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The Woods 59007 Decora style 30-15-10-5 minute timer switch is a pretty nice timer switch.
The first time you press the pushbutton switch, the switch turns on, and will turn off after 5 minutes. If you desire for the switch to be on a longer timer, the pushbutton switch can be pressed again to increase the on-time. The second press increases the on-time to 10 minutes. The third press increases the on-time to 15 minutes. The fourth press increases the time to 30 minutes. A fifth press will turn the switch back off.
As the remaining on-time counts down, the LED indicators show the approximate on-time remaining. For example, if the switch is turned on with a 15 minute setting, initially the green 15-minute LED is lit. After being on for 5 minutes, the green 15-minute LED is turned off, and the green 10-minute LED is lit. After 5 more minutes, the green 10-minute LED is turned off, and the green 5-minute LED is lit. After 5 more minutes, the green 5-minute LED is turned off and the red off LED is lit (and the switch output is turned off, turning off whatever the switch is powering).
At any time, the pushbutton switch can be pressed to change the remaining on-time. Each press of the pushbutton moves the on-time setting to the next value in a circular pattern as follows. 5 minute -> 10 minute -> 15 minute -> 30 minute -> off -> 5 minutes -> etc. For instance, if the 5-minute LED is lit, and the pushbutton is pressed twice, the 15 minute LED will be lit instead of the 5 minutes LED, and the switch will remain on for 15 more minutes.
The switch is totally silent except when turning the switch on and when the switch is turned off, at which times you can hear a soft click. I've not disassembled the switch to tell for certain, but it sounds like the switch uses a relay for switching (rather than a triac) to turn its output on and off.
The 30, 15, 10, and 5 minutes LEDs are all green. The off LED is red.
The timings appear to be very accurate. When I tested, the timings seemed to be accurate within 1 second.
The switch plastic has a bit of fine texturing. When I installed it, I think the texturing made it appear very slightly less white than the switch cover around it, but the apparent color difference was not (in my opinion) objectionable.
Here is why I didn't give the switch a 5-star rating: As other reviews have noted, if you just install the switch and screw it into place in the junction box, it sits too low beneath the switch cover to look nice. There is an objectionable (in my opinion) gap around the edge of the switch between the switch and the switch cover. What I did was to put 3 flat washers (number of flat washers determined empirically by trial and error) between the switch and the junction box to shim the switch forward. After doing this, the switch looked nice under the switch cover.
One last quirk with the switch: The directions tell you to wire the switch's green wire to the house wiring's green wire. I've never seen a green wire in house wiring. In the house wiring, the earth wire is pretty much always an uninsulated wire. What they should have said is to connect the switch's green wire to the house wiring's uninsulated wire (or wire with green insulation).
I installed this switch to control a bathroom exhaust fan. After shimming up the switch with flat washers as described above, the switch has worked well and looks nice. I can't comment on the reliability of the switch, as I have only been using it for about a week. I hope that it lasts a long, long time, because I really like this switch. I intend on installing it in two more bathrooms in my house when I add bathroom exhaust fans in those bathrooms.
UPDATE 11/16/2011 I've been using two of the switches to control bathroom exhaust fans for over a year now. The switches are used several times each day. They continue to work flawlessly. The third has only been in service (also controlling power to a bathroom exhaust fan) for about a month, but based on the performance of the first two, I don't anticipate having any problems with it.
UPDATE 3/21/2013 All three switches are still in service, are each used several times a day, and all all still working well.
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This video shows how simple it is to operate the woods preset wall switch timer. It doesn't get easier than this. On close inspection the face of the unit does not appear to fit nice and flush like a quality switch should. It is hardly noticeable and the only reason I gave 4 instead of 5 stars.
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This switch is similar to the Leviton LTB60-1LZ Decora 1800W Incandescent/20A Resistive-Inductive 1HP Preset 10-20-30-60 Minute Countdown Timer Switch,White/Ivory/Light Almond. I chose this switch instead because several reviews for the Leviton mentioned that the buttons were somewhat fragile. This switch does not have that problem. When you press the button, it starts with 10 minutes and adds time with each press. For my purposes (bathroom fan), I prefer this anyway.Installation was mostly painless, except the mounting brackets seem to be set too far forward. In other words, after I mounted the switch and installed the wallplate, the face was sunk too far into the wall and it did not look good. I fixed this by using some small shims between the bracket and the wall.
Also, the included wire nuts are sized for a one-switch installation. If you have multiple switches in the box, you'll need bigger wire nuts. Last, the switch requires a neutral wire (white) to operate; make sure you have one (mine was tucked way in the back).
Honest reviews on Woods 59007 Decora Style 30-15-10-5 Minute Preset Wall Switch
... I would have purchased the Leviton LTB60-1LZ instead...[..]
Why? Because, as other reviewers have said, this unit, though it appears to operate as advertised, DOES NOT PROPERLY FIT A DECORA WALLPLATE! Why? Because it is improperly designed and manufactured. The plastic face of this device, in which the LEDs and the single push-button are mounted, simply does not extend far enough beyond the metal ears of the mounting bracket, hence the device will not properly extend through a Decora wallplate. Having worked with electricity all my life (yes, I work in the field), I was able to very, very carefully bend the upper and lower brackets back a bit, then vertical again -a sort of "Z" shape -so as to cause the device to protrude forward a bit further, but I wouldn't recommend this method for the casual weekend installer. It's far too easy to break a bracket and too difficult to do what I did in a way that provides a satisfactory result. (Even I'm not COMPLETELY satisfied, but it IS an improvement that should never have been necessary for me to attempt.)
Can you simply shim the entire device forward with washers, plastic shims, etc., as other reviewers have done? Well sure, but that's what one should always be prepared to do (usually necessary if the switchbox is recessed a bit such that the face of the box is not flush with the wall surface; search Amazon or Home Depot for these: "Gardner Bender #GSP-04 Electric Device Spacer") Unfortunately, that for resolving the "switchbox is recessed" problem, but even when it is not, the face of the Woods 59008 is still a bit recessed from where it really should be, and that looks ugly and incomplete, like you really didn't care enough to do the job right in the first place. To be clear, shimming the timer forward does NOT fully resolve the problem! It STILL looks like it's improperly mounted and, if you take pride in your work and how it looks when you're done, you will -like me -find yourself wishing you'd spent the extra money and purchased the Leviton instead.
Why did I go with the Woods device? One reason -it was considerably cheaper; I figured I'd save a few bucks. What a mistake that was! Why didn't I send it back to Amazon if I was this dissatisfied? Time constraints. It was going into a rental house and I couldn't afford the time or trouble of ordering the Leviton device and making another special trip to the property just for that. Since my "Z-bending trick" pretty well resolved the issue for me, and I didn't have the time-luxury of shipping this one back and waiting for a replacement, I forged ahead anyway. Will I ever order another one? Not on your life! I've got the more-expensive Leviton device in my own home and I absolutely love it from an ease-of-installation perspective, from an operational perspective and, quite frankly, I think it actually looks better, as well. Not to mention that with the Leviton, you push the button you want -10, 20, 30 or 60 -ONCE, whereas with the Woods device, you have to push the single button that's provided multiple times if you want anything other than "10". That doesn't sound like much, but when added to the rest, it's just one more annoyance I'd prefer not to have.
If saving $10 or $12 bucks is important to you -and I understand that it may well be -then go ahead and buy this one. But if you really want to "do it right" and have a device that installs easily and PROPERLY the first time -without unnecessary aggravation -do yourself a favor and pass on this device in favor of something better. And you know which one I recommend...
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These switches work perfectly. I like how these count down the time remaining with the green LEDs. More presses adds time. There is no option to leave the switch on indefinitely, which is great since it is supposed to be a timer. It's nice that there is only one button under the red LED, it is easy to find in the dark. Mounts flush with the switchplate for a clean look. Solid.
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