Intermatic EJ600 120V Indoor Digital Astro In-Wall Timer - White - Programmable Light Switch for Home Automation & Energy Savings - Perfect for Bedrooms, Living Rooms & Smart Homes

I had been using a Leviton LT112 digital timer for about a year and a half, to turn on a kitchen table lamp at dusk, and turn it off at midnight. This type of timer plugged into an outlet, then a lamp plugged into the timer. The Leviton had some good features, like battery backup, automatic daylight savings time adjustment, and automatic dawn/dusk time computation as the seasons change. Unfortunately, a power resistor inside the Leviton burned up and ruined the circuitry, but luckily nothing else was damaged (the damage was contained inside the timer case).I looked around to find a similar digital timer from another vendor, but didn't find an exact equivalent. I liked the feature set of the Intermatic EJ600 timer, but it is designed for mounting inside a wall switch box to control a hardwired light. I am very comfortable around electrical wiring, so I mounted the Intermatic timer inside a surface mount plastic outlet box and wired it in the middle of a three-wire (grounded) 16-ga extension cord. The instruction sheet that came with the timer was very clear, and everything was done very neatly and safely (see the attached photo). Now the extension cord gets plugged into an outlet, the kitchen table lamp gets plugged into the extension cord outlet, and the timer controls the light. Since this light is on for hours a day, I am using a 60 watt equivalent LED bulb that uses only 10 watts of electricity, and the timer has no problem controlling the non-dimming LED bulb. Note that you don't get a wall plate with the timer, you have to buy that separately.The instructions were very detailed and pretty clear about how to program the timer. The first part of the programming is to reset the timer, then configure the date, time, DST setting, and latitude zone, which you only have to do once. The second part of the programming is to configure the on/off events for your light. This has lots of options, such as what day (or days) of the week, use sunrise and/or sunset or specific times, random times, etc. It's complicated, but if you have a straightforward application, and you follow the instruction sheet carefully, you should be able to program it fine. Because I had a very simple application, I only needed one on/off program: for every day of the week, turn the light on at sunset, and turn it off at 11:59pm. During the configuration programming, you can adjust the sunset time so the timer activates a short time before actual sunset, since you usually don't wait for it to become completely dark before you turn on a light. I'm sure it's possible to get bollixed up in the programming, but for me and my simple application, it worked perfectly the first time.The manual on/off feature is pretty nice, since you don't have to look closely at the tiny buttons to figure out which one to push. Instead, you simply press the plastic panel that normally covers the programming buttons, and this toggles the lamp on and off.I thought the three-way switch feature was also pretty nice, although I didn't need that feature. Lots of home lighting circuits have two separate wall switches set up as a three-way switch, and you can replace one of the switches with this timer, and continue to use the other switch, too. Plus the manual override feature lets you manually use the timer switch also - pretty sweet.I am quite satisfied with the Intermatic EJ600 digital timer, now I just hope it lasts longer than the Leviton timer.I replaced one EJ500 switch – that I had with an incadescent spot light so that I could use an LED light buld instead. The EJ 500 switch is not compatible with LED or mercury (CFL) bulbs. I also replaced a standard toggle switch that I have been using mercury (CFL) bulbs that had built-in photosensors. They are no longer available since photosensors for mercury (CFL) bulbs are now available. However, the photosensor that I purchased to work with the CFL bulb added 1-2 inches of height and did not fit correctly into our fixture.I have had the EJ500 for about five years – and since I installed it and programmed it, I have not touched it since. We have frequent power outs and surges due to storms/lightning and in all of that time the program has worked without any input from me.This time, when I installed the EJ600, I told it sunup and sunset were 30 minute earlier and later, respectively. When I gave it the exact sunup/sunset times (in the EJ500 that I have been using), the bulbs came on a little later in the evenings than my wife liked and went off a little earlier than my wife liked.Installation of the switch is fairly straightfoward except that they must be connected in the so the electricity flows through the switch in a particular direction. Since both of my wires that were to be connected to the switch are black (instead of black and white), I had to put them together and then switch them if (when!) they were wrong. They were both backwards and I had switched them both after I connected the switch and found that the light bulbs did not respond to pushing the front panel which is essentiall on/off if you want to control the lights at other than the programmed times.I had some trouble (with both the EJ500 and EJ600) in programming the lights. There are six separate buttons with dual functions for most to control the programming. I use the switch in the SUNUP/SUNSET mode. When programming the switch, I needed my readers and a magnifying glass and a good light (and a third hand) to be able to see what I was doing. That may be just my age; but even when I could see what I was doing, I found it hard to follow their directions for programming the light. I ended up reprogramming it each afternoon until the program finally worked.Overall, I would recommend the switches. I would get the EJ600 because it can handle LED and mercury (CFL) lights. Once they are installed (fairly easy) and programmed (a challenge for me), they will work for years without any thought to them. It was worth a week of aggravation to program them. I had to purchase a new face plate for the large switch size.Easy to use. I use this one to activate my outdoor lights. The switch is in the garage and I often forget to operate the switch. This adapts to sunset, and I have a specific time to shut them off. Internal permanent battery is supposed to last 4 days to keep time without power. The programming memory doesn’t erase without power. Just push the front button panel to activate the switch manually.This device is a bit of a throwback relative to newer WiFi IOT devices, but it is exactly what I needed for some outdoor lighting that I want to go on at sunset and off at sunrise. Programming was a bit finicky; instructions for setting event to "Sunset" rather than a particular time weren't very clear. But still it only took about 10 minutes to complete what is hopefully a one-time setup. The screen is small and hard to read. But I doubt I'll ever need to look at it again unless it breaks.I needed "light almond" to match existing switches so was concerned that this "almond" might be too dark, but it actually matches the light almond quite closely.The switch, wiring, and wire nuts take a lot of space in the box; was a tight fit for me in a large box so might cause difficulties in a shallower box.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. LOLInstalled 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.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.Non chargeable, non replaceable battery arrived reading: "low battery." Waste of money and time.Works well.