To set a landscape light timer, set the clock to the current time first, then set when you want the lights to turn on and off. On a mechanical dial you push down the pins for the hours you want the lights on. On a digital timer you enter the on and off times with the buttons. On a smart timer you build the schedule in the app, usually starting at sunset. The steps for each type are below, along with astronomic timeclocks and lighting control systems, which keep the schedule right all year without you touching it.
Types of landscape light timers
- Mechanical timers. A 24-hour dial with pins or tabs around the edge. Each pin usually covers 15 or 30 minutes. They are cheap and simple, but they lose time in a power outage and need resetting when the clocks change.
- Digital timers. A small screen and buttons. You set exact on and off times, often with different schedules for different days. Many have a backup battery that holds the settings through an outage.
- Smart timers and smart plugs. These join your Wi-Fi and run from a phone app. Most can turn the lights on at sunset and adjust as the days get longer or shorter.
- Photocells. A light sensor that turns the lights on at dusk. Photocells are often paired with a timer so the lights come on at dusk and go off at a set hour.
- Astronomic timeclocks. These calculate sunrise and sunset for your location every day. There is more on them further down.
Many low-voltage landscape transformers have a timer or photocell built in. If your transformer has a dial or a small display on the front, that is the timer you are setting.
Before you start
- Find the manual for your timer or transformer. Most are online if you search the model number on the label.
- If you are wiring anything, turn off the circuit at the breaker and confirm it is dead with a voltage tester.
- An outdoor outlet should be GFCI protected and have an in-use cover (the bubble cover) that closes with a cord plugged in.
How to set a mechanical timer
- Plug the timer into the outlet and plug the transformer into the timer. If the timer is built into the transformer, open the transformer cover.
- Turn the dial clockwise until the current time lines up with the arrow or marker. Check AM and PM. Most dials shade the night hours.
- Push down the pins for every segment you want the lights on. For example, push down every pin from 6 PM to 11 PM.
- Leave the pins up for the hours you want the lights off.
- Set the override switch to the timer position, often marked “Timer” or with a clock symbol. If it is left on “On”, the lights will stay on all day.
- Watch it through one evening to confirm the lights come on and go off when you expect.
Reset the dial after any power outage and twice a year when the clocks change. You will also want to move the on time through the year. In Boston, sunset moves from about 8:25 PM in late June to about 4:15 PM in December, so a 6 PM start leaves the yard dark for almost two hours in winter.
How to set a digital timer
- If the timer has a backup battery, install it or pull the plastic tab.
- Press the clock button and set the day and current time with the arrow buttons.
- Press the program button. Set the first on time and off time (usually shown as Program 1 On and Program 1 Off).
- Choose which days the program runs. Most timers let you pick every day, weekdays only or weekends only.
- Add a second program if you want one, such as a short window before sunrise on winter mornings.
- Switch the mode to Auto. The manual on and off modes ignore the schedule.
Check whether your timer has an automatic daylight saving setting and turn it on. If it has a dusk setting, it is probably using a built-in photocell. Keep that sensor out of the light from your own fixtures, or the timer will decide it is daytime and switch them back off.
How to set a smart timer or smart plug
- Plug an outdoor-rated smart plug into a GFCI outlet and plug the transformer into it.
- Install the maker’s app and add the device. Many of these only connect to a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network, so check which network your phone is on.
- Make a schedule. Choose sunset for the on time and add an offset if you want, for example 15 minutes after sunset. Pick a fixed off time such as 11 PM.
- Check that the location in the app is your address, since the sunset time comes from it.
- Check the Wi-Fi signal at the outlet with your phone. If it is weak, the schedule may not run reliably.
What an astronomic timeclock does
An astronomic timeclock knows your location and the date. It works out sunrise and sunset for every day of the year, so a schedule like “on at sunset, off at 11 PM” stays correct from June to December without anyone adjusting it. It also handles daylight saving time on its own. Unlike a photocell, it is not thrown off by snow on the sensor, a dirty lens or a porch light shining on it.
You can buy astronomic timers as standalone in-wall or panel-mounted units, and many professional landscape transformers have one built in. For one or two transformers on a simple schedule, that may be all you need.
Controlling landscape lights from Lutron or Savant
On larger properties the landscape lighting usually has no timer at the transformer at all. Each transformer is switched, and sometimes dimmed, by the lighting control system that runs the inside of the house, such as Lutron RadioRA 3, Lutron HomeWorks or Savant. The schedule lives in that system’s astronomic timeclock.
That setup gives you things a plug-in timer can’t:
- Zones. The front of the house, the driveway, the back lawn and the pool can each run on their own schedule.
- Scenes. A keypad by the back door can have an Entertain button that brings up the patio, pool and trees together, and an All Off button for bedtime.
- Links to the rest of the house. The outdoor lights can come on when the gate opens, go to full brightness if the alarm goes off, or join an Arrive scene that also turns on the entry lights inside.
- Control from anywhere. You can check and change the lights from the app when you are away.
- Nothing to reset. Power outages and clock changes are handled for you.
If you already have Lutron Caséta in the house, a Caséta outdoor smart plug on a plug-in transformer lets you run the landscape lights on a sunset schedule from the same Lutron app. Our post on smart landscape lighting goes into the control options in more detail.
Troubleshooting a landscape light timer
- Lights stay on all day. The override switch is set to On, or the timer is in a manual mode.
- Lights never come on. Check whether the GFCI outlet has tripped and whether the breaker is on. Then confirm the timer is in Auto or Timer mode.
- Lights come on at the wrong time. The clock lost time in an outage, or AM and PM are swapped. Reset the clock.
- Lights cycle on and off at dusk. A photocell is seeing light from your own fixtures. Move or shade the sensor.
- Some lights work and others don’t. That points to a fixture, lamp or wiring problem, not the timer. Dim fixtures at the far end of a run are usually voltage drop, which our guide to choosing the right size transformer explains.
Can I set different times for different lights?
Only if the lights are on separate transformers or separate switched circuits. One timer controls everything plugged into or wired through it. That is why larger systems are split into zones, each with its own transformer or its own control channel.
When a professional system makes sense
A timer is the right answer for a small yard with one transformer. It starts to fall short when you have several transformers, want different parts of the property on different schedules, or want the outdoor lights to work with the rest of the house. At that point it is worth tying the landscape lighting into Lutron or Savant, which is easiest to do when the lighting is designed or upgraded. For bigger properties, our guide to planning landscape lighting for large estates covers zoning in more detail.
Planning a landscape lighting project?
We design and install low-voltage landscape lighting, controlled by Lutron and Savant, for homes across Greater Boston, the South Shore and Rhode Island. Book a free consultation or read more about our landscape lighting.
