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10 years ago I sold a house that had only a couple smart switches, and I took them out before we listed and replaced them with regular switches. A few months a

10 years ago I sold a house that had only a couple smart switches, and I took them out before we listed and replaced them with regular switches. A few months ago I sold a house a house with lots of Insteon stuff, and I left almost all of it in place. Partly it was because we sold quickly and I didn't have time, and partly because it was 9+ year old gear anyway. Insteon has the benefit that the keypad scenes and switch-to-switch links work without a hub. I took my hubs (ISY99 and HomeAssistant) which means no automations or timers. I would have left the ISY99 if the new buyers had asked, but I didn't want to provide tech support of any sort for it. The downside of this type of gear compared to (the orders-of-magnitude more expensive) commercial stuff is you really have to know quite a bit about it to manage it. For the most part there's really not any local trades people you can call for service, and frankly, it's not worth the headache as a seller to even try to explain any of this. In my new (current) house I'm in the process of installing Zwave switches. I think they're pretty hub-dependent, which is definitely a downside compared to Insteon for resale. I am really not sure what I'll do when I move, but hopefully it will be several years before that's an issue. I am fairly certain though that HomeAssistant (both software and ecosystem) won't be at the point where I could just leave it for the new owners and not cause more trouble for myself than it's worth.

jon-wood 5y ago
ZWave is designed to work without a hub once devices are programmed, but you do need to go the extra mile to make that work - as an example you can configure a ZWave switch to send a message directly to the lights it should be controlling, rather than going via the hub (although the hub can also be notified). If you’re curious the keyword you’re looking for is Association.
pkulak 5y ago
ZWave is nice because once you get them connected to a USB stick, that stick is all you need to transfer to a new owner; you can take your hub with you. The new owner doesn't get your automations, but those are personal anyway.

jon-wood 5y ago

ZWave is designed to work without a hub once devices are programmed, but you do need to go the extra mile to make that work - as an example you can configure a ZWave switch to send a message directly to the lights it should be controlling, rather than going via the hub (although the hub can also be notified). If you’re curious the keyword you’re looking for is Association.

pkulak 5y ago

ZWave is nice because once you get them connected to a USB stick, that stick is all you need to transfer to a new owner; you can take your hub with you. The new owner doesn't get your automations, but those are personal anyway.