How do people use timer switches, even older ones like these, to save electricity cost in their homes? 

You might be getting tired of reminding your family members to switch off lights or appliances when they are not in use. Or you are stuck finding ways how to cut your electric bill. Well, we introduce the simple and affordable timer that runs at $15 or $25. It will make life easier and, at the same time, cut energy use in your home.

There are digital and mechanical switch timers. Both are great ways to lower utility bills.

What are timer switches?

A timer switch is a timer controlled by the timing mechanism that flips an electric plug on or off. Most timer switches work by letting you preset an interval when a socket gets electric power. The older mechanical ones do this and were popular with Christmas lights that only turned on from 6pm to 11pm. These simple timers just plugs into any electrical socket in the wall–indoor or outdoor. For even more convenience and options, we now have digital timer switches. We will talk about this more later.

Some timers require some handy work by an electrician. They aren’t just plugged into any socket. They are connected directly to the wiring between your home and the appliance(s) they are controlling. One good example is installing a timer for your home’s hot water recirculation pump. Sometimes, there is no plug, and you need an electrician. For something that could be wasting a lot of electricity like a recirc pump, it is worth the cost of an electrician to install a timer switch. (See our article about recirculation pumps.)

How can a timer switch save money?

Automatically Turn Off after Session
Turning on and off night lighting is probably one of the most obvious uses for a timer switch. This could be outdoor yard lighting or even your reading lamp that you always fall asleep to. Of course, this applies to the television that you always forget to turn off as well. Another good place to put timers are battery chargers because it can keep on drawing electricity even after it’s done charging. You can set the timer to go off after 1-2 hours.

Heating and Cooling
Some people find a timer great for space heaters or standalone air-conditioning units as well. Using a timer is a double win since these appliances use a lot of electricity and overusing them through the entire night could make the room uncomfortable. Along these lines are humidifiers, sound machines or anything that helps a kid go to bed. Pretty much, anything that we get too lazy to turn off at night is a good application of timer switches.

Recurring Use
Less obvious things for a timer is putting a timer on things that you use around the same time every day. Why? Because many of these devices keep on running throughout the entire day when no one needs it, and some of them use a lot of electricity. One example, we talked about already is the hot water recirculation pump. Most people only use hot water for showering and bathing in time windows in the morning and in the evening. Why pay for the huge cost of getting hot water within one minute for the entire day then?

Expensive Use Like Pumping Water
Another common example is the pool pump or water fountain. Water is heavy, and pumping it 24/7 can get quite expensive. A timer that turns water-pumping devices on and off just enough before and after use could cut your electric bill significantly.

Mechanical vs Digital Timer Switch

When looking at timer switches, there are two types out there in the market. Let’s see what the differences are.

A mechanical timer sets the timing mechanically, e.g. with a dial or with time switches.

There are mainly two types of mechanical timers: plug-in timers, in-wall timers. Plug-in timers is an electrical socket with time control features plugged into a wall socket. As the name suggests, in-wall timers are installed into the wall. However they are installed, mechanical timer switches are quite self-explanatory and quite affordable.

Advantages of Mechanical Timer Switches

• Cheaper
• Reliable
• Easy to get going

A digital timer switch works just like a mechanical timer, except timing is controlled electronically. They can also be plug-in or in-wall. Being digital, a timer becomes programmable and can handle a lot more situations if necessary. For example, you can have something go on and off differently for each day of the week. You could control all the timers in a single app on your phone if the timer system supports it. Also, the timing could be “password protected” such that a stranger or your own kid cannot change it. Further, some timers could be part of a network of other sensors, e.g. the timing could change due to motion sensing or sunlight sensing. Lastly, some digital timers say they can learn and become “smart.”

Advantage of Digital Timer

• Options and settings very customizable
• Can run on backup batteries
• Slimmer design, i.e. “less bulky”
• Could work with other things in your home

Putting appliances on time switches can result in significant electricity savings especially when you know that certain appliances will not be used during a specific time of the day. By using these programmable devices you can be sure that your appliances do not get electricity when it is not required, allowing you to reduce your electricity bill and oftentimes be more comfortable.