Customer Reviews for GE 15 Amp 7-Day In-Wall Programmable Digital Timer

My brother-in-law owns this light timer and I own several Honeywell Aube timers. What a difference! The GE timer is impossible to program, hard to use, and hard to pry open. I'm totally pleased with my Aube and it was a few dollars cheaper too. Do youself a favor and get the Aube!

you need teloscopic eyes to read parts of the display it is verry sensative and it was so frustating that it took four days to finally program it

Mysteriously looses the programming every 2-3 weeks. Come home and my lights aren't on and the clock is blinking which requires redoing the programming. Bought it in store and it was the only brand carried. Wish they would stock the Honeywell switch which has better reviews. HD should drop this piece of junk

As many more have commented, the two I installed failed within 6 six months ! DO NOT BUY. The intermatic I installed 2 years ago keeps going, though, so I will replace these two with Intermatics and pay the extra $8 a piece.

I have installed 3- 4 of these for the same lights, each has failed in less than 6 months. This is very frustrating and seems like this is not a very "smart Switch"

Then you must be a bored electrician needing practice - because my SECOND buy of this failed in about 15 months ... after replacing the prior one in under 12 months. The backup battery on this model in BOTH cases appears to have overheated and bulged thus losing your settings. A sad design flaw for GE it appears.

These are JUNK! One only worked 2 weeks and the other 2 are so difficult to program, I dread trying to reset them after Daylight Savings Time. Should have called an electrician & paid the price.

I wish I had read the other reviews first... I bought two. First one did not work at all (I suspect a bad backup battery). The second one randomly turns on. I contacted the manufacturer and they told me there's nothing that can be done about it. What a waste!

Lousy instructions, difficult to program, DOA after 3 days, battery is dead and can't be replaced ... wasted a total of 4 hrs between installation, programming, removal, and return to HD. Totally unreliable product ...

First of all, the design stinks. The panel door opens upward so the panel is in the way when you're trying to see the VERY hard to read small display. Also, the programming buttons are tiny. And I must use a magnifying glass to see the display (and I'm 51 with good vision). The biggest disappointment with this timer is the built in battery does not last. It kept the programming for about 6 months whenever the power went out, but after that, the programming was no longer retained and the lights did not come on and the display was flashing. BATTERY WAS SHOT. I'm tired of resetting the darn thing, fumbling with the magnifying glass, and I am shopping this weekend for a better brand and design. I highly recommend you DO NOT BUY this timer. I've been using hard-wired switch timers since Intermatic came out with them many, many years ago. I installed those at my parents' home and my home as well. They worked for years, but eventually wore out due their spring dials failing. Those did not have battery back-up so that's why I bought this timer - looked nice and the built-in battery would save me from having to reprogram them whenever power outages occurred -- well, the back-up battery feature didn't last long. What a piece of junk. I've read the other reviews about the same issues and agree 100%. Hard-wired switch timers are fabulous and convenient - just find a timer other than this one.

easy to install and program with the enclosed instructions, have been using for 2 months with 2 exterior light fixtures using 18 watt cfl bulbs, so far, so good, they turn on every night and off every morning at programmed times and manual on/off works when needed

Worked great for about 6 months. After that I had to reset the time after a power loss. Now 1 year later, it doesn't work at all. Can't even turn lights on manualy. Piece of junk.(gee, the clock still works...........)

Purchased three to control as few as two 19 watt CFLs. Program randomly switched off and on, even when not on random setting. Installed brand new on same circuit, same result. Installed number three on 180 watts of incandescent lamps, no problem. Manufacturer no help, claims it's my house problem. Suspect undisclosed minimum load requirement, CFL produced frequency disruption or both.

I did not save the reciept so I am out of luck with this $20.00 switch. Worked great, was easy to install, but the backup battery went bad after just 4 months, and it is not servicable. So, now i have to remove the switch and find another one spending another $20.00 +/-. Great concept terrrible end product.

This is the least expensive in-wall timer you can buy, and it performs just as well. Random flickering, 2-3 second shutoffs, and now totally inoperative (all lights flashing on/off every few seconds.) It is also difficult to program (you'll need excellent eyesight for the buttons and the manual, or a magnifying glass.) Spend more and go with one of the Honeywell units. You won't be sorry.

I strongly recommend not buying this timer. Like many other reviewers my experience was that the timer would forget its entire program every few days and/or switch the lights on and off at random times. I contacted Jasco who told me that the problem was not in the timer. Rather their claim was that there was electrical noise and instability in my house wiring and that the timer would not be suitable for use in my location. They indicated that these claimed wiring problems were somehow "extreme" or rare. Three things are worth noting: 1) the Jasco correspondent admitted they receive a large number of complaints about the instability issue with this unit. Simple searching shows that there are also abundant complaints posted at various sites on the web. 2) in my house I run all-digital sprinkler timers, laptops, and many other devices which could be considered sensitive, without needing surge suppressors, etc, and in more than 3 years have never had even a single problem with any other device. My wiring was also thoroughly inspected by a professional electrician before I bought the house and nothing was found wrong. 3) I am an electronic engineer and have successfully solved many actual or potential electric line interference problems - it is almost always very easy to do with just a few components and/or proper grounding. The company provides no warning on its packaging or instructions about instability. Although I was offered a refund if I could produce my sales receipt, they indicated that they intend to continue selling this product as it is. I was roped into buying this unit because it was advertised as being suitable for fluorescent lighting. The manufacturer should immediately discontinue, recall and redesign this device. It is simply not right to continue to lasso new customers into wasting their time, effort and money.

This product has worked well for me for the past several months. It turns the connected lights on and off at the programmed times every day with no problem. As some other reviewers noted in their reviews, the unit will not work if both the hot/live wire and neutral wire are not available in the switch box. Homes with a "Loop system" where only the hot or neutral wire are switched in the box will not work. In my case, I did have to run a 12/2 with ground to the box from a nearby source. So in this respect it is not your average DIY project or for someone with few electrical skills. On programming the unit, I found the buttons to be a bit small; also the clock key has to be held down for the entire time/day setting procedure. Other than that the unit has a good selection of various programs to cover about any scenario,and holds 7 different programs. Another nice feature is an easy way to change from standard to daylight savings time and vice versa without having to reprogram it. I suspect most bad reviews of the product are due to user errors. The manual on-off override switch works great with no issues. The wire nuts are a bit small for standard gauge home wiring. Other than this I feel it is a worthy product. And yes, it will control cfl's.

5 star excellent. The product was easy to program, unlike the in wall times that are carried in store by Home depot. I purchased 2 of these and each one I had installed and programed in less than 15 minutes. I couldn't be happier. They work great.

Looks nice, easy enough to install and program, and worked fine for a month. Now it switches the output on and off at random intervals of 1 second to a few seconds. I am disconnecting it and returning it and installing an LED light that will be on 24/7.

Easy install, easy programming and looks good in wall switch plate. Works great.

I purchased the timer in July of 2010. It lasted until know.I called the manufacturer and they were not helpful. Said the problem is in the wall wiring . Why did it work for so long than?I have not done anything to the wiring

After using these timers for about (5) months for my exterior lights for the front and rear of the house, they both became inoperable and extremely difficult to turn on and reset. The display is also so small, dark and difficult to see. I am returning the (2) of them back to Home Depot for a refund and will probably use standard single pole switches in their place. Not happy with these timers at all. My electrician even had difficulty with them.

I purchased this product to install in a commercial building to control 8-13watt cfl around the buildings porch area. The programming is easy but the 1st one failed in less than a week. The replacement I installed failed in less than a day. I replaced that one and that one too failed in less than a week. I removed this item and I am going to install a real timer. If you are a professional in the trade do not purchase this item and waste loads of time doing warranty calls.

Keep your receipt! I purchased two of them and both failed in 4 months. This is a Jasco product branded GE. I spoke to Jasco rep and she said the person before me had the same problem...died. In fairness, they offered to replace it as long as you ship it back to them with the RECEIPT. I would look for another brand and save the headaches and inconvenience.

This timer has does most of what I needed: control CFLs, multiple on-offs per day, EZ to set clock and porgrams, battery back-up for those power outages, EZ manual override, installation pretty simple (if you have the white nuetrals), and a turn off switch. Did I mention it controls CFLs! I installed 4 of these 15086 timers but less then a year later only one was working properly. Customer service was great and they were replaced. It is believed that there may have been a bad batch in 2009. Timers well tell!

I purchased two of them to turn on my outdoor garage sconces and front door and both failed in 6 months.

I have had this timer less than one year. Changed the light bulb that had burned out. The program was lost apparently when I did that in spite of the battery backup. The digital display was all broken up when I attempted to reprogram it and it would not reprogram. It worked great up until that time.

I too have had this one fail just recently... installed it in November of 2009, failed in July of 2010. I loved it while it worked. I'll look for anything but GE next time.

Installation instructions and initial programming were a piece of cake. However, the origin of manufacturing reared its ugly head when the unit failed less than one year from purchase. Granted, at $20 it is not going to set me back, but some longevity would have been nice.

NOTE: This timer requires that you have line and neutral available in the box it's installed in in order to allow the internal relay to function. If all you have is the switched load wires in the box, it won't work. PROBLEM: I installed this and it worked fine for about 3 weeks but now loses all settings every day, reverting to "flashing 12:00". This happens regardless of the internal battery backup and the fact that power was not interrupted. Junk electronics, I wouldn't recommend.