Intermatic EJ500C Indoor Digital Wall Switch Timer

by Intermatic

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Intermatic digital wall switch timer is a replacement for your standard indoor wall switch. The optional self-adjusting features automatically change with daily sunrise and sunset time changes. Set it once and no resetting is required.

Product Description

Replacement for a standard indoor wall switch, with decorator style wall plate (not included). To be used with standard base incandescent light bulbs only. Flush mounted, replaceable battery backup, batteries included (2- lr44/sr44 batteries). 7 ON/7 OFFsettings per day. Programming options: same settings Monday-Friday, same settings Saturday and Sunday, same settings every day of the week or individual daily settings. Optional random feature to deter burglars. Automatic daylight saving time adjustment.Must be connected to a permanently wired light fixture, not a wall receptacle. 500 watts incandescent, 120 VAC, 60 Hz, 4 amp tungsten.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1.8 x 6.6 x 8.3 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000E8VAIO
• Item model number: EJ500C
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (139 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,809 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)
  • #29 in Home Improvement > Electrical > Timers

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Careful with compact fluorescents, April 22, 2007

By 

G. Kepecs (Hackensack, NJ) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Intermatic EJ500C Indoor Digital Wall Switch Timer (Tools & Home Improvement)

The timer is electronic and works well with incandescent lighting. The reviews differ on using this timer with compact fluorescents, and the labeling states that it is NOT compatible.
Like many other electronic timers, it appears to "leak" current through the circuit even when off. That's ok with incandescents and the old magnetic ballasts, but CF with electronic ballasts flash when the switch is off.
A workaround if there is more than one bulb: include one ordinary incandescent bulb in the circuit (40 watt may be the minimum), and the compact fluorescents stop flashing.

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good timer, May 18, 2006

By 

M. Montgomery (Southcentral KS) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Intermatic EJ500C Indoor Digital Wall Switch Timer (Tools & Home Improvement)

We purchased one of these four years ago to control our entry lights. That was the last time we touched it. The unit asks you to set the turn on - off times, and set the time and date when you install it, then you really don't have to do much else. With the auto adjust feature, it resets for daylight savings time, and one setting will automatically turn the lights on when it's getting close to dusk, then off at your preselected time - nice if you don't want to install a photocell or manually change start times throughout the year.

My only complaint is that the LCD screen is very small, particularly showing day of week, which means when you do decide to change times you'll have to really squint to see what you're doing. But fortunately, for most, this won't be a regular event.

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars So Far, So Good, March 25, 2007

By 

MacLabDoug (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Intermatic EJ500C Indoor Digital Wall Switch Timer (Tools & Home Improvement)

After going through three Intermatic SS8Cs in three years, I gave up on them and bought one of these. It's only been in a month so I can't speak to its long term reliability, but so far it's been working better than the SS8C. It's quieter - no mechanical switching (I guess it must be all electronic), it offers all the same programming options as the SS8C, plus it looks a bit sleeker on the wall. Not only that, it's cheaper than the SS8C by about $14. I did take off one star, though, because it's not DST 2007 compatible. I had to turn off its built-in DST feature and now I'll just manually spring forward and fall back.

Regarding compact fluorescent bulbs, last night we bought eight 40 watt-equivalent "n:vision" brand soft white compact fluorescent bulbs (9 watts, 550 lumens, green and white package) from Home Depot and installed them this morning. I was concerned they might not work since the packaging says the EJ500C is not compatible with compact fluorescent bulbs, but happily they do work absolutely fine! I took down eight 60 watt bulbs and am now saving 408 watts of electricity. The only thing I can think that might not make the EJ500C work with compact fluorescent bulbs is that it supposedly requires a load of at least 40 watts, so possibly too few compact fluorescent bulbs might not be enough of a power draw. For me, though, I'm happy to be saving electricity and hopefully I've got a porch light timer that will stay working more than one year.

UPDATE: After nearly three years, this still working fine, no problems like the old SS8C.