Once you've set this up. This will give you one less thing to do each night!
How many times have you left your porch lights on? Wouldn't it also be nice to be able to have them on when you are out of town to give the impression that somebody's home? We recently installed the Intermatic EJ500c Wall time ($18) from Home Depot. Unlike the older versions where they have a knob that you turn (you see this mostly in public restrooms), this offers a cleaner look since its flushed against the wall plate. It only takes incandescent light (cannot be used with compact flourescent style bulbs) with a total of 500 watts. It was not that hard to install (considering we are not handy around the house). We just had to turn the breaker off, unscrew the existing wall switch plate and connect the wires (as directed). It took about 40 minutes for the entire setup (maybe 10 for a pro). Timers are also a great way of conserving electricity, we also have a timer on our lamp in our main living area. This is also a great reminder that its way past bedtime if the lights go off and we are still up! Turning lights on and off isn't a good way to save electricity because it takes time for the bulb to warm up.
View this link for more information.
Pros: Random time settings, Daylight savings time. Can also go during daily sunrise, sunset time. Just set it once and you're on your way!
Cons: I don't need reading glasses yet but I still found it hard to read the digital numbers when trying to program the timer (use magnifying lens!). But once I've set it, we were all set. Also you need to change the battery every 6-10 months (size of watch battery two LR44/SR44 which can be purchased at most stores). But it was either the knob type which didn't look nice or this. You would also need to reset everytime the power goes out. Also would be nice if it could take compact flourescent style bulbs but I'm sure that is just around the corner (or version 2.0!)
UPDATE 2014: This timer still works and saves us the trouble of having to remember to turn our porch lights on/off.
How many times have you left your porch lights on? Wouldn't it also be nice to be able to have them on when you are out of town to give the impression that somebody's home? We recently installed the Intermatic EJ500c Wall time ($18) from Home Depot. Unlike the older versions where they have a knob that you turn (you see this mostly in public restrooms), this offers a cleaner look since its flushed against the wall plate. It only takes incandescent light (cannot be used with compact flourescent style bulbs) with a total of 500 watts. It was not that hard to install (considering we are not handy around the house). We just had to turn the breaker off, unscrew the existing wall switch plate and connect the wires (as directed). It took about 40 minutes for the entire setup (maybe 10 for a pro). Timers are also a great way of conserving electricity, we also have a timer on our lamp in our main living area. This is also a great reminder that its way past bedtime if the lights go off and we are still up! Turning lights on and off isn't a good way to save electricity because it takes time for the bulb to warm up.
View this link for more information.
Pros: Random time settings, Daylight savings time. Can also go during daily sunrise, sunset time. Just set it once and you're on your way!
Cons: I don't need reading glasses yet but I still found it hard to read the digital numbers when trying to program the timer (use magnifying lens!). But once I've set it, we were all set. Also you need to change the battery every 6-10 months (size of watch battery two LR44/SR44 which can be purchased at most stores). But it was either the knob type which didn't look nice or this. You would also need to reset everytime the power goes out. Also would be nice if it could take compact flourescent style bulbs but I'm sure that is just around the corner (or version 2.0!)
UPDATE 2014: This timer still works and saves us the trouble of having to remember to turn our porch lights on/off.
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