Electrical timers

[Anyfoot]

Can anyone help me.
I need a timer to turn lights on and off. However for 10 lights. Is there such a gadget where I can control 10 lights with one unit to ensure the exact change over time. Or will I have to use 10 individual timers.
Thanks

Craig

 

[JoesMum]

It would have to be a pretty hefty unit to handle the load. What wattage are the lights?

 

[wellington]

I believe you can buy an electrical strip and then plug that into a timer. However, I don't know if the electrical strips will hold ten, so you might have to do two timers and two strips.

 

[wellington]

Here is one wit12 but not sure if plug in or hard wire http://t.homedepot.com/p/Tripp-Lite-12-Outlet-Vertical-Power-Strip-with-15-ft-Cord-PS3612/203345747/

Here is the other kind http://t.homedepot.com/p/Belkin-6-Outlet-Power-Strip-F9P609-03-DP/100654575/

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

If I understand your question ? Why not plug a electric strip into the timer then plug the ten lights into the strip . Good luck

 

[JohnnyB65]

you need the wattage of the bulbs x 10 to select a timer. They have timers up to 30 amps, but you may have to have an electrician hook them up if you are not knowledgeable about electrical stuff.

 

[wellington]

you need the wattage of the bulbs x 10 to select a timer. They have timers up to 30 amps, but you may have to have an electrician hook them up if you are not knowledgeable about electrical stuff.

Really, why not just use a strip like I listed above? I have and never paid attention to Amps. I didn't use ten, but I didn't have a strip with ten outlets.

 

[JoesMum]

Wellington's solution is the way to do it, provided you don't overload the timer and the strip.

The big strips are desjgned for things like computers which draw very little power. Ten 100W bulbs would be 1kW and just over 9 Amps in the USA (assuming I got my maths right)

 

[JohnnyB65]

Really, why not just use a strip like I listed above? I have and never paid attention to Amps. I didn't use ten, but I didn't have a strip with ten outlets.

Tell me how does a strip turn off and on by the time?
You still need a timer which are rated by amps or wattage.

 

[wellington]

You plug it into the timer. Leave the strip on and when the timer goes off, so does the strip.

You can also buy strips with timers built into them. They are expensive, around 25.00 at Home Depot. Only half is on the timer and they are a little hard to use and don't work very accurately after about a year. I had two of them also.
I now I one regular dial type timer and one weather proof timer that used to do our outdoor Christmas stuff. Adding adapters allows for more things to be plugged in.

 

[JohnnyB65]

You plug it into the timer. Leave the strip on and when the timer goes off, so does the strip.

Exactingly Bingo! so you need a timer capable of handling the load of the bulbs

 

[Yvonne G]

Tell me how does a strip turn off and on by the time?
You still need a timer which are rated by amps or wattage.

You plug the strip into the timer. You can get a timer that has two outlets. Get two strips, plug one into each outlet. The strips have outlets for 4 or 5 plugs. The timer just turns the electricity on and off. the load is on the strip and the outlet the timer is plugged into.

 

[wellington]

Exactingly Bingo! so you need a timer capable of handling the load of the bulbs

No, when you want the lights to go off for the day, the timer will turn the strip off. I'm not saying, when the timer goes off the strip blows.

 

[JohnnyB65]

All right I'm out of this one I've been a electrician for over 40 years and I have to say you have to start with the timer because if you use too small of a timer than the strip is unless.

 

[JohnnyB65]

No, when you want the lights to go off for the day, the timer will turn the strip off. I'm not saying, when the timer goes off the strip blows.

Isn't that the point?

 

[Anyfoot]

Thank you everyone. I feel I should explain a bit more. I'm building a large enclosure. It's 14ft x 20ft. So for the uvb I'm going to use 10 160watt zoo mega Ray. However it will cost a fortune to run 10 all day. So I want to put them on timers so each one comes on for 1hr in a sequence. This way every part of the enclosure will get uv. It will also act as the sun moving around the room changing the shadows through the day. So there will be a 1 minute overlap between bulbs. At the maximum of 1 minute there will be 2 bulbs on pulling 320watt. I have an electrician who's re wiring my house. He's putting a loop upto the enclosure building for me with its own fuse board. Hope that made sense.

 

[Anyfoot]

Thank you everyone. I feel I should explain a bit more. I'm building a large enclosure. It's 14ft x 20ft. So for the uvb I'm going to use 10 160watt zoo mega Ray. However it will cost a fortune to run 10 all day. So I want to put them on timers so each one comes on for 1hr in a sequence. This way every part of the enclosure will get uv. It will also act as the sun moving around the room changing the shadows through the day. So there will be a 1 minute overlap between bulbs. At the maximum of 1 minute there will be 2 bulbs on pulling 320watt. I have an electrician who's re wiring my house. He's putting a loop upto the enclosure building for me with its own fuse board. Hope that made sense.

Dosey sod. I meant each bulb comes on for 1hr. I was originally going to have 5 lights but that won't give enough ground cover of uv. That's where my 2hrs came from. I edited the above to 1hr.

 

[wellington]

Isn't that the point?

I don't understand what your not getting. Yes, it is the point. The timer turns the strip off, all the lights go off. The timer the next day the timer will turn on the strip which then will turn on all the lights. What I have been saying, not what I understand you to be saying.

 

[wellington]

Dosey sod. I meant each bulb comes on for 1hr. I was originally going to have 5 lights but that won't give enough ground cover of uv. That's where my 2hrs came from. I edited the above to 1hr.[/QUOTE

The only way I know of being able to do that would be a timer for each light. Of course. Do what you want, but I think your over doing it. The cheaper easier way, besides letting them go outside for natural sun, which then you won't need uvb for those days, would be to put one MVB over each enclosure and leave it at that. Let them be on for the appropriate amount of time and then go off for the night. If you building the shed now, you could add windows on all sides for the sun to shine in. If you get cold winters, you could put clear plastic over them. The sun would still come in but the heat wouldn't escape the shed.

You could also have the electrician run an inline timer for each outlet.

 

[Anyfoot]

You could also have the electrician run an inline timer for each outlet.

I was thinking this. What made me vier away from this method was, do they lose time over a period of time so my lights run out of sink. I was thinking if they all came off one multiple timer they would have to stay in sink. I maybe thinking of a potential problem that doesn't exist.