Light Switch Timer

A light switch timer can be great energy saver if you often forget to turn lights off when you leave a room. They can also increase safety, allowing lighting to come on and off automatically to give the appearance that someone is home while you are away.

Plug-in varieties simply plug into a wall. To select times you wish lights or appliances to turn on and off, you simply position tabs around a dial.

Screw-in light switch timers fasten directly into a lamp’s light socket, allowing you to insert a bulb into the timer itself. Other varieties (like spring-wound, electronic auto-off, and programmable timers) replace standard light switches.

Spring-wound light switch timers have a mechanical dial that you wind to turn on a fixture. Depending on where you twist the dial, you can set the light to stay on for 10 minutes or 10 hours.

Advantages include:

They are easy to use

They can be used with fluorescent bulbs.

Disadvantages include:

Some models make ticking noises because of the electrical/mechanical clock. Only a problem in bedrooms.

Might be less reliable because of mechanical parts.

Difficult to set exact on and off times accurately.

The same settings are used every day. No separate settings for weekdays and weekends.

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Electronic auto-off timers have LCD displays and a standard “on/off” button and four other buttons, each corresponding to a specific time delay (for instance, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and 60 minutes).

These are handy because they operate with the mere touch of a button. Another variety allows you to tap a single light switch paddle, adding on minutes to the time delay with each additional tap.

Advantages include:

Theoretically more reliable than mechanical timers. Some have internal plastic gears that can fail, and other reliability issues.

Normally quiet.

Can have complex features such as different programs for different days, automatic tracking of sunset times.

Normally more accurate than mechanical timers, but some have analog electronic clocks (not quartz) that can drift as much as a minute a week.

Disadvantages include:

Many are not suitable for use with fluorescent bulbs, causing the bulbs to fail after a few weeks or months. Unless specifically stated by the manufacturer, these timers should not be used with fluorescent lamps.

Can be complicated to program.

Small, hard-to-read LCD displays are a common complaint.

Programmable timers are digital devices that have up to six daily “on” and “off” settings, as well as a “random” setting that mixes up the times your lighting turns on and off while you are away, making it seem more probable to outside eyes that someone is home.

Be sure to purchase the right timer for your fixture. Most will work with standard single-pole varieties (often referred to as SPST, or “single-pole, single-throw”), but three-way fixtures will require three-way timers.

Wall switch timers are fixed to the wall and wired into the electricity mains. Plug-in timers are removable and fit into standard electrical sockets.

If you have a question about using a light switch timer, contact me here.

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