Don’t Let Smart Devices Ghost You in Your New Home
If I’m away from home for more than two weeks, I take some of my smart equipment with me—most of it plugs into the wall. But as smart technology reaches deeper into the very fabric of our homes, from smart doors and windows to garage door openers and lighting fixtures , these products are less likely to move with you. Instead, your smart blinds and wired smart speakers are left behind, and the new owner is left to figure out how to operate products whose controls may not be wall switches, but applications and automation dependencies configured by a system they don’t use. I am running. This premise was explored in a Verge article that put forward the concept of smart home “ghosts”—those smart devices that seem to haunt new owners, operating independently and without logic. While this is an interesting product of our time that I’m sure will continue to grow, there are a few easy ways to become a ghost hunter.
Document your automation and devices
I’m already a proponent of keeping a home journal – a place where you document paint colors, wallpaper names, appliance names and models, and maintenance records. This will make things a lot easier the next time you need to purchase a part, repair a chip in a wall, or prove your ownership to an insurance agent. This log should include a record of your smart home: what devices are connected to your home, as well as their manufacturer and app name. Briefly note which devices the automation is connected to and whether it is in the native app or in your voice assistant. If you sell your home, the magazine stays with the home, providing the new owners with a true guide to the property.
If this sounds exaggerated, imagine every person who has purchased a home and inherited a shaky sprinkler system with no documentation or instructions, or an HVAC system that has some quirks. Yes, such a diary is useful to you, but it is also perceived as a responsibility that we bear to the house itself.
Ask about smart devices during the sales process
Asking about that sprinkler system or HVAC system is part of the sales process; now we need to add smart devices into the mix. Will the owner keep any devices, and if so, which devices and how are they controlled?
Moreover, don’t assume that old owners are contactless. Once you’ve bought the house, you can ask your agent to give them a thank you note and hopefully maintain a connection with the previous owners. They put a lot of love into the house (unless it was a flip, and it’s doubtful the flippers left the smart devices) and could be put into making sure the new stewards know how to use everything.
Replace your smart device
If you’re plagued by old smart devices and you just can’t figure out why a particular light turns on and off at midday or what causes all the locks to lock, you can simply replace them – this will eliminate the problem entirely. If it’s a certain type of device, such as a garage door opener, you may want to hire a professional to figure out the problem, but it may not be worth it. It is now your home and you can change it as you wish. Spending a lot of time being frustrated with some part of your new home that you can’t figure out is not how you want to spend your first year in your new home.
In most cases, a new router will solve the problem.
The reality of smart devices is that they usually require Wi-Fi unless they are connected to some special local network. When people move, they move their modem and router, and not being able to connect to a programmed Wi-Fi network will cause most smart devices to shut down. In fact, this could very well be the problem you’re having with abandoned devices that you can’t get to work: they require a hard reset to register with the app on your devices and access your new Wi-Fi network.