Intermatic EJ500C Indoor Digital Wall Switch Timer
by Intermatic
|
List Price: Our Price: $21.00 You Save: $11.95 (36%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $18.48 (click here) Category: Tools See more product details |
|---|
Tools and Hardware Reviews of Intermatic EJ500C Indoor Digital Wall Switch Timer
Customer Review: INTERMATIC EJ500C
Summary: 3 Stars
Let me preface this by saying that I am really amazed that it is 2007 and NO COMPANY has come up with a thoroughly easy to operate, easy to install, and thoroughly reliable DIGITAL WALL TIMER...especially one that is reasonably priced.
I had the old version of this Intermatic with the knob on front. It wasnt digital but it worked well and was easy to indstall withstandard switch plates. These timers are made for DECORA plates (the ones with big holes). This means that for as many as you will nistall, you will have to consider hte location of that switch in your plate (I HAD ALL 3 GANG PLATES FOR MY OUTSIDE LIGHTS) and you will have to buy snap together plates tso you don't have to change out all switches to decora. You may have to order these in advance to create your own configurations. THESE TIMERS have been in use for only two months now and so far they are reliable but they have gitched on me and not come on a few times. I just turn the breaker off and on or fiddle with it and it comes on -- I don't know what the problem is but it worked soI taped paper over the timer with a sign that said DO NOT TOUCH .I have read other reviews that sight problems like this. THE READ OUT is for SUPERMAN vision! Really a poor display that is not adequately backlit. SET THE TIMERS BEFORE YOU INSTALL.
YOU WILL ENCOUNTER LOTS OF FRUSTRATION SETTING THIS TIMER but once it is done, set it and forget it. Installing can be tricky. It is a three wire timer and my house is only three years old but "monkey rigged" by an electrician who was too lazy to individually ground each switch so he ran one bare wire in back of all three and tapped the switch screw onto that wire. For this simple task, I ended up hiring an electrician to make sure it was done right. The wires are coded in blue, red and black and did not match the standard back and white of my, and most houses. I looked for a long time and this was the most reasonably priced timer in it's class although it is probably not the most reliable or functional friendly. You get what you pay for but I continue to use these at my home that remains vacant while I am on assignment over 2000 mles away so I do have more than 75% trust in them and soemone to check on my home each week to let me know if they stop functioning properly. B PLUS
Customer Review: In use for over 2 years without a problem
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had one of these set up on my porch light for over 2 years and have not had a single problem. Some of the complaints I read about surprise me. Why would you hook this thing up to your Christmas lights? That isn't what it was designed to do. There is a comment about not being able to use the thing with fluorescent lights. I replaced the regular incandescent bulb in our porch light with a CFL a year ago and have not had any problems. Frankly, I am little concerned about energy savings. I use this to have the porch light come on in the evening and off in the morning. Regarding comments about programming. It has an auto set function that controls when the light comes on and off. You don't have to tell it anything. It is preprogrammed with when it gets dark and light in whatever time zone. It even changes the on time randomly by 15 minutes everyday to make it seem like someone is home. You set the clock, tell it whether to adjust for daylight savings, and turn the function on. I have not had to make any adjustments since day one. As far as the time display being too small, how often do you actually need to look at the clock? Only when you are programming and standing right in front of it. The display is certainly larger than your watch. The door may be a little flimsy but, I have not had to open it since I first installed the unit. You can manually turn the light on and off just by pressing the door which acts as a switch. It includes a "watch" battery for storage of time and program in case of power loss. There are other models but few have the auto settings feature. Another bonus to this one is that it installs flush. Other models I have used and seen stick out or have the buttons showing. This one looks much cleaner. How good is this one? I went to HD to get one for my folks and they were all sold out.Customer Review: Turns Lights On...Turns Lights Off Works great!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this thing about 3 years ago. For some reason it was on clearance at the DEPOT. I am all about keeping my electricity bill to a minimum. But I am more about providing security for my family and my home. I hate coming home to a dark house. This switch makes your home look lived in. Seriously, for $20.00 you may discourage the casual thief and save yourself alot of grief (hey that rhymed). Wanna know a side benefit? All my Yuppie neighbors now keep their porch lights on at night. The result is a cul de sac that is uninviting to criminals looking to break into cars or houses. When we first moved here, NOBODY kept their porch lights on overnight. Tonight I just looked outside and they are all on. Nobody in their right mind is gonna cruise through here looking to break into a vehicle. So it cost me a few cents in electricity; last I checked my homeowners policy had a $1000.00 deductible. If you ever had your house or car broken into you get what I am talking about. As for leaving the lights on all night, maybe we could convince Al Gore not to fly his private jet to Copenhagen. That would offset enough CO2 for all of us to leave our lights on 24/7 for the rest of our lives.
BTW. Some have commented on the DST (Daylight Savings Time) feature of this switch, and the Gov'ts new DST schedule. Who Cares??? Seriously, the switch is set to come on just before nautical twilight. That can be predicted out until the end of the world (Which is Dec 2012 BTW)...Just Kidding!. This thing comes on before dark and goes out as the sun comes up, based on the calendar day and the same pattern the sun has followed before Al Gore invented the internet and global warming. If you want your lights to turn on at dusk and off at dawn, this thing will work until it dies. Relax........
Customer Review: Great Device and Flawless Performance
Summary: 5 Stars
We've had the EJ500C installed for a year now to control an exterior coach light outside the garage door. Despite what the instructions recommended I tried it with a compact fluorescent light (CFL) in the coach light and the setup has worked flawlessly. The switch is installed inside our garage, which is not climate controlled, so it sees some varying temperatures but it still works fine. It replaced an SS8 which died after a few months (maybe due to the temperature fluctuations or maybe just a bad unit - our other SS8 mounted in our entryway is still going strong after a couple years).
The EJ500C is a much more attractive unit than the SS8 since it sits flush with the wallplate and the controls are hidden. Yes, the screen is a little small, but I've looked at it maybe twice in the past year to check to see if the time was correct so that's a very minor issue in my book. Programming is easy if you take your time to read and understand the instructions. The self-adjusting sunrise/sunset feature is great; between it and the random 15-minute setting it really gives the house a lived in look when we're not home. The settings have never been lost when the power has gone out. The buttons are small and the door isn't extremely sturdy but I have no need to fiddle with them often, in fact I don't think I've opened the door since I programmed it. To manually turn the light on or off you just push on the door. Great design.
We're about to move into a new house and I'll be installing several of these for our exterior lighting. With CFL bulbs and these timers you can set up good security/convenience lighting while keeping energy expenses low.
Customer Review: Works just the way I would like it to
Summary: 5 Stars
I have used conventional timers on my front door and garage door lights for many years. The only downside to conventional dimmers is Daylight Savings Time. Twice a year, I need to reprogram the timers because the lights come on either too early or too late relative to the darkness of the season.
The reason I ordered these dimmers is because they promised to alleviate me of the need to reprogram, hopefully, ever.
I am happy to say that, so far, at least, they work exactly as I hoped. I programmed them once, and like Ron Popeil says, I "set it and forget it". When Eastern Standard Time kicked in this fall, the time changed like magic on the timers.
I have the timers set to go on at "sunset" each night and to turn off at 11:00PM. Programming this was not as straightforward as I hoped. Having programmed many devices in my life and considering myself to be gadget saavy, I was able to program them without too much trouble. While the directions were comprehensive and answered most of my questions, I had to figure out a few things by myself.
One of the questions, you have to answer when you program the time is what area of the US you live in: North, Middle, or South. I believe this setting determines how soon before "sunset" the lights turn on. I originally set it to "North" since I live in New York but I found it was just a little too much toward sunset when the lights came on. I changed my location to "middle" and they turned on just fine for me.
I believe the cost of these timers is very competitive and would recommend them to anyone who wanted to be relieved of having to think of one more thing in our crowded lives.