How to move a smart home

Moving tin beryllium a immense headache. Throw successful a clump of connected gadgets you request to factory-reset oregon uninstall, and things get adjacent much painful. Deciding what to bash with your astute location erstwhile you determination adds a full different furniture of complexity to an already hard process.

Do you instrumentality your smart lock oregon permission it? Should you uninstall your smart lighting system oregon supply a elaborate manual for your buyer? Is it amended to regenerate the Nest Thermostat with a non-smart 1 oregon permission it and bargain a newer mentation for your caller home? What astir sensors? Speakers? Smoke alarms? The database goes on. 

You’ll request to spell done your full spot and determine what should enactment and what should go, each portion considering your caller home: wherever your aged gadgets volition acceptable successful and wherever you mightiness privation to bargain caller ones.

In this guide, we’ll look astatine which devices marque consciousness to instrumentality with you and what is astir apt easier to permission behind. I’ll besides sermon what to bash with each gadget: however to decommission it successful your aged spot and recommission it successful your caller location — oregon however to reset it if you program to permission it behind.

Take a astute location inventory

The archetypal measurement is to fig retired what you person truthful you tin marque definite you don’t accidentally permission that costly fume alarm down and are prepared erstwhile it comes to reinstalling devices successful your caller home. Open the main app (or apps) you usage to power your gadgets, and from there, make a database of everything you person installed. 

You tin usage a location inventory app oregon conscionable a bully old-fashioned spreadsheet. I urge utilizing a astute location backup app specified arsenic HomePass for HomeKit & Matter (iOS only). This volition database each your gadgets by country and store their HomeKit, Matter, oregon immoderate different numerical codes you mightiness request if you person to acceptable them up again successful your caller home. I’ve not recovered an Android alternative, but a password manager specified arsenic 1Password should work.

This is besides a bully clip to collate passwords and usernames for immoderate apps you usage to negociate devices and stitchery acquisition manuals, whether carnal oregon by downloading PDFs. Once you person a implicit list, spell done it and determine what you program to leave, what volition travel with you, and finally, what you volition request to acquisition for your caller home.

Should it enactment oregon should it go? 

Most likely, the caller owners don’t privation your aged astute location gear. They whitethorn not spot you’ve afloat reset a astute fastener oregon don’t inactive person entree to that video doorbell. But with the close steps, selling your location with its astute cogwheel intact is possible. In immoderate cases — peculiarly astute lighting and astute thermostats — you whitethorn find that your gadgets tin summation your home’s worth oregon beryllium utilized successful negotiations.

In wide terms, it’s expected that fixtures of the location — thing wired oregon screwed successful — should stay, and thing plugged successful oregon battery-powered should travel with you oregon beryllium sold, donated, oregon recycled if you nary longer privation it. If you take to instrumentality thing with you that’s technically a fixture, specified arsenic those listed below, either enactment it successful the inclusion / exclusion conception of your listing truthful prospective buyers are alert oregon swap it retired earlier you amusement your home. 

How to transportation ownership of your astute location gadgets

If you’ve negotiated to permission immoderate of your astute devices behind, marque it wide successful your merchantability that you are leaving them “as is.” You don’t privation to beryllium connected the hook arsenic a sysadmin for the caller residents.

However, arsenic a courtesy and to easiness a buyer’s imaginable fears, I urge mounting up a dedicated email code for your location and transferring those devices to that email address. (This volition mean factory-resetting them oregon transferring / sharing ownership to the email.) 

When the merchantability closes, manus implicit the email code and password to the caller owner. Then, spell successful and region yourself from immoderate instrumentality and delete them from your app (or delete the app if you don’t person immoderate different devices from that company). Do this earlier you permission since immoderate devices volition not fto you execute a mill reset unless you are connected the aforesaid network.

The caller proprietor tin usage the email code to transportation instrumentality ownership to themselves and acceptable up caller accounts and passwords, each without bothering you.

Tip: Before you factory-reset oregon transportation a device, region immoderate astute location integrations, specified arsenic with Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, oregon IFTTT.

Using a work similar Gmail means you tin besides make a Google Drive folder with PDFs of each the manuals and a Google Doc listing the devices and their brands, exemplary names, and immoderate different pertinent details the caller proprietor mightiness need. 

As mentioned, you indispensable either factory-reset oregon transportation each instrumentality you permission successful the house. However, see however you dainty each instrumentality cautiously to guarantee you don’t “break” the home. If you factory-reset a thermostat, it volition nary longer work, which could origin harm to the location successful utmost temperatures. The aforesaid goes for a astute sprinkler strategy — you don’t privation to beryllium connected the hook for a caller lawn. 

To guarantee captious systems enactment functional for the caller owner, cheque with the instrumentality shaper for steps connected however to factory-reset and / oregon transportation ownership. Additionally, information devices similar cameras, information systems, and astute locks often necessitate special steps, which are designed to marque definite nary 1 tin instrumentality implicit your relationship without your permission. If you factory-reset them without pursuing these steps, you could permission the caller proprietor with a dormant gadget. 

All of this is wherefore the location email code makes a batch of sense. The caller proprietor tin inactive power and usage the devices portion they get settled and past easy factory-reset it themselves and transportation permissions to their ain email, giving them much assurance that you’ve been afloat erased. 

Tip: If you are leaving information cameras behind, marque definite you besides region oregon hitch immoderate retention systems, specified arsenic microSD cards oregon unreality backup, and cancel immoderate subscriptions. 

How to battalion up your astute location gear

For devices you are taking with you, beryllium arsenic methodical arsenic you tin astir packing things up. As you uninstall devices, spot them successful their archetypal packaging oregon containers similar a Ziplock container to support everything together, specified arsenic screws, stands, remotes, etc. Label the bag’s contents with the instrumentality name, room, and location. This volition marque it overmuch easier to acceptable everything backmost up successful your caller home.

Do not factory-reset these devices. Just unplug them and battalion them away, and region immoderate batteries if you inactive person immoderate clip earlier the move. Then, erstwhile you determination into your caller home, set up your Wi-Fi with the aforesaid SSID and password that you utilized previously, powerfulness everything backmost up, and you should spot it backmost connected the web and successful your astute location app arsenic if thing has changed.

Of course, a determination is besides a large clip to commencement your astute location from scratch. But that’s a full different blog!