Sylvania SA140 15 Amp Zip Set Digital Lamp and Appliance Timer

What in the world would make someone designing this product think that I want a set-and-forget-turn-on-time that synchs with sunset but only, and I mean ONLY(!!!) want to be able to have it turn off after set number of hours? The elapsed time between sundown and a set time (say, 11:00 p.m.) can vary in my area from 2.5-5.5 hours. This stupid device only lets you use the auto-on feature if you also select a fixed duration for it to stay on after sunset of 2,4,6,8,etc. hours. In otherwords, if I set this in December I'd have to select a 6 hour duration for a light to stay on to 11-ish, but in June that would have my lights still on at 2:30 a.m., also 6 hours after sunset.Of course, you can select to use the program settings and use whatever on-off times you like, but that can't be used at the same time as the sunset timer. Unbelievable. You'd think at least once, someone at Sylvania would have actually used this and thought "hmmmmm, this is really stupid, maybe we should change the design options!"If someone reads this and has found a plug-in timer that can use auto-on settings based on sunset in conjunction with a fixed off-time, please post a comment for me and others. I've had lightswitches that do this, so I know it's not THAT complicated. I'm using this in a hard to access area and need it to work without me having to dig it out. Ever.Sylvania - dumbest design ever. I hope Amazon dumps all their returns at your doorstep and insists on a refund. Mine is on the way back to them.

This is my second timer of this model, which still works just fine. The strangest kink in programming is when the back up battery dies. If you do not have the original instructions you may forget that the clock setting must be EST otherwise the sunset feature will never work properly. (I live in CST.) Not as easy to program as the Intermatic DT 620, which I ordered at the same time as I had a need for two more sunset timers in addition to the Sylvania I already had.

Sylvania had a great idea here, but the execution was all wrong. See GJE'e review for details. I wanted a timer to turn on a lamp at sunset, then turn it off at bedtime. I also wanted it to turn on the lamp early in the morning when it's still dark and turn it off after it sunrise. This timer will only do one cycle per day using the "zip" mode. Also, the programming method and instructions were devised by a crazy person. I wish I had read GJE's review first.

When I first received this timer, I thought I would have trouble free lamp operation in the house. I did not want to adjust the start time throughout the year for sunset time changes. I bought one timer for the front living room and one for the rear family room. At first, they seemed alright. But after using them for awhile, I noticed that they don't keep good time. I even tried the reset button to no avail. The one in the front room is probably good enough; it seems to lose about a minute a week. But the one in the back room loses a couple of minutes every day. Now I could send it in under warranty, but they want $10 and I would also have to pay to ship the unit out to them. That would amount to about three-quarters the price I paid for the unit in the first place. It seems that the clock is not driven by a crystal controlled oscillator and must be adjusted in the factory. Apparenty they don't have much quality control in their manufacturing process (It's made in China; sound familiar?). So don't bother buying this product unless you like playing Russian roulette, or in this case Chinese roulette. Given the above circumstances, I thought I might open the unit to see if there was a variable capacitor or resistor that might adjust the clock speed, but they use non-standard screw heads, so I would have to drill them out. I may still try that, since the unit is worthless to me anyway. Beware of products made by Hardware Innovations, LLC.Follow-up: I decided to experiment and open the unit, since I had nothing to lose. I found what appeared to be a crystal and variable capacitor for the clock circuit. I made adjustments to the capacitor and it seemed to keep good time...during the day. However, over night when the house temperature dropped, the unit would lose three minutes. This is why I didn't notice any problem over the summer months. Either the clock circuit was poorly designed, or components that offset temperature effects are missing, or maybe some other possibility. Either way, I'm done with this unit. It seems that so many American companies are quick to export their manufacturing without adequate quality control. Welcome to the 21st century.

I've had this now for about a year and it has worked flawlessly. It's easy to program although it can only do more simple programs compared to a similar device we owned before this one. The best thing about these type of digital timers is that they are completely silent, no ticking or other sounds. As long as you aren't trying to do complex on/off programs multiple times a day (aside from morning and evening), this should work great for you.

I have several of these. I travel and if the power fails when I am away these are smart enough to keep the time correct when the power comes back on. I love the fact that I dont have to reset the timers as the seasons change, they automatically adjust the on time to dusk year around. However the LED displays fail after a few years and I have to replace them, and at $26 that's expensive. I havent found anything I like better

I have 2 of these already and just bought 3rd one for outdoor light. Easy to set, versatile programming functions are a plus.Has battery back up to keep settings for at least 6 months if not plugged in, and can be set without being plugged in. .Backlight makes viewing easy.

hard to set up, instructions need some work. works great after I got the thing setup