Darkness (and winter) is coming

October 5, 2016 1:04 PM

I hate coming home to a dark apartment. I would like to have a light on a timer that would switch on about ten minutes before I'm due home and would switch off later that night. The timers I've bought, however, have defeated me.

Two years ago, I bought this timer, and I never figured out how to use it. I had another light timer before that one, and it was more like a winding kitchen timer, but it didn't always work. I was using it with a pole lamp, maybe it should be a table lamp with a simple ON/OFF switch? Please recommend an indoor light timer that is simple enough for a small child to use and any advice you have about how to make it work. Bonus: if it was easy to temporarily turn on the light attached to the timer without screwing up the settings.

This is not at all about safety. I just hate walking into a dark apartment.

posted by gladly to Home & Garden (14 answers total)

What about one that has a built-in light sensor? That way it only comes on when it gets dark. Available at most hardware stores and Amazon.
posted by Celsius1414 at 1:10 PM on October 5, 2016

I have several like this and I love them. The little gray thingies around the edge are 30 minute increments - pushed down (by default) they keep the outlet off. Pull them up (easy to do with a fingernail) and that indicates when the timer should be on. Make sure the "time" arrow in the middle is pointed at the current time and you're good to go.

This one also has a slider to bypass the timer entirely, so if you want the outlet on when the timer says it should be off, you just slide the switch over for a bit and the outlet works as normal.
posted by brainmouse at 1:11 PM on October 5, 2016 [6 favorites]

Get the starter set of Philips Hue lights. Make sure you can control them with the smart phone app.

Get an IFTTT account on your phone.

Set up the appropriate location channel on your smart phone:
iPhone
Android

Use a recipe in IFTTT to say "When I get close to home turn on my Hue light"
posted by Confess, Fletch at 1:28 PM on October 5, 2016 [11 favorites]

I used to use analog timers like this on my fish tank, and never had a problem with them. They are pretty easy to work: The green jumper turns on the power, the red jumper turns it off. You can have multiple separate "light" times.

Another direction you could go (though it can be more complicated on the technology end) is with "smart" switches and/or bulbs, that can interface with an app on your phone to turn on the lights when you're on you way home. Standard caveats about the Internet of Things apply here. Here is a smart bulb from Philips. Here is a smart plug from Wemo. Both will work with Nest or Amazon Alexa.
posted by sparklemotion at 1:31 PM on October 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

I had a smart plug from Wemo and it was absolutely terrible - it turned itself off and on continuously no matter how I programmed it.

I would not recommend getting one of those as it's apparently a common problem with them.
posted by winna at 1:48 PM on October 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Welcome to the light! I have 4 lamps in my house set up on either of the analog timers suggested by sparklemotion and brainmouse and they only give me trouble when there's a power outage and I have to climb behind the sofa to reset one of them. I wake up before the sun comes up and also have the lamps set to come on before I enter the living room with my coffee in the morning.
posted by sarajane at 2:14 PM on October 5, 2016

I also use the timer sparklemotion uses for their fish tank. It's rock solid and not perplexing to set up if you read the instructions carefully.
posted by xyzzy at 2:29 PM on October 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Is learning to use the one you have already an option?
posted by humboldt32 at 3:01 PM on October 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

I also use sparklemotion's timers. They do wear out eventually with the gears (or whatever the innards are) getting an audible grinder by noise. But that takes a few years of constant use and they are cheap to replace. Another plus is these accept 3 prong plugs which I found useful as I had to use an extension cord to control one of my lamps. I have 4 of them.
posted by cecic at 3:52 PM on October 5, 2016

I love my Hue set up, which is currently only limited to the bedroom, but eventually I'll branch out.

In the morning, I have it set up to a harsh LED blue light shortly before my alarm.

It turns off during the day. Then I set it to sunset shortly before I get home. It dims significantly at 10pm to remind me that I'm pushing my bedtime. Then I manually turn it off from the phone when ready to sleep.

If it gets disconnected to the wifi, it remembers the 'alarms' I've set up. If I manually turn off the light, and turn it back on, it reverts to brightest white until either the next alarm or I change it from my phone.
posted by politikitty at 5:02 PM on October 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have almost exactly the setup Confess, Fletch describes except I have lightbulbs from LIFX which is $40/lightbulb and don't require a hub to manage them (just the lightbulbs and the phone app).
posted by the agents of KAOS at 11:13 PM on October 5, 2016

I came here to suggest Hue lights. Hue lights have definitely changed my life for the better.
posted by oblique red at 10:27 AM on October 6, 2016

Best answer: I would say get LIFX Bulb. As mentioned before they dont require a hub like the hue lights.
They are$17.99 for a used and $20 for a new one which is cheap enough to try.
https://www.amazon.com/LIFX-White-800-Adjustable-Dimmable/dp/B00XUW0ZFU

Get the bulb, plug in to your wifi and download thier App.
After that you can set it on timer, change the color as the day goes by. If you want to get fancy , get IFFT and connect bulb to your phone and it can start up before u come home .
posted by radsqd at 11:08 AM on October 6, 2016

Response by poster: Okay, I got my first LIFX bulb today and set up was incredibly easy. Thanks, guys!
posted by gladly at 7:37 PM on October 16, 2016 [1 favorite]