Smart Home Device Register

Who this is for

A list of everything in the house that talks to something else. Device, room, what it connects through, which account it sits under and where its power and reset are — the things nobody can remember when one stops responding.

Households that have added devices one at a time over years, anyone handing the house over to a new owner, tenant or house-sitter, and the person who set it all up and would like somebody else to be able to fix it.

What this helps you track

• Every connected device, what it is and which room it is in
• The hub, app or assistant it works through
• Which account or email address it is registered to
• Where it takes its power from and how it is reset
• Which devices were removed or replaced, and when

How to use it

1. Write the household and the main network name at the top. Do not write the network password, or any other password, on this sheet.
2. Walk the house room by room and list each device: doorbells, cameras, thermostats, plugs, bulbs, speakers, locks, sensors, meters.
3. Record the app or hub it works through, because a device is usually only manageable from one of them.
4. Write the account or email address it is registered under. Where a device is shared with someone else, name them.
5. Note where the power comes from and how it is reset — a socket behind furniture, a fuse, a battery type, a pinhole button.
6. Cross a line out and date it when a device is removed, so a stale entry does not send somebody hunting for a device that has gone.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Should I write passwords on it?

No, and there is no column for them. Record the account the device sits under and keep the password wherever you normally keep passwords; a sheet listing every device and its password is the worst thing to leave in a drawer.

Why record where the power is?

Because the commonest fix is a power cycle, and the commonest obstacle is not knowing which socket, fuse or battery a device runs from. A line here saves moving furniture.

Is this useful when selling or letting?

Yes. A buyer or tenant inherits devices they cannot log into, and a register tells them what is there, what to remove from your account and what needs a factory reset before handover.

What about devices that are not really smart?

List anything with a network connection or an app — a printer, a television, a robot vacuum, a solar inverter. If it can stop working because of a password, it belongs here.