Timers or No Timers?

[amcdonald307]

I have a Kill O Watt plugged into single idle LOR board now. It is pulling 1.1 watts max.
I have one of those timers for my kids night light (the kind that plugs into the outlet and has those 24 pins you pull out to set the hours) - it uses a massive 15 watts.

[vipzach]

I have a Kill O Watt plugged into single idle LOR board now. It is pulling 1.1 watts max.
I have one of those timers for my kids night light (the kind that plugs into the outlet and has those 24 pins you pull out to set the hours) - it uses a massive 15 watts.

Holy cow!!!

[jvanek]

I will step in and say that I do use timers even for my Light-O-Rama controllers. I've had the timers for some time going back to when most of my display was static. I just feel that the less time there is live power running outside the better.

Besides how many people remember the snail in the controller thread from a couple of years ago? For those that don't here it is:

http://talk.planetchristmas.com/showthread.php?t=17953

(Too bad the pictures are no longer there, those were really amazing!)

I just feel that turning off the power to everything reduces the chance of something like this happening.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[Tim Bateson]

I have a Kill O Watt plugged into single idle LOR board now. It is pulling 1.1 watts max.
I have one of those timers for my kids night light (the kind that plugs into the outlet and has those 24 pins you pull out to set the hours) - it uses a massive 15 watts.

Very Interesting... That was going to be one of my tests this weekend. The Kill-O-Watt meter not the kids night light.

[NH - Dave]

Mine are generally live between mid-October (Halloween) to first of January. I am rather old school when it comes to turning off electronics - I don't! The more times you cycle the power on a device the lesser life span it has.

Wow - 1.1 watt!

[iresq]

Jumping on the leave it on bandwagon. I agree that power on is harder on electronics than leaving in on state. I have no idea if leaving them on provides enough residual heat to deal with condensation but the argument makes sense.

[Max-Paul]

Mine are generally live between mid-October (Halloween) to first of January. I am rather old school when it comes to turning off electronics - I don't! The more times you cycle the power on a device the lesser life span it has.

Wow - 1.1 watt!

THIS!!!!! And lets not forget "K.I.S.S." also should be remembered when engineering.

[mnkyboy]

I will step in and say that I do use timers even for my Light-O-Rama controllers. I've had the timers for some time going back to when most of my display was static. I just feel that the less time there is live power running outside the better.

Besides how many people remember the snail in the controller thread from a couple of years ago? For those that don't here it is:

http://talk.planetchristmas.com/showthread.php?t=17953

(Too bad the pictures are no longer there, those were really amazing!)

I just feel that turning off the power to everything reduces the chance of something like this happening.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Honestly I do not it would not change the scnerio... if the snail crawled in with it powered down once the board powered up, it would be toasty snail time still..

.

I leave mine powered 24/7 during the season.

[BaldEagleChristmas]

What exactly are you trying to accomplish by using the timers?

Power/energy savings?

How much power do you think the LOR is using when it is idle? Is it really much different than a timer would use all day? I doubt it.

Okay. Remember I am new to LOR, in fact have yet to flash a light. So my timer has nothing to do with LOR, except that LOR will be on the timer.

I grew up with some plug in timers, then a hardwired timer, then, two, etc. Then, my electrician, Craig Marshall of Redlin Electric, who actually does understand Christmas lights, said " Wait " . . . . so now one timer trips and sends current to contactors for each outside circuit and they turn on. I have 20 - 30 circuits that operate this way. Wall-ah. All the lights are on at exactly the same time. Why? They go on at 5:00 pm whether I'm there or not. They go off at 10:00 or 11:00 whether I'm home or not.

So, I'm not trying to save power, GFB, I am just wanting to make sure that I don't "screw" up the LOR using the system that I have developed for my thus far static display. Does that make sense?

[july1962]

Okay. Remember I am new to LOR, in fact have yet to flash a light. So my timer has nothing to do with LOR, except that LOR will be on the timer.

I grew up with some plug in timers, then a hardwired timer, then, two, etc. Then, my electrician, Craig Marshall of Redlin Electric, who actually does understand Christmas lights, said " Wait " . . . . so now one timer trips and sends current to contactors for each outside circuit and they turn on. I have 20 - 30 circuits that operate this way. Wall-ah. All the lights are on at exactly the same time. Why? They go on at 5:00 pm whether I'm there or not. They go off at 10:00 or 11:00 whether I'm home or not.

So, I'm not trying to save power, GFB, I am just wanting to make sure that I don't "screw" up the LOR using the system that I have developed for my thus far static display. Does that make sense?

I'm VERY new to LOR, but I'm not sure I understand your use of timers. Doesn't the software take care of starting and ending the show?