If you're planning to be away from home for a while but don't want people to know, you can use timers to activate appliances to simulate human activity. Grasslin makes a digital timer you plug into an electrical socket and connect to an appliance such as a lamp, stereo or television. You program the timer to make an appliance turn on and off at specific or random times to make it look like someone is at home while you're away, helping to deter would-be burglars.
Step 1
Press the "Plus" or "Minus" button on the timer's control panel to switch between 24-hour or a.m./p.m. time format. Press the "OK" button to confirm.
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Step 2
Press the "Plus" or "Minus" button to advance the hour to the correct time, then press the "OK" button. The display will shift to minutes. Repeat this procedure to set minutes and day of the week.
Step 3
Press the "Menu" button, then press the "Plus" or "Minus" button to select "P" for programs, and then press the "OK" button.
Step 4
Press the "Plus" or "Minus" button to advance the hour to the time you want an appliance to turn on, then press the "OK" button. The display will shift to minutes. Repeat this procedure to set minutes and day of the week. For days of the week, you can select a block of days or individual days by pressing the "Plus" or "Minus" button and then the "OK" button for each day. Press "OK" after programming a day or the last of a series of days. The display will shift to setting the timer to the hour when you want the appliance to turn off.
Step 5
Press the "Plus" or "Minus" button to advance the hour to the time you want an appliance to turn off, then press the "OK" button. The display will shift to minutes. Repeat this procedure to set minutes and day or days of the week to turn the appliance off. Press the "OK" button to save program one. You can repeat this for programs two and three for different on-off patterns.
Step 6
Press the "Plus" or Minus" button to switch between the three different programs you have set up, then press the "OK" button to use the chosen program to turn on and off your appliance.
Step 7
Press the "RND" button to have the timer execute random on-off programming, and "RND" will appear in the display. This can help simulate the activities of a real person in your home. Press the "RND" button again to deactivate the random mode, and "RND" will disappear from the display.
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