Intermatic Timer

Timers for Lights by Intermatic

I became a light-timer fanatic a few years ago when looking for a convenient way to turn the the Christmas Lights on and off a few seasons ago. I got out one of those old mechanical timers that I used many years ago for turning a living room

lamp on and off from 5:00 to 10:00 PM During the winter hours. mechanical light timers have always been a pain for me to use. You have to line up those little stops in the time slot holes for the on and off positions. For me, this procedure has always been a confusing and tedious task. The numbers on the timer are difficult to see and you’re never sure exactly how close it is to the actual time. Surprisingly, three other programmable timers that came with my house are also mechanic timers: Timers for Lights, Sprinkler System Timer and Water Heater Timer. Actually, the water heater is for my pool but it is made to be used on Water Heater appliances as well. After getting my outdoor lights setup with the mechanical timer, I began considering how programmable timers for lights make a great security device. Why not buy a handful of them for turning on and off lights in the house? Or, even for turning a radio on and off when you’re not home during the day or evening, electric timers are great, little security devices, whether used for indoor lighting, lamps, aquarium, poop pump, outdoor lighting or music, TV and other natural sound in the home? Now, if only I could find a decent digital plug-in timer for lights switch that is quick, easy and less confusing to program.  Here’s what I found for an easier, better Timers For Lights Solution and keeping track of our amps and watts.

Digital Plug-In Timers for Lights

Timers for Lights make Home Security Devices. While Solar Security Lights outdoors are also great deterrent’s, Timers For Lights Indoors can make your home always look occupied. When shopping for programmable electric timers, it is important to understand that a Electric Timer can be either Digital Timer or a Mechanical Timer. When shopping for a Digital Timer my first time at the local Home Depot store, I asked for an electric timer and he gave me one of those mechanical timers which looked exactly like the old relic I already was using for the Christmas Lights. I asked him, “Is this the Best you can Do?”.. He quickly pointed to another display of fully programmable digital timers for lights ~ only about $13.95.

I actually found these digital timers on sale online for $12.00 and bought four of them: One for the den lamp in back of house; one for the living room lamp in front of house; one for the bedroom upstairs and one for the boombox stereo to keep the cats occupied with music during the day. The Westinghouse Digital Timer is actually quite versatile. You can set the time and day, then program it for any day of the week, in multiple increments of time. Say, I want the radio to turn on and off every two hours, Monday through Friday at 10:00AM, 1:00PM and 3:00PM, this Digital Timer will do that and it is very easy to program: Just set your appropriate day and time, press program, choose your days, on/off times for each of the days and your set! It’s that simple. There is a button to override the program mode, so you can leave the programmable timer permanently plugged in and either turned on or off. If you want to use it, simply set it for AUTO. The Westinghouse makes a great light radio timer and it is certainly easier to use than the mechanical timers. I have only one complaint. Well, two really: For one thing, it is rather cheaply made. One of the five that I now own, has already broken. Two, the digital display is difficult to read unless it’s plugged into the wall outlet. When the unit is not receiving power from the wall outlet, there are two, little camera-type batteries backing it up which do not yield a very bright contrast on the digital display. It’s difficult to crouch down on the floor by a low, wall outlet and program the thing with your head turned sideways. It would be nice if these digital timers had a more powerful battery for programming the device while it is in your hand where you can read it. The little batteries seem to burn out relatively quickly, too, which I guess is a third drawback. I like the concept enough that I’m willing to pay a little more for an upgraded programmable digital timer.

Intermatic Timer

Digital Operation

The other day I was online trouble-shooting Water Heater problems and came across an impressive array of Water Heater Timers. (See Below if you need a water or pool heater timer) I clicked the home page link and learned about the Intermatic Digital Timer. Actually, Intermatic makes a whole slew of timers: Outdoor Timers, Appliance and Lamp Timers, Water Heater Timers, Air Conditioning Timers, In-Wall Timers for your light switches. I thought, “surely they must also make something as simple as a Digital Plug-in Timer to replace the somewhat limited Westinghouse product, I’ve been using.” Lo and behold, they do! The Intermatic DT620CL 15 Amp Indoor Astronomic Digital Timer is an extremely Versatile Digital Plug-in Timer with capabilities and features that far exceed what I ever imagined possible. The DT620CL has built in astronomy technology to synch with the sunup and sundown times for your particular location. This means, you never have to program a timer switch or any other darn thing to allow it to function with your outdoor lights. Additionally, this Intermatic Light Timer is equipped with 28 Programmable events as a regular timer, or you can randomly time these settings in up to 30-minute intervals to mimic the way you might really operate the lighting in your house when you are not home. There is one mechanical feature on this digital timer which I absolutely love. It has a round turning knob sort of like on a home stereo receiver or radio for moving forward and backwards through the time and every adjustable setting. This makes it a breeze to program. The Intermatic Timer uses much stronger batteries than the Westinghouse, making the display much easier to read while you program it. The batteries should last you about three months and will also serve as a power backup if and when your electricity fails. Expect to pay as much as double for the DT620CL over the Westinghouse, but it is well worth it according to the many satisfied, Intermatic Timer users. The DT620CL Timer averaged 4 stars out of 5 among nearly 100 users and the price is right!

• • Digital Appliance Timer DT620CL
  • Air Conditioner & Appliance Timer HB112C
  • Air Conditioner & Appliance Timer HB113C
  • Air Conditioner & Appliance Timer HB114C
  • Programmable 24-Hour Security Timer EJ351C
  • Digital Wall Switch Timer – Self-Adjusting Feature EJ500C
  • Digital In-Wall Timer ST01C
  • Water Heater Timers