Selling My Home with ISY-994 to a beginner

[justin.cool]

I have moderately large Insteon / Universal Devices based  system:  

 

Configuration 

 

ISY 994i/IR Pro  Firmware:  v.4.2.18, UI is the same.  

PLM:  2413S; (Recently upgraded to the latest 2413S due to known problems with V9B firmware.)

Approximately 120 Insteon devices:

·      Mainly Switchlincs, Lamplincs, Outletlincs, On/Off Adapters, etc etc
10 KPL’s – about 15% are dual band units
RemoteLincs (3)
RemoteLinc2 (4)
Controllincs (2)
Access Points (4) – 2 on each phase from each subpanel
Dualband LampLinc dimmers (4)
Dual Band 240V load controller (2) (Normal Open, dual band)
Signal Linc (2)
Venstar Thermostats (3) with V2 RF interface

 

Further Notes

 

·      All thermostat dongles (T1, T2 and T3) are Rev 2.2R

 

 

-  Background

 

We have sold our house and the new owner is a newbie to all things SmartHome, Home Automation, Universal Devices, etc etc.  

 

He has all apple computers, including an Apple Airport Extreme Router/Time Capsule.

 

I have poked around but have been unable to find a concise, easy to follow, set of instructions for him to get his UD admin console working on his Mac.  

 

My Question:

 

Could anyone point me in the right direction as to where I could find such a set of newbie oriented instructions? 

 

He may even consider a hard / dedicated ethernet hookup to his Mac from the ISY-994, if that is possible.  

 

Justin in Dallas

[KeviNH]

I don't think there's a need for an ethernet cable from his Mac. Assuming the house has either cable or DSL, he should plan on plugging the modem (or a firewall), ISY-994, and Airport Extreme into a hub, and make sure all 3 of these devices have static IP addresses.

 

Then he just needs to launch Firefox and browse to the IP address of the ISY. That should at least get him the dashboard to view and control devices.

[paulbates]

Justin

 

I think part of the answer is you may need to minimally document what you've done so the new owner, or someone else, can take it over. I am glad to see a buyer for a "pre-automated" house. Glad to see that an automated house can sell.

 

I'm just starting documenting the HA in my house, from the core functional systems, like Irrigation and HVAC and how they're laid out and and maintained... and then back into the automation programs. Currently I'm finishing documenting my programs between using the program level comments and adding 'then' and 'else' comments with that new 5.0 feature

 

Ultimately I want: 

• an overview of key functional systems
• a maintenance / schedule of key functional systems
• an overview of automated functions and programs
• to not make ISY, HA or technology "how to" guide 
• shop for a technical contractor that can maintain the ISY programs and devices I have and connect the new owner, when that time comes, with them.

Network is one of the major concerns here... many of my ISY programs control/are controlled by things counting on a specific IP addresses in a specific NAT'd range. A new ISP's router will pretty much blow up a big piece of my setup... unless its configured as it is today. I had this happen when a cable vendor came to fix a tv remote problem... and decided for some bizarre reason to unplug my hardwired devices from my router and plug it into theirs. All of those things broke ..and I was out of town. 

 

I'm glad to see that an automated house can sell.

 

Paul

[stusviews]

Trivial comment: Unlike Range Extenders, SignaLincs do not use 915Mhz to communicate nor do they repeat Insteon signals (not RF, not power line). They do not extend the range of the Insteon signal.Their only purpose is a bridge for the opposite legs of the split, single-phase electric supply. Considering the devices you listed, they can be safely removed. They're somewhat ungainly, too

 

Edit: print out a topology for the new owner: Tools, Generate Topology. It may take awhile to generate.

Edited May 13, 2016 by stusviews

[KeviNH]

Personally, I plan to remove all my automation and take it with me when I sell. I've kept all the original switches and switchplates for re-installation.

[larryllix]

In our first home I filled it with X10 devices. I removed some of the wallswiitches but just couldn't live without a few of them so we listed and showed the house with the X10 switches still in the wall. Mostly they were plug-in modules.

 

After the sale, during the long closing period, I wanted the devices to go with me so I found some of the old small rocker switches to replace the old and similar X10 pushbutton types. They were obsolete by that time and hard to find.

 

When closing day came, I was in a panic as they had bargained in a final inspection, the last day. This was a new thing just starting up in our area.

 

The new owner woman came in the hallway, and went right to the X10 switch that wasn't there, and asked what happened to the switch. I explained it was part of the security system (BS - well sort of) and if they wanted it I could replace it, but they wouldn't know how to operate it anyway.

 

She came back with something like "Good! I was having nightmares for the last four months about those strange electrical gadgets in my house and would have had to hire an electrician to take them all out!"

 

YMMV

Edited May 13, 2016 by larryllix

[lilyoyo1]

I left my old stuff in the house and just bought me stuff since technology changes. I didn't want to reuse older equipment. It worked out because I was able to set up and do some programming prior to moving which cut down on the work once we moved into our new house. Since I use alot of programs it made it easier for the new owner to set up the system the way they wanted to without much work.

[larryllix]

That what I always figured, too. Leave the old stuff behind. The newbie is flabergasted by the cool technology. The oldie is drooling over getting new technology 'cause he knows better now.

[LeeG]

The first issue the newbie is going to run into is being told his system is multiple official releases behind and must upgrade to 4.4.6 to get support. 

[mango]

Remove the ISY and leave/setup basic scenes on the SL and KPLs

Edited May 14, 2016 by mango

[Algorithm]

When we sold our house last August, I removed all the old switches, though I had no intention of re-using them.  But I did not want to deal with any problems arising from them being there.  We showed the house with the switches in place, but placed a condition that the switches would all be removed before possession.

 

In the new house we installed all new switches (the latest).  As it turns out, almost every light in the new house uses switch legs and requires two-wire SwitchLincs, so the old switches would not have been useful here anyway.  Now I have a box full of old switches .

 

Al