Heavy-Duty Appliance Timer $8

erco

In the time before Parallax, long before X-10 modules, there were mechanical timers to switch appliances on & off. Bulletproof and reliable unless a power outage stops the clock! Here's an unusually beefy one (15 amps, 1875W·& grounded) for $8 shipped. That's enough for 1/3 HP motors, electric heaters·and·small air conditioners. You can't buy a 15-amp switching relay this cheap!·Silicon is for suckers!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350374956804



▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
·"If you build it, they will come."

icepuck

I bought a cheap $9 digital timer from radio shack. It was a peace of Smile.
The clock would loose 4 hours over a 12 hour period.
-dan

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
(Former) Caterpillar product support technician

localroger

I bought a digital version of this kind of timer from Home Depot and was so satisfied with it I bought 2 more. My only complaint is that the backup batteries, which only last about a year, are very expensive, costing almost half what the timer itself did (they're 1.5V buttons). On the next go-around they're getting retrofitted to AAA. But the timers allow two on and off times per day, digital display, have been absolutely reliable even through weird power events, and have kept reasonably good time and keep the time through power outages. They can switch a pretty hefty load; there's a relay inside you can hear click when it cycles. You can also manually turn the load on and off, overriding the time function, with a pushbutton. And they were under $USD20 each new.

The mechanical versions by comparison are a PITA. Yeah they're half the price but you get what you pay for.

Gadgetman

I buy my button cells from Hong Kong.
(Dealextreme.com )

But my digital timers use rechargeable batteries.
Also, they have 20 independent programs which means up to 20 on and off switchings / day.
(weekly schedule, programs can run on 'all days', 'workdays', 'weekends', one specific day or some weird groupings)

And yes, I have projects that need that many programs...

I even have one that is built for installing into walls, instead of or together with switches.
(Its used to switch on and off the heating cables in my bathroom floor.)

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Don't visit my new website...