When you can format it, to try something new.
If you can't?... It became production
When you can format it, to try something new.
If you can't?... It became production
It stops becoming a "homelab" when it's impacting your family.
My entire "homelab" is contained in one box- if something fails on it, no one cares- it won't impact anyone. My home network consists of a simple mesh network.
This is something I don't think a lot of people consider. If you're the one that set this up, and you expire tomorrow, do you really want the burden of figuring this out on your spouse/partner/kids???