Timers can be used to turn on and off outdoor and indoor lights at specific times.

 

Simple timers are not often used alone for outdoor lighting because the timer may have to be reset often with the seasonal variation in the length of night. However, they can be used effectively in combinations with other controls. For example, the best combination for aesthetic (decorative) lighting may be a photosensor that turns lights on in the evening and a timer that turns the lights off at a certain hour of the night (e.g., 11 P.M.).

 

For indoor lighting, timers are sometimes used to give unoccupied houses a lived in look. However, they are an ineffective control for an occupied home because they do not respond to changes in occupant behavior, like occupancy sensors.