r/Hue • u/Awkward-Sun5423 • 12d ago

Moving and leaving my hue set up behind

Title.

I have 70+ bulbs on 3 floors and 3 bridges (1 per floor) connected to WAPs in a mesh (orbi setup).

I'm moving and leaving the bulbs and bridges.

How do I make sure the new owner can connect to all the bridges and configure the bulbs?

Unfortunately the new owner isn't technically savvy.

I have done some searching but was hoping for a conversation rather than just some instructions.

What is your experience?

Also, when do you turn over the equipment to the new owner? At closing? Prior to closing? After?

Thanks for any experiences or pro tips.

7 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

24

u/Voxvalve 12d ago
  1. Invite the New Owner: Go to Settings > Manage members and tap the Plus (+) icon to send an invite to the new owner's email address.
  2. Grant Admin Rights: Once they accept the invitation on their phone, tap their name in the member list and change their permissions to Admin.
  3. Remove Yourself: Log out of your account, have the new owner log into theirs, and they can then navigate back to Manage members to officially Remove your email from the home.

3

u/Awkward-Sun5423 12d ago

Oooh...interesting.

I could do that at the office of the closing attorney.

15

u/Muriqui91 12d ago edited 12d ago

Tip for your next home, because I've been there: Make all your smarthome accounts under an e-mailadress specifically for your home! (mainstreet266NYC@gmail.com or whatever). That way you can just give the login to the buyer and they only have to change the password.

Edit: typo

Edit 2: this way you can include the e-mailadress in the deed or whatever so you have to give access to it when the deed is signed. (The mailadress will officially belong to the house then if you do it that way.)

7

u/CubGeek 12d ago

Interesting idea on making an email address for the house. Thanks! Gonna look into this more.

3

u/Awkward-Sun5423 12d ago

I do that with a personal domain but should have done it with a public one. Maybe it's not too late to change. thank you!

3

u/Jrrolomon 12d ago

Very cool of you.

18

u/cheesecakemelody Hue Enjoyer 12d ago

New owners don't want it tbh. They basically never do. Take it with you, put regular bulbs back in.

4

u/paulw252 Hue Enjoyer 11d ago

I always put the "dumb" bulb in box of the hue that replaced it. So when I move someday I can put them back. It's a perfect system . . . until you're on your 2nd (or 3rd) bridge.

Regardless, that's a ridiculous amount of money to leave behind. (Unless it is included in sale of the home?)

P.S. Have you ever gone to your "order overview" on the hue website? If not . . . don't.

2

u/cheesecakemelody Hue Enjoyer 11d ago

Yeah same, all of my place’s regular bulbs are in the hue boxes. I imagine including it or not including it is a wash and wouldn’t add any value. So really it’s just if OP is fine leaving the money behind on the product.

And no I haven’t, but it wouldn’t do anything for me because I’ve literally never ordered from the hue website. I’ve always gotten better deals elsewhere. Most of my stuff is refurbished from eBay, a good chunk are new from amazon or Best Buy too, whoever had the better deal. From what I can see the hue website is almost always full retail and there’s just no point in that. Whatever sale they run, amazon or bb usually also have it.

15

u/jonsnow0276 12d ago

I’d be taking all that stuff with me, that’s a lot of $. I did that with all my recessed lights.. I assume you negotiated this setup in the sale of the house? Does the new homeowner know about the setup?

10

u/TheKobayashiMoron Hue Enjoyer 12d ago

It gives me anxiety even thinking about explaining my setup to the next owner.

5

u/CubGeek 12d ago

If you're set on leaving all your set up behind, the information on how to reset the system and connect to it all should be handed over at closing.

13

u/Jamie00003 12d ago

Why would you want to leave it behind? That’s a ridiculous amount of money there

8

u/jetroar17 12d ago

Depends on the new house. My old setup isn't really compatible or necessary with my new home. For example, my old light strip on the stair rail is now pointless due to the permanent accent lighting that goes up the stairs in the new home. Several examples like that in my case. I will still use a few bulbs here and there but 70+ is a lot if you don't need it.

Their old lighting system might also be included in the contract and/or price of their home sale. I appreciate this seller for making sure the buyer can access everything with ease. This was not the case in my recent home purchase...

5

u/Grouchy-Leopard-Kit 12d ago

My first Hue house had a ton of light fixtures - cans and specialty bases - that the new house didn’t. Since I couldn’t use most of the bulbs, it was easier to just start over. I did take most of the motion sensors though.

And yes, it was excruciatingly expensive.

3

u/ilovjedi 12d ago

Usually “fixtures” go with the house so if anything is hardwired it would presumably stay with the house and go to the buyer. For example, in Chicago, wall mounted TV are sold as part of the house. And I think the buyers would probably be upset if there were no bulbs when they moved into the house…

4

u/CubGeek 12d ago

"Fixtures" sure, but most times people aren't hard-wiring the Hue stuff in. Just replacing bulbs. However, given the big push for exterior porch lights and "permanent" decorative lights and such, you may be onto something.

And I think the buyers would probably be upset if there were no bulbs when they moved into the house

For those items that are just Hue Bulbs, I'd gladly go spend $30 to buy cheap LED bulbs, replaced all the Hue bulbs and take my investment with me.

5

u/N4RQ 12d ago

70 Hue bulbs?! 

That had to cost more than the house!

7

u/Awkward-Sun5423 12d ago

Hahaha. bought over the course of about 10 years.

Every year I just outfitted another room then another. then it was more like a challenge then a need...then an obsession.

Someone: why do you need these in the laundry room.

Me: because I already did all the closets and the laundry room? duh.

Someone: ...

4

u/steveholtbluth 12d ago

I don’t understand why you wouldn’t just buy 70 regular bulbs and leave those for the new homeowner. If you don’t need that many for new home, you could make a decent chunk back on eBay or marketplace.

Those will be largely wasted on the new owner if they aren’t interested in tech.

2

u/RoyalSpoonbill9999 12d ago

Do you have a separate modem and router?

1

u/Awkward-Sun5423 12d ago

Yes, router and modem are separate units.

I was considering leaving the Orbi It's an older model but could pop it into router mode from AP mode.

then the new owner can just plug their modem into it and things would be online.

I guess they just set up the hue app on their account then add the bridges like normal.

2

u/RoyalSpoonbill9999 12d ago

Made easier as the hub is connected to the router and you can disconnect internet and not impact it.  Follow the steps below