There is nothing more magical than Christmas lights sparkling in the darkness of winter. But going out every evening before bedtime to connect the lights and disconnecting them again at midnight is annoying very quickly. Fortunately, a programmable timer will solve this problem for you easily. 🎄

But do not hurry up and buy the first timer you see in the store right now. An outdoor-rated digital timer is the one you should be buying and not the traditional mechanical timer with those plastic tabs. The recommended model is BN-LINK 7-Day Digital Timer which costs less than fifteen dollars in most hardware stores. If you happen to have one of those old mechanical timers of the 90s, they work perfectly fine as well.

I am going to let you in on a little secret here. Digital timers provide the ability to set multiple on/off schedules for the whole week while mechanical timers offer only one pattern repeating daily. The latter may be a good choice if your lights turn on/off at the same time every night. For most people, digital timers seem to be a lot easier to program.

To start with, you need to plug the timer into the outdoor outlet and plug the light strands into the timer. Firstly, you have to set the current date and time – this is done using such buttons as “CLOCK,” “HOUR,” and “MIN.” You need to think about it as of programming your bedside alarm clock which everyone is doing throughout their life millions of times. The buttons are rather tiny, thus, you may take out your reading glasses if you have any. 👓

After you set the clock, you need to program the on/off times. Push the “PROG” button and “ON 1” shows up on the display which means you are setting the first turning-on time. Choose the time using buttons “HOUR” and “MIN,” e.g., 5:30 PM, and then push buttons “DAY.” Do the same thing again to set “OFF 1” and off-time, e.g., 11:00 PM to avoid large electricity bills in January.

As you see, it is possible to program several programs making your holidays even more comfortable for you. “Program 2” can be used to set weekends’ schedule, e.g., for lights to stay on till midnight on Friday and Saturday. After all the programs are set, you need to press the “CLOCK” button to leave the programming mode. If you are confused by the display, just take the batteries out for 30 seconds and reset the timer. It will reset all the settings, but it will fix the majority of problems.

One of the issues people often face is that the timer does not turn the lights on/off at the programmed time. In 99% of the cases, it is because of wrong AM/PM settings, and yes, we all did that mistake at least once in our life. Another important point to remember is to push “AUTO/AUTO MODE” button to enable the timer’s schedule operation. If the timer stays in “MANUAL” mode, it will work just as an ordinary switch ignoring your settings.

Finally, I would like to give you some practical advice. It is better to test your timer indoors before mounting it outdoors. Set your timer to turn on the lights two minutes after and wait till they turn on. If the lights come on as programmed, everything is okay. This testing will save you from unpleasant surprise on Christmas Eve when you find out that there is a twelve-hour difference in your timer settings. 🎅

Honestly, after you program the timer properly you will find yourself rather stupid for all those years of plugging lights in the darkness. It is one of those house improvements that make our life easier without our notice. Your neighbors will think that you hired a professional while your knees will appreciate you for saving them from unnecessary trips to the yard.