My wife is wanting our exterior lights to be on a timer. So they turn on and off at certain times.

Before I go the Google/youtube route I figured I would ask some Ags first.

What are some recs for this?

There are replacement switches with a timer built in. Second option is to get some connected lights (like ge cync) and leave the switch on and you can program them to come on when you want.

I started with the switch, but now I have the GE lights and they work well. Switch is cheaper though

The Anchor said:

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My wife is wanting our exterior lights to be on a timer. So they turn on and off at certain times.

Before I go the Google/youtube route I figured I would ask some Ags first.

What are some recs for this?

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When you say exterior lights, what do you mean? Normal light bulbs? Flood lights? Recessed lighting?

Depends on how they turn on/off now? Manual switch? Photocell?

If it's a switch, easiest solution is to replace with a WiFi smart switch like the poster above said. Can easily set schedules/routines from there.

Just get wifi switches and set them with an app. Easy. Can still push them manually if needed.

HD and lowes has several options of light switch timers. I have one on front porch lights and another on lights out front of garage/driveway. You swap out the switch in your wall to the new digitial switch. They have a couple of preset time options (eg 7pm to 7am, etc) and a custom setting where punch in your preferred on off times. Easy peasy 5 min install.

https://a.co/d/htjrcf6

I've used this Honeywell timer in my house and swear by them, mostly after having intermittent issues with Wi-Fi switches in the past.

Second Kasa switches. I was using Wemo but Kasa is cheaper so I have a mixture of both.

definitely overkill if you just want a couple exterior lights, but Lutron Caseta. best smart switches on the market. program as you wish.

scalability if you want to add other locations in the house. Mine are programmed for 45 minutes before sunrise and 10 minutes before sunset. accessible from my lock screen and control center on iphone.

I think we have the Leviton ones that go with Apple home. Can auto turn on at sunset and off at sunrise which is what we do for the front door. We have some string lights in the back yard that are on a plug wifi timer that works great and auto go off at 10 to not piss anyone off.

Kaza switch for our front house and garage lights. They auto turn on/off based on sunset/sunrise.

If it's a regular light bulb they sell ones that have a built in photocell. Very simple.

Thanks guys. Will likely go with the WIFI switch option.

FightinTAC08 said:

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definitely overkill if you just want a couple exterior lights, but Lutron Caseta. best smart switches on the market. program as you wish.

scalability if you want to add other locations in the house. Mine are programmed for 45 minutes before sunrise and 10 minutes before sunset. accessible from my lock screen and control center on iphone.

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Most of my house and all of my AirBnB are on Caseta switches. Super easy to set up and use with the app or alexa.

I realize you said you wanted a timer. I too wanted our porch light on a timer switch. I instead got a simple dusk to dawn sensor a wired it into the existing switch. Did exactly what I wanted. Never forget to turn porch light on or off.

Birddog said:

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I realize you said you wanted a timer. I too wanted our porch light on a timer switch. I instead got a simple dusk to dawn sensor a wired it into the existing switch. Did exactly what I wanted. Never forget to turn porch light on or off.

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A screw in photo sensor should be available at any hardware store.


https://www.lowes.com/pd/Woods-Outdoor-Photoelectric-Floodlight-Socket/999912891

The Pilot said:

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Kaza switch for our front house and garage lights. They auto turn on/off based on sunset/sunrise.

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I use the Kasa as well, and have mine synced up to latitude/longitude, so throughout the year the lights on/off times are constantly synced to sunset and sunrise. It's great not having to change the settings as days get shorter/longer. Just set it and forget it. They also have a manual on/off switch so you can turn them off when you want, like I did for Halloween once our candy ran out.