Does anyone have any experience or know of a good system to setup outdoor lighting on a timer, without breaking the bank? I think I remember my parents having something that plugged into any electrical socket that allowed them to set the lights on a timer. Not sure how it worked or if it worked well, so hoping to find something. We have had two break-ins in less then a year. One was a house break in in which my rims were stolen, the other was a a few nights ago when someone stole my gf's watch and sunglasses out of her car. There has been a string of car burglaries in the area lately, enough to make the papers. So I installed some new flood lighting yesterday to lighten up the back and side yard. We have a corner lot, and the side street ends just past our driveway which is in the rear of the house. Beyond the end of that street is some overgrown brush and then a park. It is easy for people to walk into that park and night, and through a path in the brush and then into our yard. So I want to make it as bright as possible. I really want to put the lighting on a timer because I do not want my gf coming home at night and the lights are off and it is rather dark back there. I installed lights with "Dusk to Dawn" features, but they are all buggy. This one I installed last night cycles on and off every 2 or 3 minutes and will not stay constant. I tried reaiming and nothing works, so I just bypassed the photocell that is built in so they will stay on. So if anyone knows of anything that I can easily program the lighting to turn on at a certain time, and off at a certain time it would be helpful. Sorry for the long post.

edit:
I also ordered a driveway alarm that detects people or cars, as well as another alarm to put on the side street that will detect cars. No one needs to be on the street other then us since our driveway is the only thing off this short street.

 

I put my front light on a timed switch, that has a random setting. It actually replaces the on/off switch with the timer, it is fully digital and somewhat easy to program.

It is like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Aube-Honeywell.../dp/B000E3BUCK

I also have the Logitech WiLife Indoor motion activated security camera that has worked flawlessly. I just placed the indoor camera on the inside of a window nearest the point I want to cover. It really is a good system. I think it can support three more cameras and they offer online storage for your video.

 

Well I am hoping to keep the lighting on 3 way switches, plus a timer. I am working on installing cameras with a dedicated DVR system. I am so anti logitech thanks to the whole harmony line that I don't use their other products. I also have a dog and don't want any interior motion activated cameras. I am going to cover the entire perimeter of the property though.

edit:

I just reread the link for the switch and saw they offer a 3 way switch. I am going to take a closer look at it. Thanks.

 

We have this one to control our outside lights - from Home Depot, made by Leviton:

http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibeCC...minisite=10022



It is very reasonably priced, easy to use, program, and re-program on the fly. It sits flush, looks modern (many of them are plug-ins or look 1980s-ish), and the display lights up indiglo. One button changes the current time, one changes your on/off settings, one lights up the display (although it does it automatically when you mess with the settings), and one button turns on/off the lights manually if you want to bypass the time settings.

Our location required there to be room for a second light switch (for an indoor light), so we got the dual plate which allowed for another switch to be exposed next to the timer module.

 

^ Oh, and you can set it to turn on/off as many times as you want...but it lists time in 15 minute increments - not sure if that bothers you.

 

Is this for full current lighting (porch, front door area, sides of the garage door) or for low voltage landscape lighting?

I use a much dumber version of what SS uses for my front door and garage exterior lights, and then one of those outdoor light timers for the 12v low voltage landscape stuff.

 

this is 120v

 

I have the previous gen of that for my front outdoor lighting -- you tell it what time zone you're in and the date, and it turns the lights on at dusk and off at dawn plus automagically resets for daylight time. Very sweet.

Now if only I could get it in colors so I could automate my outdoor service door light and rear door light.

 

^ Yeah, must be a different model than what we have. Ours is pretty simple and set manually --- no date or time zones. You just enter the current time and when you want it on/off. No other display screen.

 

I think you have the same one that I have. It took me about a half hour to program it, but I haven't had to touch it since. Its kept up with the changing sunset time perfectly. I think it was $23 at Home Depot. The only minor issue I have with it is that my front porch light is a CFL and it flickers for a while after it turns off. Not noticable unless you're looking directly at the light though. And after a while it stops.

My irrigation controller will also control low voltage landscape lighting as well. If you have an electronic type (as opposed to a manual type) irrigation controller, you might want to look into that.

 

I got a cheap one from Home Depot, the timer is in the garage and it stick outs about 1/2 inch. Simple to program and haven't had to touch it since I installed it. It powers two CCFL lights on the garage of the house.

 

Why not just set up a bunch of LED solar powered lights that turn on automatically at dusk? They are inexpensive and environmentally friendly to boot. They come in all shapes, sized and styles - flood too.

http://www.siliconsolar.com/solar-ro...b-p-16370.html