The Intermatic Death Curse Like several other reviewers' units, mine worked fine for a couple of years, then just died. The numbers kept ticking, but the on/off just stopped functioning. Same fate as two earlier models of Intermatic built-in wall-switch timers. My advice - divide the product price by 18 to 24 months to get your per-month cost. If it seems steep, try another brand.
Excellent energy saver Easy to setup and use compared to the electromechanical timers. And, is heavy duty as advertised. How heavy duty? I had 3 1500w appliances on one circuit, breaker tripped, but the timer (with battery backup) didn't fry.
10 year old dt17 works like a champ not much to say, other than i bought this about a decade ago from home depot. i never tried pulling 15a through the thing, which is really just a silly amount of current--i don't care what they rated it for.
also, inductive loads--particularly loads like electric motors as found in ACs and such--are very tough on switching contacts. expecting this little box to last long switching on and off 10k btu air conditioners is unrealistic.
in my case it did excellent duty switching on and off a pair of 400w metal halide HID lights for around two years. i use it to this day to switch on and off christmas lights, and a few house lamps during vacations, which it's been doing faithfully since it was retired from HID lamp duty.
i've replaced the button cells ONCE during this time, a couple of years ago. they seem to last longer if the device is left plugged in, and also if it is not active (ie left on OFF mode).
perhaps i just got lucky and got a ringer, perhaps their QC has gone down the tubes.. who knows? i can just say mine has been an excellent investment. apparently ymmv.
Does the Job I bought the light timer and used it on a trip to NYC. It does what it promises so I give it an A.
op inst not easy to understand units work fine ( got 2)read instructions carefully,be sure to install batteries correctly,play with the programming until you understand instructions. very nice timer
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