Honeywell Home RPLS540A1002 RPLS540A ECONOSwitch Programmable Timer Switch, White (Requires 40 W Minimum)

My need was to automate turning on the exterior porch lights at dusk and off at dawn - for security purposes. Doing it manually is often forgotten and I can't really it do while away from home at night or on vacation. A home automation system was overkill and expensive. Putting in a light sensor switch on the fixture wouldn't work because the bulb is enclosed and can't detect dawn apart from the light itself. By chance I found this Honeywell timer. It does the job very well, blends in with the existing decor, has a number of programming options, and was easy to install with no rewiring. Details below.Be sure to get the right model! Answer these 3 questions:1) Does your existing light switch have a neutral wire? Green or a bare copper wire is usually "ground" - ignore that for this purpose. If you only have 2 other wires on the switch, it's easy: you do not have a neutral. Otherwise you *might* depending on whether or not it is a 3-way switch. Generally newer homes (late 2000s) will have neutrals. See the user's manual on Honeywell's web site for a better description than I can provide. I made the mistake of not noticing the difference - don't do the same! I'm putting this review under both models that I purchased.2) Do you want a simple device that turns on/off at a set time on each day of the week? Or do you want one with a larger back-lit screen, that can do dusk/dawn detection (based on longitude/latitude), and optionally turn it on/off randomly? Go for the "basic" or the "enhanced" depending on your answer (my words).3) What color: almond (beige) or white?No neutral wire required (40w-500w load, incandescent or halogen only):RPLS530A - white, basicRPLS531A - almond, basicRPLS540A - white, enhancedRPLS541A - almond, enhancedNeutral wire required (0w-1800w load, any bulb or a motor):RPLS730B - white, basicRPLS731B - almond, basicRPLS740A - white, enhancedRPLS741A - almond, enhancedThe disadvantage of the no-neutral version is that it is incompatible with solely energy efficient bulbs (no LED or CFL). Does *not* matter if you meet the minimum load (I confirmed that). It powers itself when the lights are off by bleeding small amounts of power - not enough to turn most traditional lights on, but causes others to flicker. But you *might* be able to make it work if you mix it up - put (1) 40W traditional bulb in with other sockets that have CFL/LEDs.Installation & feature notes:* Be sure to pickup a standard rectangular wall plate to go with it. Nothing custom here - same ones used for those larger paddle-style switches.* After reading the manual it took me ~20 minutes to install and setup.* The timer switch is deeper than a standard switch, so it was difficult for me to get all the wires into the box. It fit, but just barely.* Follow the manual for setting it up. It's easy to read and not difficult to do, but the process is not intuitive on its own.* The backlit model has 3 settings when sitting idle: on, low, off. When you press a key it goes to full brightness for 8 seconds.* You'll need the longitude and latitude of where you live for the enhanced model. There's a list of common cities in the manual, but if you live in a backwoods area you'll need to google it or use a GPS. It's nice to have this because it will adapt to sunrise/sunset automatically depending on the season.* It's very easy to override the timer - just press the big button light a normal switch.* Backup battery keeps your settings in the event of a power outage - nice!

I have been freed from one more time wasting task. I have 3 lights on the front of my house, 2 by the garage and one over my front door. The garage lights and the front door lights were on different switches (which I found pretty annoying). The front door light was hooked up to one switch but the garage lights were hooked up to separate 3-way switch. My goal was to combine all of my lights on this magical automatic switch. :)The ECONOSwitch came with very good instructions with several diagrams of how it could be installed. I had more trouble figuring out my own home wiring than the switch. You do need to know some basics about electrical wiring to install this thing. A multi-tester is very helpful in identifying wires for 3-way installations. *yes, I said 3-way. Also you should make sure the power is completely off when installing it as it could damage the switch.Programming wasn't too difficult, I set in my coordinates, and it was rolling in no time. The first night it didn't turn off properly because I had turned it on manually. The next night, I didn't touch it that day and it worked perfectly. It turns on at sundown and off at sunrise. Like I said, magic. The LCD screen was darker in the two top corners like there was extra pressure in that area from the manufacturing process but it was mild and hardly noticeable. Seriously, it's not a TV screen. You don't watch it. You set it and forget it. Who cares? I am wondering if I will need to reprogram it if the power goes out. I will update later once that happens.Now that it's installed. I love it. Yes, I want to marry it too. Yes, that much. I walk by it now and see the little blue light telling me that the lights are on and I just smile. Okay, sometimes a fist-pump and a let out a "Yessss!" too, but that's revealing what a geek I am. One less thing to worry about in my day. One less thing to do. Thanks ECONOSwitch!Oh, by the way... I have 2 - 60 watt equivalent CFL bulbs and 1 - 60 watt incandescent bulb on the switch. Haven't experienced any problems. Also, the LCD has a backlight setting that you can adjust. The device can double as a night-light. So cool when technology works the way it's supposed to.I may put more of these around the house as it has a setting to randomly turn lights on and off when you are on vacation. Good fun! I'm picturing a disco light flashing setting even though I know that's not what it does. I guess I just have a very active imagination.I don't think you can go wrong with this switch as long as you have more than 40 watts connected to it (said in instructions). It's a bit pricey for for a switch but if you add up how many minutes in your life you spent turning your outside lights on and off, wondering if you did or didn't, and calculated you hourly pay rate, I think you'd find that it's worth it.Just my 2 cents.12-27-2013 UPDATE - now that I've had the switch for few months, I thought I'd add a little more info about the experience. I'm since using 3 CFL bulbs now (no incandescent bulbs). Everything still works fine and I stand by my initial review but I've had one of the problems mentioned by other customers. The illumination on the switch started pulsing. At first, I thought it was due to electrical line noise when my air conditioner/heater was running. Sadly, it seems to consistently happen regardless of any other outside influences. I really did like the night-light function but the pulsing effect was just too annoying. I know that I could probably contact the manufacturer and they might send me a replacement but frankly, it's not worth it at this point. Plus I don't want to uninstall/re-install the thing. I didn't buy it for the night-light and have since disabled it to avoid the pulsing effect. I'm not removing a star for this because I really don't know what's causing it. I'm still happy with the purchase. I turns my lights on and off so I don't have to. That's what I wanted.