Intermatic EJ500C Indoor Digital Wall Switch Timer
by Intermatic
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Intermatic EJ500C Indoor Digital Wall Switch Timer
Customer Review: Great product
Summary: 5 Stars
I had one of these already and just installed one for a friend. I have seen complaints that the instructions are hard to follow, the display is hard to read, etc. My advice: read thru the instructions first, and get out your magnifying glass if you need to. It's worth the trouble. This is a "smart" timer that will turn your lights on at sunset and/or off at sunrise -- and will automatically adjust those times thru the year. I programmed mine and the friend's to go on at sunset and off at 11:00 pm or midnight. If you mess up when you program it, it can be a little tricky backing up or starting over. Other than that, I had no problems. Yes, the display is small, but once you have programmed it, you never have to look at it again.
The specifications say not to use it with small-based candelabra bulbs, but I did anyway, and it seems to work fine. I think you need to make sure your lights have a total of at least 40 watts, though.
GE makes a similar "smart" timer, and I bought that one first when I couldn't find this one locally, but there's nothing "smart" about the GE. It doesn't have the sunset/sunrise feature, and I took it back.
Customer Review: These are great!
Summary: 4 Stars
I have three of these controlling outdoor lighting on my house and I plan on adding a fourth. The automatic adjustments that the timers make for sunrise and sunset are an incredibly handy feature. Set them and forget about them.
Contrary to one of the reviewers here (the guy that gave it 1 star), I can assure you that these things do NOT lose their memory during even extended power outages. They have their own battery backup that preserves all the programming. Furthermore, the simple plastic cover easily flips down without drama- I don't see how you could break off the cover while programming them.
I do agree that they are a bit complicated to program but I think that is a necessary evil given the number of features of these timers.
I would have given these 5 stars however sometimes when a bulb burns out, the timer stops working until you replace the bulb. Also, about once every few months I'll notice that a light fails to automatically turn on as-per the programming. The problem seems to be self correcting.
Customer Review: Very easy to use, great product
Summary: 5 Stars
I read reviews here (of course after I had already placed the order) and came across a few that stated that the timer will not work with compact fluorescent... this is both true and false. After reading the packaging, I saw that the reverse said that it requires a minimum of 40W to operate correctly.
Now if you are like myself and using it to power multiple outside lights in which the compact fluorescent draw more than 40W, it will work properly. If you are using it with a 1/2 bulb compact fluorescent application that does not draw more than 40W, then you'll get the flashing or non-operational.
Install was very easy and the directions take you step by step in the programming side of it. All very easy to set up and adjust to your personal preference (saw that in auto-mode this morning it turned off the lights sooner than I would prefer so I'll adjust it to turn them off a bit later in the morning). Only question I have is will the unit itself last or is it a yearly replacement type of thing.
Customer Review: Hint/Warning for fluorescnet applications
Summary: 5 Stars
The way this (and the GE model I've used) work, they will NOT operate in a strictly fluorescent application. If however, you're turning on a light that has two bulbs, or has a whole row of bulbs (porch), you can use this. For a single fixture with two bulbs, the mix of fluorescent and incandescent is handy since one puts out lots of light if you turn it on in the dark, as we might do very late at night after the timer has shut it off. The key however is, you must have one incandescent bulb in the circuit. The reason is rather ingenious. They "trickle" electricity thru the incandescent bulb to complete the circuit that runs the timer. Since some switches and 3-ways don't even have the other leg available at the switch, this is slick.
The form factor on this one (industrial design) is way better than the GE one. We run ours for a few hours in the evening, one in the morning, and it works great for us.
Customer Review: Almsot Perfect Product
Summary: 4 Stars
I installed one of these last October to control seven 50W incandescent downlights across the front of my house and I love it - great "welcoming" and "somebody's home" effect automatically. Works like a charm, no problems. I suggest that it be programmed BEFORE being installed in the wall because the LED isn't backlit and the buttons are a bit small for my fat fingers. Once programmed, it's worked great.
We love the automatic adjustment for "on at sunset" (we only have them come on at night, programming different off-times for different days) and we set the clock 15 minutes early to have them come on before actual sunset due to the heavy shading on the west side of our house.
Now that they are starting to burn out, I'm going to replace the 50W incandescents with 14W CFL (2,700 Kelvin) bulbs (in all except one to keep them from flickering) as suggested above.