Honeywell Home RPLS740B ECONOswitch 7-Day Solar Programmable Switch, Lights and Motors, Indoor and Outdoor, Energy Saving, White | RPLS740B Lights and Motors, Indoor and Outdoor, Energy Saving

This is exactly what I was looking for. Basically a set it and forget it timer for our front lights. The install was easy except for the fact that our house has older outlet boxes that are on the shallow side and I was installing this in a 2 gang box that had a bunch of wires in it. I ended up ripping out the old box and installing a deeper "old work" 2 gang box. This would have fit in the original box but it was a very tight fit and all the wires were jammed up together and I was not comfortable leaving it like that as I was concerned about heat buildup. The very best part of this timer is that once you set the time and plugin your location it automatically knows when sunrise and sunset are and you can set your on and off times based on those times which of course change on a daily basis. You have the option of setting the timer to go on or off at sunset / sunset exactly or on +/- values in 10 min increments (for example: set the lights to go on 20 min after "sunset" when it's actually close to being dark). It gives you a lot of flexibility and the best part is one you set it up the way you like it you don't have to change it again. That is exactly what I wanted. I did not want to have to remember to go in and change the timer every month or more often based on the changing sunset/sunrise times. This unit was close to double the price of the identical switch without the "solar time" function, but the added $15-$20 is totally worth not having to go in and change the times all the time. The timer was easy to configure, has a nice LCD with a backlight (can change the brightness or turn it off altogether if you want) and has an override button in case you need it. I however have not ever had to use the override button and I can't think of a reason I would need to. This is a great item and worth every penny.

I bought this timer switch for four outdoor lights at the front of my house. Each bulb maxing out at 100W, but I currently have CFLs installed.LIKES1. I like that you can specify your lat and long coordinates to get precise times for sunrise and sunset. This feature is great since the reason I bought a timer switch is to light up the front of the house when it's dark outside. No need to worry about having the lights turn on too late or too early because of the changing sunrise and sunset times since this thing keeps track of that data. From day 1, it has worked flawlessly. When I come home late from work, the lights are already on lighting up my driveway.2. Since I live in a community of townhouses, the adjacent buildings often block the sun during sunrise and sunset. Fortunately, this timer has a feature to include an offset in 10 minute increments from the determined sunrise and sunset times. So now I have the lights turn off 10 min after sunrise and 10 min before sunset. Problem solved.3. It just looks cool. Never thought I would say a light switch was cool, but it is. The build quality seems great. The whole assembly comes in an enclosure so there is no risk in accidental damage to the hardware when you are handling this thing. The interface screen is easy to read and understand. You do have to familiarize yourself with it by reading the instructions.4. There is a random mode that turns the switch on and off between sunset and sunrise. I haven't used this, but I suppose it adds an extra security factor when you are away from home. It gives the impression that someone is home. Although I don't think it would apply to me since I normally just keep the lights on throughout the night. Having them turn on and off would be abnormal behavior in my case.5. For the more anal retentive, there is also an option to specify a different setting for each day of the week. A little overkill if you ask me, but more features for extra security. I wonder if I can send a morse code message with this timer.DISLIKES1. It is a bit pricey, and it can be argued that you can get by with the less expensive models without all the bells and whistles with this one. If you are a bit anal retentive about when your lights should turn on, then you might not want to compromise. But if you couldn't care less about the extra features, then you will be fine with a cheaper model. I am definitely not using all the features included with this timer, so I may have overpaid.2. The assembly enclosure is a bit bulky for a normal sized switchbox with a multitude of wires stashed away in the back. You really need to make sure your switchbox is deep enough and to clear the wires behind this switch. I had a two-gang switchbox with a total of 6 wires of each kind (line, load, neutral, and ground). It was a small struggle to get it to fit. I just had to shove all the wires behind the other switch.CAVEATS1. My unit's default off time was set to 11:00PM. You have to go to the end of the instruction sheet to set this up to turn off at sunrise if you so desire.2. You need a neutral wire for this switch to work. This is usually a white wire at the back of the switchbox. The ground wire normally attached to light switches are not required.RECOMMENDATIONIf you plan on using all or at least 90% of the features of this timer switch at some point, then this is the product for you. Otherwise, skip this and save some money with the cheaper models.

I really like this switch. Works as described. And for only having 3 buttons, the using interface and navigation is surprisingly very well done.If you've installed or modified an outlet or switch before, you should have no problem installing this product. If you haven't done this before, then the process is still doable, but it'll take you longer while you get confident working with the exposed wires and figuring out which wire goes where. Don't be scared; as long as your circuit breaker is off, you can't get hurt. Here are the steps I went through to install the switch. Your process will likely be similar.--PREP WORK--1. Turn off the circuit breaker at the electrical panel. Just turning off the switch is not good enough because at least one of the wires in the box would still be live.2. Unscrew the existing wall plate.3. You'll see that the switch is screwed into a blue box. Unscrew the old switch from the blue box and pull it out a bit (with the wires still attached) so that you that you have access to the wires and the space behind the switch. Don't worry, the wires are way less brittle than they seem. Unbend them instead of pulling them if you're paranoid.4. (Optional) If you need more space to work in the blue box and/or you don't have easy access to the white neutral/return wires, you might need to unscrew and pull out the other switches that are there. I had to do this because the white wires were folded up behind the other switches.5. Bear with me.5a. Long story short: You should have two black wires attached to two different screws on the old switch that you're replacing. Figure out which one of these is the line and which is the load. Mark or identify them in some way.5b. Long story long: One of the black wires attached to your old switch supplies power from the electrical panel to the switch. This is called the 'line.' The other wire, called the load, is connected from the switch to the light itself. When the switch is off, there is no electrical connection between the electrical panel and the light (between the line and the load). When the switch is on, you are physically connecting the line and load, which allows current to flow from the electrical panel, through the switch, to the light, then back through the neutral/return wires (which are white), eventually returning to the circuit panel. For typical boring switches like the one you're replacing, it doesn't matter if the line or the load is on the top or bottom screw of the switch. All that the switch is doing is connecting the two separate wires; doesn't matter if current is flowing up through the switch or down through the switch. However, it does matter for the Honeywell Econoswitch (and any other fancy programmable switches). This is because programmable switches are always using a little bit of power to display the current status, keep accurate time, charge the battery, etc. Therefore, you need to make sure that turning the switch off will disconnect the light from the switch and not the electrical panel from the switch. Okay, now in order to actually figure out which black wire is the line and which is the load, I personally turned the circuit breaker back on, made sure the old switch is in the OFF position, and used a voltmeter by putting one lead of the voltmeter on one of the black wires/screws of the old switch and the other lead on one of the ground wires that should be hiding in the blue box somewhere. (The ground wires are easy to spot because they have no plastic insulation around them.) If you do this and you get no reading on the voltmeter, then the black wire you're touching is the load (connected to the light). If you do get a reading, you have identified the line (connected to the electrical panel). Just to be sure, you should test the other black wire on the old switch to check that you get a different reading. Again, keep the other lead of the voltmeter on the ground wire. You could also use a white neutral/return wire instead of the ground here, but at the time I didn't expose any of the white wires' copper conductor.6. Turn the circuit breaker back off so everything's safe.--INSTALLING THE NEW SWITCH--7. Remove the old switch by unscrewing the black line and black load wires.8. Gain access to any of the neutral/return wires. These are white. If the box you are working on only contains switches, then all the white wires are probably just twisted together with a colored wire nut/cap. Untwist the wire nut (CCW to loosen) and pull it off. You now have access to the neutral/return wires. You will eventually shove the white neutral wire from the Honeywell into this twisted mess and put the colored wire nut back on.9. You should now have three conductors in the box that you'll connect to the Honeywell's three wires: a black line wire that was connected to the old switch, a black load wire that was also connected to the old switch, and one or more white neutral/return wire that are probably just twisted together. Use one of the supplied wire nuts to connect the line wire in the box to the line wire of the Honeywell. Do the same for the two load wires. Do the same for the white neutral/return wires, noting that you might have to use the old wire nut in case the supplied nut is too small.10. Everything is now connected and ready to be tested. Turn the circuit breaker back on, and make sure the switch works. Pushing the big button on the bottom should control the light as normal.11. Turn the circuit breaker back off.--SHOVING EVERYTHING BACK IN--12. For me, showing the wires back into the box is always the hardest part. Electricians have a knack for fitting a mess of wires into a small box. I apparently can't do this well. Anyway, do remember that the wires are less breakable than they seem. The worst that can happen during this stage is that a wire is pulled loose from a wire cap. That's unsafe, so make sure it doesn't happen. There are techniques to ensuring a secure fit; find them online.13. Screw the switch(es) back onto the blue box. I always have trouble making sure that the switch are flush to the wall and not crooked. Again, bend those wires. They're sturdy.14. Screw the new* wall plate on, and you're done. *New because your old wall plate was probably only big enough for a toggle switch. You need something like the Leviton 80401-W 1-Gang Decora/GFCI Wallplate, Standard Size, Thermoset, Device Mount, White.

My need was to automate turning on the exterior porch lights at dusk and off at dawn - for security purposes. Doing it manually is often forgotten and I can't really it do while away from home at night or on vacation. A home automation system was overkill and expensive. Putting in a light sensor switch on the fixture wouldn't work because the bulb is enclosed and can't detect dawn apart from the light itself. By chance I found this Honeywell timer. It does the job very well, blends in with the existing decor, has a number of programming options, and was easy to install with no rewiring. Details below.Be sure to get the right model! Answer these 3 questions:1) Does your existing light switch have a neutral wire? Green or a bare copper wire is usually "ground" - ignore that for this purpose. If you only have 2 other wires on the switch, it's easy: you do not have a neutral. Otherwise you *might* depending on whether or not it is a 3-way switch. Generally newer homes (late 2000s) will have neutrals. See the user's manual on Honeywell's web site for a better description than I can provide. I made the mistake of not noticing the difference - don't do the same! I'm putting this review under both models that I purchased.2) Do you want a simple device that turns on/off at a set time on each day of the week? Or do you want one with a larger back-lit screen, that can do dusk/dawn detection (based on longitude/latitude), and optionally turn it on/off randomly? Go for the "basic" or the "enhanced" depending on your answer (my words).3) What color: almond (beige) or white?No neutral wire required (40w-500w load, incandescent or halogen only):RPLS530A - white, basicRPLS531A - almond, basicRPLS540A - white, enhancedRPLS541A - almond, enhancedNeutral wire required (0w-1800w load, any bulb or a motor):RPLS730B - white, basicRPLS731B - almond, basicRPLS740A - white, enhancedRPLS741A - almond, enhancedThe disadvantage of the no-neutral version is that it is incompatible with solely energy efficient bulbs (no LED or CFL). Does *not* matter if you meet the minimum load (I confirmed that). It powers itself when the lights are off by bleeding small amounts of power - not enough to turn most traditional lights on, but causes others to flicker. But you *might* be able to make it work if you mix it up - put (1) 40W traditional bulb in with other sockets that have CFL/LEDs.Installation & feature notes:* Be sure to pickup a standard rectangular wall plate to go with it. Nothing custom here - same ones used for those larger paddle-style switches.* After reading the manual it took me ~20 minutes to install and setup.* The timer switch is deeper than a standard switch, so it was difficult for me to get all the wires into the box. It fit, but just barely.* Follow the manual for setting it up. It's easy to read and not difficult to do, but the process is not intuitive on its own.* The backlit model has 3 settings when sitting idle: on, low, off. When you press a key it goes to full brightness for 8 seconds.* You'll need the longitude and latitude of where you live for the enhanced model. There's a list of common cities in the manual, but if you live in a backwoods area you'll need to google it or use a GPS. It's nice to have this because it will adapt to sunrise/sunset automatically depending on the season.* It's very easy to override the timer - just press the big button light a normal switch.* Backup battery keeps your settings in the event of a power outage - nice!

I just purchased a new home and, with two stories, it can be inconvenient at 9pm to have to go downstairs to turn on the front lights. And, now that I'm semi-retired, I like to travel and still like that house-is-occupied look when I'm away. The Honeywell Econoswitch makes it possible to program different programs of on and off settings for each day of the week, but all I really want it to do is turn on at sunset and off at sunrise. This is fairly easily accomplished with this product.Installation was fairly easy: turn the power off to that circuit, pull the cover plate, then screws holding the existing switch in place. Remove the three wires (neutral, the package says, is required) and connect those wires to the leads coming out of the Econoswitch. Honeywell includes three wire connectors that worked just fine. Push the wires back in the junction box, then push the Econoswitch into place and screw it down. Replace the cover plate and you're done.Now here's the fun part: figure out the programming for the device. I'm a fairly smart guy, but some programmable devices can be really more complex than it seems they should be. The Honeywell isn't downright simple, but it only took me about five minutes to configure the device to turn on at sunset and off at sunrise. I think (first test is tonight.)What I liked about this Econoswitch- It is small enough to fit back in the junction box. I had a different brand in my old house and the damned thing was huge! I really had to cram it back in the box and it was a really tight fit.- It makes it easy to program your approximate latitude and longitude into it (for sunset and sunrise times) and then make adjustments to that. You can only enter full degrees of lat and long, not minutes and seconds, so the adjustment factor could be helpful.- It has a nice display with three settings of how much backlight you want on it.- Installation was pretty simple. There is no need to hire an electrician to do this if you know how to turn the circuit off and can handle a screwdriver.What could be better:- Surprisingly, the physical installation was not described. One lead is for neutral, one for "Load" and "Line" (I think) but the colors didn't match what I had coming out of the junction box. The neutral was easy ... I guessed on the other two wires and must have been lucky, because it's working.- The programming instructions could be better. I'm guessing that a lot of people just use it like me - on at night, off in the morning. I had to jump through a lot of hoops to figure out that there is a "Sunset" and "Sunrise" setting in the program. Maybe there could be a simple callout box that points to this simple setup.

Unpacked and installed this programmable switch, my first of this type, today. Installation was easy, once I found the correct circuit to disable at my circuit breaker. Programming was straightforward and I didn't really need to follow along in the instructions except to be sure I was configuring and programming it correctly. The unit is attractive and quite modern-looking. Note that while I am not an electrician, I know enough to do my own wiring throughout the house, and this is simple stuff.Pros* Easy, quick install. All parts (pigtails with protected tips, orange wire nuts) are provided* Requires a neutral wire -- this is a pro because this protects you and your dwelling* Flush, modern and stylistically attractive design* The info panel has three lighting states (hi, lo, off)* The info panel has a clock (of course) and also is programmed with your time zone, offset and lat/lon to be aware of all factors including daylight savings time and sunrise/sunset* Auto and random programming, as well as manual override, are all available* Programming can be tuned to the unit's calculated sunrise and sunset times (this means you won't have it turning on needlessly at 4:30PM in the summer, or too late at, for instance, 8:45PM in winter)* 12/24 hr readout option for confusion-free programmingCons* The depth of the programmable timer will not fit in shallow half-boxes, and may be cramped if your builder or electrician left a lot of Romex in the box. You might want to check inside first, to be sure there's sufficient room for it to fit.* Does not make use of the ground wire -- technically not necessary, but having a post or pigtail would have been nice.Other thoughtsNot a con: as a safety feature one must have a neutral (white) lead in the wall socket. For this reason in addition to the space issue noted as the only 'real' con, you should check your switch box before purchasing. Installation and setup took about seven minutes, once I flipped the appropriate circuit breaker for the room where this is installed. I spent more time caulking around the new switchplate (not included) than I did installing it.The manufacturer can't be expected to include a switchplate with the unit, but I almost forgot to get one until I saw Amazon's "customers also bought..." sidebar. So, don't forget -- this is a standard rectangular device and you'll need a new switchplate if you don't have one like this already. The main product photo shows it with a not-included switchplate.Note: the unit requires line and load to be hooked up correctly. This isn't a con, but it does require you to know which is which. My Romex was in a big knot in the box and I had no labeling to tell me which one was which, so I used a voltmeter to check continuity between the positive ( + ) contact in the light socket and the suspected load hot (black) wire. I guessed correctly the first time (load to positive contact will be continuous, and line to positive won't be). If you are installing this yourself, be double-sure the circuit is off and tests off, and that your neutral isn't also hot (sometimes this is run hot by accident or on purpose for certain circuits). A DVM is your friend here so you don't get zapped. Once you are certain there is no current in any of the leads, then test for continuity.

The Honeywell RPLS740B has some key features I was looking for:1. Compatible with compact fluorescent bulbs (this timer even works with electric motors).2. Has the option of turning on or off at either a certain time or at dawn or dusk. It keeps track of the time of year so that it knows when dawn and dusk are.3. Adjusts for daylight saving time automatically (although it may eventually be a few days off if they change the dates for daylight saving time again).4. Keeps its programming and the correct time and date during power outages.5. Has no batteries to wear out (more about this below).These features let me set it up once and then leave it alone. Of course, it's easy to override it if needed. Just press the main button to turn the lights on or off. The timer will stay programmed and resume automatic operation when it is time to turn on or off automatically again.Some of the literature on this product says that it has a backup battery to keep the programming set up and the clock running during power outages. At first, I was concerned that the timer might need to be replaced when the backup battery wears out. Even a rechargeable battery only lasts so long. I carefully opened the unit to see if the battery is user-replaceable. I was pleasantly surprised to see that instead of a battery, it has a 0.22-Farad super-capacitor. A super-capacitor substitutes for a battery, but for all practical purposes, doesn't wear out. I wish more electronic devices would use these.As with any product that has a mountain of features, it takes a little time to read the instructions and set up the timer. However, the menu system is pretty logical, and was easy to catch onto once I had programmed a few settings. I don't even need the instructions now.Since the timer has been installed for only a week, I can't really be sure about reliability yet. It appears to be well built, inside and out. So far, it works flawlessly and the time is staying accurate.It is a little expensive, but it's the lowest-priced timer I could find that has the features I want and has good reviews about working reliably. Also, with the super-capacitor instead of a battery, there's no need to worry about battery replacement.The timer came via Amazon Super-saver Shipping, and arrived ahead of schedule in just a few days.

A week in, and I'm convinced this is the best in-wall timer I've found, by a huge margin. Over the last 15-20 years, I've tried lots of switches of this type, and even the good ones have been tricky to install, hard to program, hard to read, and subject to power issues that made them lose programming. I finally found one that works and is legible and easy to program (relatively easy to program - there's no avoiding a certain level of complexity with these). I've only had it in use for a week, so maybe there will be a disappointing update someday, but so far this one is the clear winner. Here's why: Installation was pretty easy as these things go. If you've ever installed a timer in a wall switch, or are reasonably experienced with electric work, you'll be fine with this. It has stored settings memory (so they claim) so it won't lose your settings - time will tell if that's true. Plus it can store the time for a few hours if the power goes out - also a nice feature. But way more important is that it does not use batteries or rely on high power to maintain its memory -- I've had a lot of different models over the years and having to replace batteries in a tiny wall switch is a frequent maintenance issue. The display is bright (and can be changed) and easy to read -- I've never before found a switch like this that is legible without being close and at just the right angle. Programming it was fairly simple, compared to every other timer I've ever had to deal with. And of course the solar aspect of it makes it even better - just set it and it changes its timing throughout the year without further input.Advice in general if you are buying an in-wall timer (digital display or push-button countdown): 1. Read the specs carefully for what type of load it's for - back in the old days it was just incandescent lights or grossly inefficient fixtures, so anything would work sort of OK. (b) Unless you don't have a neutral wire and can't get one to the box, you're always better off with a timer that uses a neutral. Because the other options are batteries or a timer with a minimum amperage requirement, or a timer that just doesn't work. Actually all of those add up to a timer that just doesn't work. A neutral wire provides full-time power to the timer and its memory and screen, and avoids all the problems you read about in reviews of most timers.

The product control voltage is 120v. Cannot use in India directly.

Sept 7, 2024 - Initial Review---------------------------------I bought 2 of these and just installed it today. The first one took a bit of time to figure out which wire goes where and to figure out the Longitude, Latitude, and the coordinate adjustment values on first setup. The instructions provided has everything you need. Also, there are some really good YouTube videos you can watch before doing the wiring. Installing the second programmable switch was pretty straight forward except for the fact that my original programmable timer switch's blue wire connected to a hot wire while the black one went to the outside lights. The original electrician had 2 black wires going in and out of the old switch, one was line and the other one hot for the outdoor light switch outlet. The one in the living room is a black for hot that went to the switch's black wire and a red for line that went to the switch's blue wire (simple). Long story shot, I had to rewire the outdoor light switch twice because of this confusion. Once everything is set up, the Honeywell switches are nice and simple to program. Both are working as expected. They're definitely nice and I can actually read the programmable settings with a backlight on! This is better than my old one that turned yellow from ozone degradation. The old one had a really small LED display without any backlight and it was so hard to see, even in my younger days!I haven't figured out fully on how the automatic setting with the fluctuations in daylight hours. I assume that the defaults provided for sunset based on Longitude and Latitude is somewhat accurate in addition to the daylight savings time (DST). Also, the adjustment of 1 (one) is likely the whole hour to delay for sunset at dusk. I'll have to play around with this and see if putting the adjustment for 2 or 3 will delay turning on the sunset time to 2 and 3 hours.The only knock against this programmable switch is that it is expensive. However, there are other programmable switches out there similar to this but with unreplaceable soldered in batteries that die out in a few years and are either comparable in price or higher. This one, like my old programmable switch, uses a capacity to store some charge to keep the settings alive for a short period of time. The old one lasted for over 25 years. Hopefully, these two Honeywell switches last as long or more.I will provide further updates on this review of the Honeywell RPLS740B Econo-switch as necessary.Update: Oct 30, 2024----------------------------Added photos to hopefully help others in programming this timer. It's relatively easy and the Longitude, Latitude, and Adjustment factors are given in the instruction sheet. My Honeywell timers has been used for 2 months now and I love it. The automatic sunset adjustment with offset for my front door lights and another one for my living room lights works out great! My front door is offset +50 minutes after sunset while my living room timer is offset to -20 minutes before sunset. In addition, I can turn it on or off manually and the timer will continue to switch on or off at the set programs. The daylight savings time will be this Sunday. So, I'll see if the DST feature works well in conjunction with sunset offset settings. The display is big and bright enough for my aging eyes to see. Love these programmable switches from Honeywell and I do recommend these particular ones.I will continue to update this review as necessary.

The device is not compatible with any of the EU electric circuit standards. It is only for 110V electric circuit. I really do not understand why it is sold in the EU Amazon markets.

Advertised to have the plastic cover come with it but it doesn’t!

Una de las mejores decisiones que he tomado es comprar estos switch. Tengo 2 de ellos los cuales programo que se prendan y se apaguen a cierta hora. También pueden programarse según la altitud y latitud para que enciendan y se apaguen al anochecer y amancecer. Se programan por días individuales, lo cual yo uso para que las luces se apaguen mas tarde los fines de semana. Es muy util para cuando no hay nadie en la casa y no se vea sola. Además también para la gente que olvida apagar las luces son de mucha utilidad. Lo mejor es que lo tengo con focos de led, entonces aunque se enciendan diario no gasto tanta luz.