About Timers for House Lights
Timers for your house lights is one of the most basic things you can do with
home automation. It makes a lot of sense from a security point of view. Thieves,
who above all don't want to get caught, are less likely to target homes where
they think someone may be home.
Automatic house lights can operate via a timer where you set the time you want
them to come on or via photocells. Timers must be reset if the electricity is
cut, but photocells automatically read the amount of light in the sky, then turn
on after dark and off when dawn comes.
Both indoor and outdoor lights can be set up to come on automatically. Outdoors,
regular incandescent lights can be used and are cost-effective. For a little
more money, you can get energy-efficient sodium or mercy vapor lights. These are
a little harder to maintain but offer a more powerful light. For indoor lights,
you simply hook the timers up to your regular lamps. Often one or two lights is
all you need to put on timers. A small lamp in a bedroom or living room will
give the impression that someone is up, perhaps reading in a chair.
You can get very simple timers at X10.com: The
FireCracker Lighting Control 4 Piece Kit
allows
you to control lights and appliances via your PC or wireless remote.