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Is the Zman Switch as good as they say it is?

Yes
No

Author Topic: Zman Switch  (Read 4754 times)

Offline rdg770

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Zman Switch
« on: March 23, 2015, 09:04:30 PM »
http://www.zmantechnologies.com/

Did anyone buy this? It's $60. A lot more than regular Shabbos timers. Is it worth the cost?

Offline Ergel

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2015, 11:09:52 PM »
You know how long it would take to recoup the $60 in saved energy? Like 10 years
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Offline etech0

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2015, 11:11:04 PM »
You know how long it would take to recoup the $60 in saved energy? Like 10 years
But you can't put a price on saving the planet...
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

Offline Centro

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #3 on: March 23, 2015, 11:12:16 PM »
You know how long it would take to recoup the $60 in saved energy? Like 10 years
This is not about saving energy, it's a shaboss timer which you don't have to manually set each and every week.

Offline Ergel

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2015, 11:18:41 PM »
This is not about saving energy, it's a shaboss timer which you don't have to manually set each and every week.
Or just put in a regular light switch for sixty cents and leave the light on the whole shabbos (what I did)
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Offline yesitsme

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #5 on: March 23, 2015, 11:31:58 PM »
 i use this one less then $30, i have to adjust it a few times a year, winter summer etc,
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Offline Dan

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #6 on: March 23, 2015, 11:47:25 PM »
Or just put in a regular light switch for sixty cents and leave the light on the whole shabbos (what I did)
Yup, keeping a CFL on for 24 hours costs what, 3 cents?
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Offline Ergel

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #7 on: March 24, 2015, 12:09:00 AM »
Yup, keeping a CFL on for 24 hours costs what, 3 cents?
Maybe. And don't forget, you'd leave it on anyways for nearly half that time so cut your savings in half. And then account for the times that it goes on during the week when you didn't intend it to. You'll recoup your money in around 2050
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Offline cholent

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #8 on: March 24, 2015, 01:14:31 AM »
And unless you plan on installing it yourself, chalk up some more for an electrician. Unless you're running a huge chandelier, I can't see how it's worthwhile. I just leave my lights on
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Offline yesitsme

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #9 on: March 24, 2015, 01:49:14 AM »
And unless you plan on installing it yourself, chalk up some more for an electrician. Unless you're running a huge chandelier, I can't see how it's worthwhile. I just leave my lights on

it's not always about money some people have kids sleeping in the dining room, by the seuda you need the light on, after that you need the light off.
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Offline mort116

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #10 on: March 24, 2015, 07:41:22 AM »
It also stops the light from being turned on and off by accident.

Offline Ergel

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #11 on: March 24, 2015, 08:17:13 AM »
Or you can buy a $2 magnetic cover
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Offline grodnoking

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #12 on: March 24, 2015, 08:23:35 AM »
Or you can buy a $2 magnetic cover
A cover cant turn your living room light off on yomtov when u have guests and are having someone sleep in the living room
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Offline NYHeel

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #13 on: March 24, 2015, 05:28:48 PM »
there are plenty of timer switches that can be set based on sunset and sunrise. You put in your location and it gives you close enough times.

Or you can use a home automation system where programming can be tied to sunset and sunrise or any variation from there. For example, have lights go on 4 hours before sunset. But then you start getting a little more expensive since you need a controller. But the switches are less than $60. Installation of a light switch is pretty straightforward. Honestly the hardest part is pushing everything back in if it's a box with 2-3 switches. Of course 3-way switches are a little more complicated.

Offline solls108

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #14 on: March 24, 2015, 07:19:26 PM »
Yup, keeping a CFL on for 24 hours costs what, 3 cents?
Where do you get the 3 cents price tag from?

Offline Dan

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #15 on: March 24, 2015, 08:06:08 PM »
13 watts x 24 hours=312wh x $0.10/kWh= $0.03.
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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #16 on: March 24, 2015, 08:13:31 PM »
Where do you get the 3 cents price tag from?
assume a ten watt bulb for 24 hours is a total of 240 watthours which is a little less than a quarter of a kWh. There are places in the USA where you pay less than .12/kWh including delivery. In NJ JCPL customers pay.038191 for delivery and around .10 for supply if they are on default service. I am offering residential JCPL accounts below.09 now. That gets pretty close.
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Offline David R

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #17 on: March 24, 2015, 10:35:51 PM »
there are plenty of timer switches that can be set based on sunset and sunrise. You put in your location and it gives you close enough times.

Or you can use a home automation system where programming can be tied to sunset and sunrise or any variation from there. For example, have lights go on 4 hours before sunset. But then you start getting a little more expensive since you need a controller. But the switches are less than $60. Installation of a light switch is pretty straightforward. Honestly the hardest part is pushing everything back in if it's a box with 2-3 switches. Of course 3-way switches are a little more complicated.
I use Honeywell timers. They allow for 7 on and 7 off settings. Each on and off setting can be for a particular day of the week and can either be set for a specific time of day or up to 70 (IIRC) minutes before or after sunrise or sunset. If I only needed it for Shabbos, I would not have to touch it; it even adjusts for DST.

Offline NYHeel

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #18 on: March 25, 2015, 10:14:18 AM »
I use Honeywell timers. They allow for 7 on and 7 off settings. Each on and off setting can be for a particular day of the week and can either be set for a specific time of day or up to 70 (IIRC) minutes before or after sunrise or sunset. If I only needed it for Shabbos, I would not have to touch it; it even adjusts for DST.
Yes, those were the timers I was talking about. And I think they're readily available for under $30. Maybe even less than that. I ended up going with the home automation setup since I was doing some work on the house and needed to get a bunch of switches anyway. This way when I need to change the schedules I can do it from one centralized location and I also have more options and controls.

Offline NYHeel

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Re: Zman Switch
« Reply #19 on: March 25, 2015, 10:26:51 AM »
13 watts x 24 hours=312wh x $0.10/kWh= $0.03.

Wow, that's a great electrical rate. I pay PSEG 11.28 cents for supply and 6.28 cents for delivery. So, I'm at about 17.5 cents per kWh. Plus many rooms have about 6 LEDs or CFLs so my wattage for the room is about 75 watts. That comes to $0.32 per day. So figure by limiting the hours I save only about a quarter a Shabbos but it's something.

But in reality it's the light fixtures that use those small halogens that run crazy hot that I'm concerned about. Just one that I have in my dining room has about 6 40 watt bulbs in there. That's 240 watts so I make sure to only run that when it's needed as that runs about a $1 a day or so.