We get older and statistics say each passing year the likelihood of surviving the next decreases.
I have boarded the Home Automation train a decade ago and have migrated to Home Assistant (RPi) about three years ago. I have automated the regular stuff: lights, blinds, ev-charger, heating. Sensors all over the place.
The systems needs regular maintenance and tinkering; multiple system updates per month. And two or three times a year, the system is lost and needs a reboot. Nothing a hobbyist can’t handle!
My partner is not that hobbyist.
So one day, when the system went down (well, the batteries of a remote sensor went dead) and I was travelling so couldn’t immediately help out, she asked the relevant question: “if something happens to you, how am I going do this?” And she’s right. She would be clueless. Within weeks, months, she’d be faced with unresponsive automations, buttons, scripts, dead batteries in gadgets she doesn’t even know exist.
I don’t want to leave such a legacy, even if I don’t expect this to happen for another thirty years.
I’m now thinking of rolling back some of the automations and go back to old-fashioned switches. No triggers, no timers, no nothing.
But that’s me. I’m asking others: have you given this thoughts and if so, did you come up with any ideas?
My wife says she would sell the house and find another one if I die because she would not know how to take care of all the automation. She asks what we are going to do when we sell the house and how the new owners will manage.
I’ve told her that everything still works if all the automation fails: You can still use the light switches, alarm system, thermostats, everything - you just have to do it manually. All the critical sensors (flood, gas, fire) will still sound an alarm. This design is intentional - automation is for our convenience - not a necessity and not mission critical. I could sell the house today and pull all the networking gear and HA server and not worry.
The biggest one for me is replacing nearly all my smart light bulbs with smart switches and dimmers and dumb LED bulbs. Then, even if Home Assistant stops, the switches and dimmers can still be used to manually control the lights.
Sure the lights won’t come on automatically at night if I walk in a room or slowly brighten at sunset if Home Assistant is offline, but that is a luxury not a necessity.
If your partner does not want to get involved and learn then you must ensure all devices in your home can still be controlled manually if Home Assistant is offline. And they must accept that the automations they have enjoyed will no longer be available when you are gone for good, but everything will still work manually.
This topic resonates SO much with me! Same as the other replies above, my wife loves the automation, and is terrified that something will go wrong “when I’m not here.” That, of course, happened already when I was out of town, when she called and said “none of the lights are coming on!!!”. I told her just turn them on like you normally would. People in general don’t think about how you can just override automation.
My idea for a smart home/flat is “dumb” lights and smart dimmers/switches. That way I can use it like a dumb setup and still have a way to automate brightness/color temp or switch on a light without throwing something at the switch on the wall
With a smart dimmer. My plan is to use dual white strips that are dimmable and can display different color temperature.
The switch will just toggle on/off and the brightness and color temp comes from a smart dimmer in front of the switch. That way the lights will turn on exactly how they’re supposed to and in the worst case when all HA/ZigBee dies it will just come on/off with the last used settings (regarding brightness and color temp)