002 NEC. Back then, the only available solution was an arc-fault interrupt circuit breaker. Arc fault receptacles are currently available in the market place...

...however, the code (at least back in 2002) specified protection of all electrical outlets. Receptacles are plugged into outlets. So are hired wired lights, smoke detectors, etc. An outlet is "A point on the wiring system at which current is taken to supply utilization equipment."

This means that any literal reading of the code requires arc-fault breakers from a practical perspective since even the outlet into which an arc-fault receptacle is plugged requires protection upstream from the receptacle. On the other hand, building departments often make code interpretations that are politically expedient and that's why some jurisdictions may allow arc-fault receptacles as a means of code compliance.

Re: How do you move out of a smarthome?

#113

Post by btgeekboy »

devmunchies wrote: post #33
wyldfire wrote: post #20

> do we hand over all the cloud passwords as well? Or do we factory reset everything and let them go through the dull process of setting up new accounts? Wow, I hope this is rhetorical. No, you never give anyone your password for anything. Yes, you absolutely let them go through the dull process of setting up new accounts. > When I move into a house, do I want to spend the first day looking up manuals online to try a…

> not be able to easily set the heating until they've moved in ... the epitome of "first-world problems" Staying warm is a first-world problem? How out of touch can the author be? That's a basic need.

One would think that a new homeowner, if actually locked out of the thermostat somehow, could go to their local hardware store and pick up a cheap $30 thermostat to control the furnace.

Re: How do you move out of a smarthome?

#114

Post by hkmurakami »

ashleyn wrote: post #6
nathantotten wrote: post #2

I recently moved and took everything with me. This included replacing z-wave light switches and outlets with normal ones. I swapped everything out before we listed the house. The reality is that most people will just be confused by this sort of stuff and you aren’t going to get any extra money when you sell your house. It’s a pain, but assuming you don’t move very often it’s worth it. Now I have all the things in my…

The not adding value to the house bit is important. Nobody really knows about or cares enough about home automation to justify an added expense on the cost of the home. Maybe this will change when the "iPhone of home automation" finally comes out. Also Z-wave stuff is EXPENSIVE! so if it's not going to up the value of the house then I'm basically giving that stuff away for free.

There are people like me who actively avoid home automation too. Seeing a nest at an open house is a negative.

Re: How do you move out of a smarthome?

#115

Post by commandar »

enobrev wrote: post #103
commandar wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The interesting legacy corollary here is that it's completely bog standard for home security systems to be left in place when a house is sold. I say this because the systems that ADT, etc sell these days are largely made up of white labeled COTS Z-Wave sensors with the security panel just being a hub and interface to the Z-Wave network. The house I moved into this past year is covered by sensors for an old ADT system…

Just as well, if you plan to sign up with ADT, they insist upon new equipment. I just went through this. We bought our house in February. ADT was sending crap almost daily so I called to see what they were offering. They absolutely would not use the 3-year old equipment in the house. Installation would come with new equipment. I didn't care either way, but thought that was notable. No matter; I wasn't interested, and…

Yeah, it's the reason I just went straight to tearing them all out. There is literally nothing ADT's whitelabeled sensors do that standard Z-Wave devices can't at a third the price -- or less! -- without tying me to any specific security company. If I decide to move to any other HA system, I just replace the hub and pair my existing devices back up.

In fact, ADT's latest move seems to be piggybacking on Smart Things for HA, but... since I already have Smart Things what do I really need ADT for?

Re: How do you move out of a smarthome?

#116

Post by gjjrfcbugxbhf »

fastball wrote: post #97
whatshisface wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be in your interest to conceal the problems that your house has, in order to compete with the ignorance offered by everyone else. While this would benefit humanity, nobody would do it.

All houses have problems. The selling point is, "yeah, we have problems like everyone else, but they're out in the open, so you'll never be surprised and you'll have a clear gameplan to deal with all of them". You're selling it as a mitigation of stress.

Except that many buyers would see this as an elaborate attempt to hide bigger issues...

Re: How do you move out of a smarthome?

#117

Post by hutzlibu »

Hui, I really hope, that once I will buy a house, the whole automation thing/IoT will be standardized. And I controll everything with one app, tied to the (small) house server.

And the new owner just gets control over the system and controll everything. No cloud/account nightmare like described here ...

Re: How do you move out of a smarthome?

#118

Post by stronglikedan »

lucaspiller wrote: post #100
ashark wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heh, it'll be less than 1% of the total time I spend doing touch-ups and such. Maybe three minutes to save, yeah, $50-75. A tiny extra amount of effort on the actual packing and move, but time saved buying new bulbs when the ones in the next house start burning out makes up for that. Besides, I've got most of 'em in in-socket splitters (makes one bulb socked into two) in crappy basement fixtures which I'm pretty sure…

Three minutes to change all the bulbs?

Sure, if you have nine people helping you.

Re: How do you move out of a smarthome?

#119

Post by khedoros1 »

Silhouette wrote: post #62
ashleyn wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The not adding value to the house bit is important. Nobody really knows about or cares enough about home automation to justify an added expense on the cost of the home. Maybe this will change when the "iPhone of home automation" finally comes out. Also Z-wave stuff is EXPENSIVE! so if it's not going to up the value of the house then I'm basically giving that stuff away for free.

The not adding value to the house bit is important. Nobody really knows about or cares enough about home automation to justify an added expense on the cost of the home. I'd actually go further. I do care about home automation, because it is almost certainly a negative and possibly a deal-breaker for me to put any offer in to buy a place. If it has anything installed that has any form of off-site access or any depende…

Mostly, I don't care about home automation. I don't care so much about the previous owner removing the components, because I'm sure that I can do it when I move in. Anything that can be set up for remote access is at least being disconnected, if not removed entirely.

Re: How do you move out of a smarthome?

#120

Post by sowbug »

Another modern-technology problem: how do you pass on your cryptocurrency wealth when you die? Wills, trusts, estate law, and legal force are meaningless if you've forgotten to provide your private keys to next of kin.
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