Intermatic EJ600 120 Volt Indoor Digital Astro In-Wall Timer, White

I'm a 50-yr old female homeowner, average handy, and installed 4 of these myself - love them! I picked this particular in-wall timer for the unobtrusive aesthetics (did NOT want the green glowing digital readout of another brand). Also love the versatile features - I use the sunset on feature (which auto-links to the changing times throughout the year) and the programmed off, but you can set it up any way you want to from fully programmed to fully auto. I was tired of using expensive malfunctioning auto sensor bulbs in my exterior light fixtures, and really didn't want the lights on dusk 'till dawn anyway. This in wall timer is such a perfect, economical solution. I found the installation and programming instructions to be very clear. KEEP the programming instructions somewhere close, because it is not intuitive and you will need to refer to them every time you make program changes. Like other reviewers mention, there are a couple tricky installation parts, mostly fitting all the wires and wire caps back in the receptacle. But a little patience tucking them all in like a puzzle and it works. Also, I would recommend to other DIYers that you buy an inexpensive ($4) AC voltage detector so you can easily tell the load wire from the line wire. And frankly the most time consuming part was figuring out which breaker in my house turned off whatever particular switch I was working on! (Tip - when you locate the right breaker, label it in your breaker box with a black Sharpie so you will always know in future.) Oh, and figuring out how to release the wires from the existing push-in standard switch? Let me help you with this because it drove me nuts till I figured it out - you have to insert a TINY little thing (I used the tiny tip of a letter opener) into the rectangular hole slot next to the wire and push - then the wire pops out. Lastly, this product comes with white neutral and ground wires - my home was built 12 years ago and has both. BOTTOM LINE: Great product, and you do not need to pay an electrician - if I can install them, you can too.

http://www.intermatic.com/Products/Timers/InWallTimers/Electronic_Timers.aspx has Intermatic model differences and MUCH better programming instructions than printed instructions that come with the timer.The EJ600 replaced a EJ500 model which was still working well after 15 years. Replacement was necessary to properly use LEDs in outdoor lights. LEDs on the EJ500 model would briefly "flash" when off. I like the astronomical feature which allows lights to be turned off or on precisely at sunset or sunrise. Longitude and latitude is "automatically" determined by the EJ600's cleverly designed program when the owner enters the time zone and then manually corrects the displayed sunset time to the time of that day's actual sunset time. This corrections is only required once- at initial setup. My lights go ON at sunset and OFF at 11:00 pm and then ON at 7:00AM and OFF at sunrise (if sunrise before 7:00AM, the lights don't go on at all). One star taken off because the programing instructions were more complicated than necessary because they were written to save paper. PS: The EJ600 does need a neutral wire whereas the EJ500 does not. Most homes will have a neutral wire in the switch box . Intermatic does sell a timer (EI600) that does not need a neutral wire but it is a few dollars more expensive (and can handle larger electrical loads required by motors, etc), The EJ600 has an internal rechargeable battery whereas the EJ500 and EI600 has replaceable batteries.

I bought two of these timers to control two Malibu outdoor lighting circuits. I had just converted both Malibu circuits to LED bulbs (Anyray Malibu Replacement Bulbs work well) which reduced my Malibu power requirement from about 200 W to about 15 W which enabled me to ditch the clunky, noisey Malibu power packs and just use a couple of spare 12 V power modules (either AC or DC works fine with the Anyray bulbs) left over from some long gone consumer product. The two Intermatics power the two receptacles where the power modules are plugged into.The control capabilities of the Intermatics are impressive, if not overwhelming. One of my circuits turns on at sunset, off at midnight, back on at 5:00 am, then off at sunrise which is no problem. The timer has an automatic sunrise/sunset time adjustment based on date which has worked well from my installation in mid-April until now (June 8). One big attraction for me is that these timers have a battery backup so the programming is preserved in case of power failure.The only negative I've found is the programming is rather tedious but very doable thanks to very good step-by-step programming instructions included with the product. Time will tell about the reliability but so far I've had no problems even after a couple of power failures.

Likes, lots of variety for setting programs. I wanted to turn lights “on” at sunset and time “off” at a specific time. What I didn’t realize is that I could also set the lights “on” early in the morning to go “off” at sunrise.Great option without a photocell.Dislikes, trying to program the timer using the instructions, it’s tough. I highly recommend watching set up videos that the manufacturer has provided on YouTube.

Installation is well described in the manual. The unit fills the entire electrical box cavity making wiring a challenge especially for gang box with multiple switches.Display is not lit and font really small. That makes Programming a challenge and require following the instructions step by step carefully as I could not see The tiny icons.Looks good and once installed and programmed it worked well.

Installed it 3 years ago and never cared about outdoor lights since then.The display is quite small though, but you don't need to look at it.You don't have to program all on and off times,instead you select the timezone and area.It seems to be designed for USA rather than Canada,so it turns lights on and off roughly an hour earlier than I would expect.But neverthless, it works well and frees me from an unnecessary routine.

the switch yes from warehouse deal $14 plus good deal, mounting screws missing but was worded, what i don't understand the person whom left a review about the battery been dead, how doom can that person be, is a rechargeable battery!!!! Apply power to and 5 minute lather the low battery message is gone, that was a dome review, if you can not figure that out you should not perches gadgets that are not dome simple you. LOL

Works well.