PLUG-IN type timers
Posted by Echardt on February 26th, 2013
I have good news for those that do not want to call out an electrician to install a timer!!!
Most larger hardware or electrical supply stores now do stock a new type of plug-in and go socket that already has a timer built in. Plug it into a normal wall socket, set the time/s then plug in the piece of equipment you want to control …and siedaar!! A do-it-yourself solution.
The times can be set per day (individually per day) or per week (all the same every day of the week) and it has a memory capacity that can run for up to 5 days in the event of an interruption in the electricity supply. This means you do not have to reset the times every time there has been a power failure!! It can handle electrical loads up to 16Amp. Ideally this can be used on fridges and freezers, pool and / or fish pond pumps, security lighting, office and common area lighting, etc, etc. They seem to sell for around R280 to R300.
For more info on the make, email me as I am not an agent for this or any other product. This is merely intended as information to all who may be interested.
UPDATE ON TEST RUN
I have been running a test at my house over the past 3 months on 3 of our fridges. What a success! The timers faultlessly switched on and off as set (off at 23h00 and on again at 05h00 daily). I have had no loss of any foodstuffs nor any damage to any fridge or freezer. As a matter of fact, we do not have any serious icing up of fridges any more (the older fridge use to do that and we had to manually defrost it every 2nd month or so). The content stays nice and cool all the time, even through our harsh February temperatures. And our electricity bill shows a nice drop!! Needless to say, I have now gone and install these on all our fridges and freezers at a cost of only R100 per timer switch! I have run 2 fridges successfully off one timer.
From now on the chest freezer will be off for at least 20 hrs per day, as chest freezers can stay off for much longer periods than fridges. They do not loose any “coolth” when the door is opened (as what happens when you open your upright fridge/freezer and feel the cool air fall onto your feet). Also, once frozen solid, the content stays frozen for much longer periods before starting to thaw. Thus, our chest freezer will only run for about 3 to 4 hrs per day from now on.
