This programmable timer switch was the exact solution I was looking for to use with my outside foyer light and carriage lights on my garage that work off the same switch. For many years now, we either left our outside lights on ALL DAY when we went on vacation or OFF entirely. Either way, it was pretty easy to see there was no one home. In my opinion, adding a programmable timer to our outside lights just gives us one more deterrent to those looking for an easy score.

Installation was straight forward with the instructions; my only concern was that when I took off the faceplate and removed the existing switch, there was only a BLACK (HOT) wire and RED (LOAD) wire connected to the existing switch. Upon further examination of the multi-gang box I found both the WHITE (NEUTRAL) and COPPER (GROUND) wires in the box (secured with caps). As a result, it was easy to connect all four of the programmable switch wires to the correct wires. TIP: Don't be discouraged if you only see two wires connected to your existing switch; the other (NEUTRAL) and (GROUND) wires are likely in your multi-gang box. Most of all - TURN OFF POWER AT THE FUSE BOX BEFORE DOING ANY WORK!

PROGRAMMING was pretty straight forward using the instructions. I only have it programmed for one ON/OFF schedule (7 days/week) right now, but will likely mix it up a little bit the next time I need to reprogram for DST.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with this affordable, programmable switch timer. I hope you found this review helpful in making your purchase decision.

This is a great little device. I bought and installed three. Easy to program and seems solid. A note on installation:

If the light blinks after you install the switch you haven't connected it to a neutral wire. Frequently electricians will gang neutrals together under one wire nut and just run load, hot, and ground to the switch. You may have to dig around in the junction box to find the ganged neutrals. You can add the white lead on the HET101-c to the ganged neutrals and all should be well. If the light (or device) won't turn on at all then you've most likely reversed the load and hot connections. Just reverse the load and hot leads and everything should be fine. Always turn off power at the breaker box. Never work "hot." If the wire nuts supplied don't cover the uninsulated leads (except for ground) go to Home Depot or Lowes and get bigger ones. This is especially true for large ganged connections.

I used this switch when installing a whole-house fan, and it works wonderfully to control the the motor. I plan on installing more of them for the outside/porch lights. I like the features and design better than anything I could find in local stores.

Programmable Features: It is very easy to program, and the instructions are straightforward. The display is easy to read. It also gives you plenty of time to make your selections before automatically returning to the main display (I think 10 seconds for each button). The plastic door on the front doubles as the manual on/off override switch, which is nice.

Construction: The switch seems well-built. The housing, face plate, screen, and buttons are sturdy and look like they'll withstand decades of use.

Installation: It took me 3 minutes to install the switch. The switch doesn't have screw lugs but has the wires extending from the case to where you wire nut them directly to the box wires. The wiring is typical (black, white, red, green) and the schematic is clear. I read some reviews and questions complaining about not knowing what the different colored wires mean or what to do if the box doesn't have a neutral. Those reviews terrify the heck out of me considering those users have no business doing any kind of residential electrical work if they don't know basic universal wire insulation colors, don't know how to read a schematic, don't know what "hot" and "load" mean, and don't know how to fish a neutral into the box. Call an electrician before you burn down your house and kill someone.

Overall, it's an excellent switch for the price.

I had a porch light that I kept forgetting to turn off. I wanted the porch light on at night. There was no way the lamp would accept the dusk to dawn fittings so this fit into the switchplate. You can set it to any time you want plus it has a tiny clock. Now I do not have to remember to turn the light on or off. It comes with complete instructions and is remarkably easy to set.

I was able to install the switch without incident, but it does need a three-wire connection (my old timer switch only needed two). I like the design with the programming controls behind a swinging door that also functions as a manual on-off switch. Would be nice if the display was backlit while the device is being programmed; the LCD contrast is not particularly strong. Programming the timer is somewhat kludgy (as is true of most of these types of products), especially exiting the programming mode and returning to normal operation. The programming instructions are printed on the same large folded sheet containing the installation instructions, which usually is thrown away after the installation. It would be really handy to have the programming instructions on a sticker that would fit on the inside of the switch door so they wouldn't get lost.