Solutions Learning Center  Learning Center Home  Solutions  Smart Tips  Videos Interactive Demos Getting Started What is Home Automation?  What is INSTEON?  What is X10?  Forums     Learning Center / Solutions / Lighting Timer-Activated Holiday Lights The Problem   You've worked hard at setting up your holiday lighting display. You want your friends and neighbors to enjoy your handiwork. But then the inevitable happens: You forget to turn them on. Or worse, you forget to turn them off and end up wasting electricity during late-night hours or during the day. But you can eliminate those headaches by automating your holiday lights. With a few simple products, you can have lights turn on and off at preset times or even automatically when the sun goes down (with an automatic turn-off after any amount of time you choose). Best of all, you can have your holiday lights up and running in just half an hour or less! Turn Lights On Automatically At Specific Times   If you're not going to be home at dusk, your neighbors can still enjoy your holiday display. Plug your holiday lights into an ApplianceLinc - INSTEON Plug-in Appliance On/Off Modules (you'll need one ApplianceLinc module for every major grouping of lights up to 480 Watts - make sure you don't exceed the number of connected strings recommended by the holiday light manufacturer). Or you can plug them into an ApplianceLinc - INSTEON Outdoor Plug-In On / Off Appliance Module which is outdoor rated and handles loads up to 1500 Watts. Then, using HouseLinc - INSTEON Desktop Software with USB Interface you can program on and off times for your ApplianceLinc modules, giving you complete automated control of your holiday lighting. Set Up an INSTEON Plug-in Timer   You can also set up a timed lighting system without a PC on the premises. The first thing you'll need is an TimerLinc - INSTEON Plug-In Timer. It can signal any INSTEON receiver to turn your holiday lights on or off. Simply plug in your holiday lights into an ApplianceLinc (as described above). Then just link the ApplianceLinc modules to the TimerLinc and program the on time and off time for each group of lights you have programmed. This step takes just a few minutes and is no more difficult than setting an alarm clock. Last Updated: December 3, 2009