Lights and Fans Being Left On? Time for a Switch!
For whatever reason, my family loves leaving fans on like it's an Olympic sport. These fantastic little switches help keep a lid on that.I've had these installed in every bathroom in the house, and I've found that the 15 minute countdown interval of this switch is ample time to eliminate moisture from showering, or any unwanted odors from, uh, other stuff.These switches look good, and are (for the most part) pretty quiet. They do make a small, rapid, clicking noise as they count down, and again for a few seconds after they click off, but that's a minor note just disclosing in case anyone here is extremely sensitive to small, audible irritants.While bathroom fans draw very little power, I like that we use them now only as needed, prolonging their life. As other reviews mention, these switches will wear out over time, but in my experience we're talking years and years and years, so for the price, I can live with that. Oddly, I did have one instance where the plastic knob on one of my switches fractured, and that caused the switch to countdown far slower than normal. In that case, I placed a call to Intermatic at (815) 675-7000 and ordered a handful of replacement knobs. The replacement parts (which ran just under eight dollars for four, shipped) arrived quickly and after slapping the new one on, the switch was good as new.Feel free to leave me a comment or question, I m happy to add anything else you d like to know about the product. Thanks for taking the time to read my review, hopefully this information was useful!
5Works great, looks crummy.
Works exactly as represented. The dial has a rectangular projection on the back that fits into the switch opening to keep it aligned but it projects so far that it actually rests against the switch housing. This wouldn't be a problem with thicker wood or plastic switch plates (or with boxes installed a little deeper) but with stainless plates, I found it impossible to tighten it down so the dial actually rests against the switch plate. I thought I could solve this by grinding the projection down some - which helps but doesn't compensate for the raised edge which regardless of what kind of plate you have, leaves a visible gap behind the edge of the dial. And you'd think they could have made the dial tall enough to conceal the switch plate screws - which peek out at the top and bottom edges. (If you have metal plates, you may want to replace the standard oval head with flat head screws on the timer side.) And since it was apparently designed to accommodate a thicker switch plate, it's not possible to push the knob close enough to the dial. It's installed and works great but it looks kind of tacky.
3Low cost mechanical fan or light timer.
I purchased this timer to replace an earlier version of the same timer that stopped working. I started out looking for a different brand, but this one was the lowest cost option.The pros:+ Low cost + free Amazon shipping!+ Easy installation & the dial plate fits over the existing switch opening.+ Easy to operate, with the exception noted below.+ Quiet operation... the fan noise is louder.The cons:- No manual off? It's odd they removed the manual off feature that we got used to on the earlier version of this timer.- The knob is a bear to push on & just as difficult to remove! I suggest installing & removing the knob a few times to loosen it up, before installing the timer. Update - January 9, 2014 This timer has been working perfectly since we installed it. We still miss the manual off feature. :( Update - June 4, 2016 Within the last month, I noticed this timer stopping... as in, not completing a timing cycle. Yes, it's time for a replacement. This time I'm going to try an electronic timer to forgo the mechanical failure. I'm down grading my product rating, but I did get nearly 4 years of use, so I'll leave the rating at 3 out 5.
3Does not fit switch plate
I hate to write this negative review, as I have used many Intermatic timers in the past, with good results.However, this particular model has two BIG problems. First, the front bezel is too large and does not fit the opening in a standard switch plate (which is NOT supplied). I had to file a whole bunch to get things to fit (and plastic is a pain to file).If they would have supplied a switch plate (that fits the bezel), all would have been good.In addition, the knob is an extremely tight fit on the switch shaft. If I ever have to get it off, that might be an impossibility.Intermatic, back to the drawing board (or build it somewhere else besides Tunisia?)
1Tight fit in single gang box.
works great, HOWEVER as other purchasers have noted, it is a really tight fit in a single gang box. My single gang metal wall box is placed behind a tile wall and the edge of the tile on the right side overhung the edge of the box by about 1/16 inch and the timer would not fit into the box. I had to take a file and file the tile to make it even with the edge of the electrical box before the timer would fit into the opening. I also had a problem with the ground wire being attached to a clip that sandwitches the wire to the front lower edge of the metal box. With this clip in place again the timer would not fit into the single gang metal box. What I did was remove the clip and fastened the ground wire to the inside rear of the box with a grounding screw. Your wires are attached by stripping and putting them in to the timer from the sides and then tightening the terminals with a screwdriver through holes in the bottom of the timer. Don't worry about clearance there, there are small indentations in the side of the timer housing that allow you to bend the wires down along the side of the housing after you have secured the connections thus making them stay against the side of the housing and come out the back. I'd make sure to secure them to the sides by wraping the housing with electrical tape to keep them in place, which is something I allways do with all my switches and outlets. I'm not sure about clearance issues between the timer and the rear of the box. But if you have wirenuts inside your box (I did not) the timer may not fit fully into the box because of hitting the wirenuts. There is some room back there but I don't think it's much. You might want to check other reviews to see if anyone has had that problem. The timer will fit into a multi gang box, if you have that I think you may be able to push the wires off to the side behind your light switch or what ever you may have in the other gangs of your box, and have room for wirenuts clearance that way. The timer comes with a labeled cover plate that will fit on top of your existing decore plate or regular switch plate or multi gang plate, which is then secured with a nut that screws onto a plastic center shaft protuding out. When you put the nut on, do not over tighten it as the shaft is made of plastic and may break easily, snug is good too tight is broken. The shaft that the knob pushes on to is metal. The knob fits very tightly to the shaft and may be a bear to remove once fully pushed on, so make sure you have everything completed before you push the knob on fully. All and all this is a nice looking timer and works great so far. I took away one star because of the tight fit issues, other than that it is a good timer for the price and I would recomend it to others.
4Old reliable mechanism, convenient plate with minute markings.
Edit: Found my local HD had these after I bought the Amazon one. HD website didn't show it, but it was there on the shelf.The spring mechanism in this things is very reliable. I've seen them working 30 years on in places I've serviced. This timer is rated for 120, 240 and 277 volts and requires no neutral.The minute markings are on a rectangular plate that allows you to put this timer into any plate with a decora space - the space that fits a GFI receptacle or decorator switch. In my case I put it in a 4-gang with a decora switch, a decora timer and a GFI so it fit right into a 4-gang decora plate.I would rather have had an electronic pushbutton countdown timer but I couldn't find one rated for my 240 volt cove heater. I experimented with one that matched my existing for the exhaust fan that was 120v rated with no neutral required. Even though my heater is less than 4 amps resistive, it smoked the 120v rated timer. Learn from my experience. Electrical things only work if you keep the smoke inside.
5WORKS WELL, BUT INSTALLATON IS CONFUSING
This timer does exactly what it is supposed to do. It allows an exhaust fan or light to turn off automatically after some number of minutes. Very easy to use.The problem, as some other reviews have noted, is with the installation. Standard switch plates with large rectangular openings do not quite fit over the dial and knob after the switch has been installed in the wall. However, after several careful re-readings of the instructions, I concluded that the switch plate needs to be attached after the switch itself in installed in the electrical box, but BEFORE the rectangular dial, the locknnut, and the turn knob are installed. The rectangular dial fits INTO the hole in the switch plate (the dial has a little indentation on its back that fits snugly in the hole), then the locknut is screwed on to secure the dial, then the knob is pressed on. These last three parts are installed on the OUTSIDE of the switch plate, not the other way around.The instructions could certainly have ben a lot more clear.
4Lefty-Loosy? No, Lefty to HOLD.
It works well! Just be aware that this does let out an audible "tick-tock" noise as the timer counts down.And don't neglect to read the instructions on how to turn the dial to the HOLD position.I tried turning the dial clockwise all the way passed the 60 minute mark and it wouldn't go into the HOLD region in the dial. And turning it counter-clockwise from zero did not move the dial either. Not until I read the instruction manual did it specify to turn the dial counterclockwise from zero, so I tried it again (this time with more force!) and finally it moved into the HOLD region. Lesson: when it doesn't work, try harder! J/K. Reading the "manual" pays off sometimes. :-) Seriously the product could be a little easier to turn counter-clockwise to turn to the HOLD position, but now you know.
4Solid and (relatively) quiet.
I tried to install a few electronic timers for my bathroom fan, but realized I not only had no neutral, but also no working ground, thus neither of the two types of electronic timers can work. I then purchased a Utilitech (#140599) from a local big box. While it worked just fine, it is insanely noisy. You can literally hear it from the other room, even with the door closed. So I'll be returning that one, and keeping this Intermatic, which is at least 10 times quieter than the Utilitech, and is clearly built much better as well. The face plate fits perfectly onto a decorative wall plate, and though a little industrial, doesn't look too bad. It would be nice if they would make nicer finishes (e.g., brushed stainless), and I would prefer no noise at all, but it certainly earns a 4 star rating, assuming it holds up over time.
4Solid reliable timer
Perfect for a whole house fan. My only confusion was how to activate and deactivate the "hold" function. You turn the dial BACKWARDS to enable, and back to "OFF" to disable. The instructions pointed this out, but by looking at the face of the plate it appears the dial needs to be turned past the 12H mark to get into HOLD mode.
4
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