Moving

I have a great Hubitat setup at my current house but I will be moving in the near future. I will be taking all my devices with me to my new location. Since this will be a phased move, I need two setups going at once. The two will never be on the same network. My thought is I could backup my current hub and then restore it to a new hub for the new place. Will my existing devices come on line with the new hub as I move and plug them in at my new place?

This could work but is going to depend on a few things. What are the hub models? What types of devices do you have (Zwave, Zigbee, Wifi/Lan)? Do you have Hub Protect (giving you access to cloud backups)?

I assume the two locations are far enough apart they would not interfere with each other on Z-wave / Zigbee networks?

Both would be C-7s but I am wondering if I should make the new locale C-8 during the move.

Z-Wave and Zigbee only, I phased out all WiFi when I transitioned from SmartHome.

No Hub Protect, local back up.

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This could work but is going to depend on a few things. What are the hub models? What types of devices do you have (Zwave, Zigbee, Wifi/Lan)? Do you have Hub Protect (giving you access to cloud backups)?

I assume the two locations are far enough apart they would not interfere with each other on Z-wave / Zigbee networks?
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The new location is two states away, so the separation should be enough :slight_smile:

I know I will need to do some fine-tuning and some devices may move rooms but I want this part of my move to be as hassle-free as possible.

Maybe I should consider getting C-8 -- running the upgrade and moving that to the new house instead, letting the C-7 stay in place until the end.

You will need a cloud backup especially for the Zwave mesh to migrate over smoothly. Local backups do not have any info for the zwave mesh.

There are two options to get the cloud backup, either paying for Hub Protect if you dont have it already, OR if you purchase a C8 you will be able to do a one-time special migration cloud backup for free. So upgrading to a C8 might be worth it just to get the free migration.

You may still have issues with an unstable mesh if you are slowly moving the devices over. It would be best to move as many as possible at once. Either way, whichever location has less devices will possibly be struggling. For Z-Wave the devices should drop right in and keep chugging along as long as they are in range. For Zigbee you may need to "pair" them to the new hub just due to the way Zigbee works but they will then drop into the same device entry.

For any integrations like Alexa or Google, I would disable those apps on the old hub, and they should then transition over. You may need to re-authorize them on the new hub but sometimes they just work.

Any other cloud integrations may have mixed results. Anything that connects via DNS / IP you will need to check one by one to confirm they are working correctly.

There is an entire thread somewhere with tips for various integrations apps and how to migrate them, specially geared at a C7 > C8 migrations but would still apply even if you go C7 > C7.

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Just a BIG tip for you. If you are selling your home and intend to take all your smart home gear with you, make sure you remove it BEFORE you show your house to potential buyers. I'm not sure how it is everywhere, but here in Arizona, anything like smart switches, dimmers, automated curtains, etc all have to STAY with the house upon selling if they were present when the buyers saw the house.

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That’s true in most places. I’m in the same position and have spent the last week or two removing everything I want taken out.

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That one I know from being on the buyer's end one time. Bought a house that had all these hand-detailed switch and plug cover plates. The other party showed up late to closing and we found out they went by the house a removed (not replaced) all the covers in the house -- leaving a safety hazard as well as a ripoff. Told the judge that too and got $2k in addition to the price to replace the covers.

The only wired device in the house is a light switch, which was my very first device years ago. I am just leaving it.

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You could also state that in the sales contract. I didn't have time to remove everything before we listed the house for sale, and I didn't want to remove all the automations anyway while we were still living there,

There were certain things I was ok leaving behind if the buyer wanted them (like most of my Ring devices). Not sure I was actually doing the seller a favor or not with those :thinking: but they wanted the Ring doorbell.

Hmm, I do have several Blink cameras mounted in trees around the property that I will be taking. Didn't even think about them as infrastructure. I will have them listed as "not remaining" since they let me keep an eye on the property when I am not there.

Absolutely need to put it in the listing contract. In the US the contracts typically have a long list of check boxes of what is staying. Things like the fridge, fans, window coverings etc. All of it. You enter that the automation switches or whatnot are going, but that they will be replaced with standard switches. The agents will see this and there will be no questions later when the automation gear isn't present.

That said, if it were me, I'd buy all new for the new house. Gets newer devices and years more use. Takes some time to change out switches and outlets.

I would too. But I would not leave any "Smart House" stuff behind either. The last thing I would want is to have to be "tech support" for the next owners after leaving my DIY smart gear behind for them to figure out.

Well, that never happens in practice. Sellers leave all sorts of hidden issues behind. Caveat Emptor. I typically leave the nice little notes of what things are, paint codes, manuals etc.

I keep a house box with appliance instructions and other maintenance stuff. When I move I leave it behind.

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Thanks for the advice and the info about the C8 free migration plan. That does make the upgrade zero cost overall.

Once I have it all done I'll post my experience notes for anyone else who goes down this path.

I found the post with some tips on various apps after Migration. I think the Alexa app is missing from the list because typically nothing needs to be done to it.

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Thanks!

I wonder if I should leave the C8 behind or use it to launch the new address. Any thoughts?

I would for sure use the C8 at the new house if that's what you are asking? The improvements with the zwave chip and antennas was huge for me. Made Zwave much more responsive.

Sorry, that's not what I meant. In the end, the C8 will be the new prime hub -- but should I leave it at my existing home so I can continue to play with and fine-tune it -- then when the move is almost complete move it to the new site where the C7 has been in use to network the new house.

Then I will wipe the old C7 out and pass it on.

That might be the best approach, since once it is up you may need to disable some of the cloud integrations on the C7 so they don't conflict with each other. So keeping the C8 at the location where you will spend the most time would allow you to keep as much functional as possible. The old hub would just be there allow the local devices to work.

If you need to add any new devices at the new home, wait until the new hub is moved there.

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