Hello All,
I am not new to hoe automation but have really just decided to make a full go of it with HE. I have several wifi, zigbee, and Z-Wave devices that I have been using over the years and finally am starting to take this seriously and want to advance my knowledge, understanding of how these things work, hopefully learn to code (brushing up on Node-Red) and give back to the community as I will be surely asking for plenty of advice (like this) and help.
The first thing I think I need to do is be able to document what I have , where its at (in the home), how its being used, and what drivers/apps that it is working with on the HE so that I can keep things straight, and if ever necessary provide info to someone else to addon to or repair or, heaven forbid, sell the house with everything (or most things).
The thing I'm looking to do first is document what I currently have and what they are doing and the like. I would expect something like a Google Docs spreadsheet would be good for this but was wondering what others are doing, if at all, and how well or not its working for you. I'm thinking digital and a printout as a hard copy seems to be useful in a power outage or during loss of electronic devices.
Thanks for any assistance and advice you can provide.
NorbertD
My recommendation is simple. Think about what you want to accomplish in your smart home. Then research the different ways that each can be solved (there is always many more than one).
I have an Excel spreadsheet with a bunch of tabs for maintenance & setup related stuff for my house (HVAC setup, electrical circuit details, etc)... I have a tab for my all of my router's various IP reservations, a tab for my Caseta setup details (what type of switch is where, details about bulbs used, Casta-based scene details, etc), and a tab for Hue info including serial #s for each Hue thing. That's all HA stuff I can't really backup, so if it ever crashed, I would at least have a decent starting point for rebuild.
I keep some general Hubitat hub info in 1Password, and have been keeping my S2 z-wave device DSKs there too - I only have 5 such devices for now, but having those DSKs readily available somewhere makes life easier
When I recently moved from ST to Hubitat, I whipped up some cliff's notes about my automations & rules and devices to help me though my transition, but I don't plan to do that for Hubitat since backups are available.
ETA - don't plan on moving for a very long time, but if I had to, all z-wave/zigbee and Hue stuff goes with me, and new owners would get my old non-pro Caseta bridge along with a note that said "Good luck!". I don't have any hard-wired z-wave or zigbee stuff.
1 Like
@SmartHomePrimer - I have been doing that recently, but my question was, how are people documenting the equipment and devices that they install and what its used for or the automations linked to them.
DO you have your smart devices documented using pen & paper, a spreadsheet, listed by room, device, purpose, routines linked to, device handlers, etc.?
@hydro311 - Thank you for that. What are the S2 Z-Wave DSKs? I have some Zooz S2 switches (have not installed just yet) but do not know what the DSKs are or why I would need to have that information.
As far as if I were to move. I would leave all the switches because I haven't the time or inclination to put things back or rewire anything at that point. Would be enough things to worry about from the move much less time to swap out switches. Besides, I would have a definite preference by then of what I would want in a new place rather than haul some old switches with me.
I love the note thing, nice touch. 
NorbertD
Nah. Small house (easy to remember) and not a soul beyond my own here cares what we have. Only time I hear about it is when they like what I've done or it's not working. 
My philosophy of smart devices in my home is that they should enhance your life without being in your face. My switches all look normal. Nothing just stuck to walls. Motion sensors are small and up out of the way, not noticeable in daily life. Only two exposed contact sensor in my house. I don't like automation for the sake of automation. I like it to be simple and unnoticed convenience you can just experience. Not something you have to intentionally use. I don't over-automate.
It's only the Alexa specific phrases for some stuff that you have to remember, and to be honest that's what I would like to change the most in my home. I forget them myself and have to look at the Alexa app to remember what the exact phrase has to be sometimes. That's just stupid, because I could at that point simply push a button instead..
They're 5-digit codes needed to enable S2 security when pairing applicable z-wave devices. Similar to (or maybe same as? i'm no expert) "smart start" QR-code scanning. The 5-digit DSK PIN is usually on that same QR code sticker on the device, but those aren't always easily accessible when the device is installed (esp switches).
Some companies put that code sticker on the product packaging too, but not all. Just nice to have those codes easy-to-access if re-pairing an S2 device.
Well, I hope I saved the box for the one Zooz that I installed or i need to take off the cover plate. Thanks for the info, that is good stuff to know. Much appreciated. Looks like a column or cell I'll have to make for S2 switches in my documentation.
