Home time travel device?

January 26, 2007 10:43 PM

What does this strange dial in my apartment do?

The dial (knob? switch?) linked above is in a closet in my apartment, and neither my girlfriend nor I have any idea what it does. It seems to have something to do with timing/scheduling (the dial around it is labeled 1-12AM and 1-12PM) but we don't know what it controls.

Having no context, I don't know what magic words to punch into Google to find this thing, so I turn to you for help. What does it do?!?

posted by bbuda to home & garden (16 comments total)

It looks like it might be a light timer? I'll send the picture to my dad and brother who know about weird dials to see what they think, but that's what I'm guessing.
posted by sperose at 10:45 PM on January 26, 2007

Yes, it's a light timer.

In fact, if I'm not very much mistaken, it's an Intermatic E1120 Compact In Wall Mechanical Timer.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 10:48 PM on January 26, 2007

Does your apartment complex have a sprinkler system (not for fire, but for outdoor watering)?... It looks very similar to a timer we used to have when we lived in a house with a sprinkler system.
posted by amyms at 10:55 PM on January 26, 2007

My mother has (what looks like) this exact timer in her chicken coop so the cluckclucks will think we still get sun during the long Alaskan winters.
posted by rhapsodie at 10:55 PM on January 26, 2007

Oops, it looks like Busy Old Fool has the correct answer.
posted by amyms at 10:56 PM on January 26, 2007

Heh, I was actually waiting to ask something very similar. Only ours is right near the front door in our condo. It looks like an older type as well, but it ooks lik eit'd be some type of timer for the hall-way light, mayhaps.
posted by InsanePenguin at 10:56 PM on January 26, 2007

"The dial (knob? switch?) linked above is in a closet in my apartment ... ...What does it do?!?"
posted by bbuda to home & garden

Perhaps somebody was running a grow light operation in that closet? If not, you might go around with a regular table lamp fixture set to ON operation, and find any and all outlet(s) in adjacent rooms that might appear "dead" or uncontrolled by normal wall mounted light switches. Leave the lamp plugged in, and go manipulate this timer's settings, until you're sure that the time is "ON." If the lamp goes ON, you've just found your timer controlled security lamp outlet.

Put a 60 watt lamp there, and remember to turn it ON when you will be away from home in the evenings. The timer will create a street appearance of the lamp going on and off, as if someone were home.
posted by paulsc at 10:59 PM on January 26, 2007

Clearly a timer, with three settings that seem to be (from left to right): off, on, or timed. But it could control anything electric, the same way a light switch can control a light, or a sprinkler, or whatever. I've seen these used for sprinkers, heat lamps (as in a bathroom), or greenhouse lights.

The first two positions, again, seem to be always-on and always-off... can you find anything in the apartment that it controls when in the "on" (middle) position?
posted by rokusan at 11:01 PM on January 26, 2007

On shoulda-preview, what paulsc said.
posted by rokusan at 11:01 PM on January 26, 2007

Looking at the manufacturer's information page for that model, it can handle up to 1875W, so it might be controlling something fairly hefty, like a heater or pump.

No marijuana plantation in a huge secret basement accessible through a hidden hydraulic door, is there?
posted by Busy Old Fool at 11:14 PM on January 26, 2007

Could it be a ventilation fan? My last apartment had this sort of timer hooked up to a fan. My landlord told me it was because my unit was pretty airtight so if I didn't leave windows open regularly I should run the fan to avoid stagnant air.
posted by rhiannon at 11:33 PM on January 26, 2007

Thanks so far - that's it alright. A little more background - the switch is in a closet that has my hot water heater and washer/dryer. The switch is in the 'always off' position - I'm pretty sure it's been that way since I moved in.

Putting the switch in the 'always on' position seems to turn on a fan (I think it's a fan) that is situated above my dryer. The fan is pretty well blocked by the dryer and is very weak (but very loud) - it might be sucking air upward, but I don't feel much airflow in either direction. So still no idea what it does or why it would be on a timer...
posted by bbuda at 11:36 PM on January 26, 2007

On post - rhiannon - that might be it!
posted by bbuda at 11:36 PM on January 26, 2007

My parents have house ventilation fans on timers. It's required by building codes in their rainy clime. (Not too far away from where you live.)
posted by D.C. at 12:04 AM on January 27, 2007

It's not just for stagnation but for humidity. To keep the windows from steaming up in the winter, etc. (And to keep mold from growing.)
posted by kindall at 12:45 AM on January 27, 2007

There was a time (say, maybe late 1950s into the early 1970s, give or take) when indoor washing machines were common, but not always indoor dryers. In sunny weather, one hung wet clothes outdoors. In rainy weather, one option was to hang clothes indoors, perhaps in the same room or closet as the washing machine. In that case, an extractor fan to remove the damp air improved drying and prevented mold and mildew. These extractor fans are really common in houses built in the third quarter of the twentieth century, and may still be required by code in some places.
posted by Forktine at 4:47 AM on January 27, 2007