I am in yet of another rebuild, this time hopefully for the last.
I will have my old system (hassio in a docker on ubuntu), moving to a new install on a new system (Home Assistant via Docker).
I’ll be using a new ZWave stick, so my plan is to exclude my devices one-by-one from my old install to reset them cleanly. I have a Zigbee stick on the new install, which I didn’t on the last, and I’ll be handling those migrations separately.
So let’s say I have a room with 4 light switches and 2 motion detectors. How would you go about adding them? Would you?
Do a secure add, put a device into inclusion, do a heal and repeat X times?
Would you do a secure add, put all the devices into inclusion, then do a heal?
Some other alternative?
My goal is to end up with as clean of an install as possible, so I’ll take as many steps necessary to achieve that.
For light switches and motion detectors I would not use Secure Add. For me, the performance penalty trade-off is not worth it. You’ll have to decide what is right for you, but don’t automatically assume secure is the only way to do it.
Use only Z-Wave Plus devices if you can.
I would add the switches first, since they are mains powered (they are repeaters), then add the battery ones.
Add devices starting from the one closest to the controller, then outward. If everything is in a single room, it probably doesn’t matter much. Make sure the devices are installed in their final location before including.
For only 6 devices, I would heal after everything is included.
I would also rename the node and entities after each inclusion, to whatever friendly names wanted, via the Devices menu. Doing them one at a time is easier to keep straight, especially if they are the same models.