Never touch a light switch again!
In the good old days I remember my Dad had almost an internal clock and he would walk around the house turning on all the outside light switches when he noticed it got dark. Maybe his internal clock was synched up perfectly with Day Lights Savings time or maybe he was just a creature of habit. He would reverse this same routine every night before bed by turning everything back off.
I tried to do the same for a number of years until I discovered these. Lutron Caseta makes a super handy wifi dimmer switch that can essentially control any light switch either remotely from your smartphone or on a schedule. If you need more than 2 you can buy them as singles or in 2-packs. And even better you don’t have to worry about daylight savings time anymore…these guys will just go on at any time in relation to sunset so you set them and never worry about them again! This starter kit comes with 2 dimmers and a smart hub which I highly recommend if you’re going to wire up a bunch of these bad boys. It connects to your internet router and communicates with all your Lutron Caseta devices in the house. I absolutely love these. I had them in my last house and it was the first thing I installed in my new home.
Installing these is as simple as wiring up a new light switch. And if you’ve never done that before, it’s so much easier than you can imagine. The only key here is to be safe and kill the power at the breaker switch to avoid any major shocks and then proceed with wiring these up. There are various options depending on if you have a 3rd wire (neutral) or not. They even come with a remote in case you want to have the ability to easily flip a switch without getting up from the couch. When wiring, it makes no difference which wire goes to which terminal which is great. It’s essentially impossible to mess this job up. Once you’re wired up, get your power fired back up and follow the directions to get it linked up to your new hub. Download the Lutron app and away you go! I currently have these for my 3 exterior lights (front door, garage, and back deck) and they are programmed to go on 20 minutes after sunset and then off around 2 am.
One tip is to make sure you are buying dimmable bulbs for your light fixtures since these are technically dimmers. Some LEDs can be finicky but Lutron lists all bulbs that are compatible with these dimmers on their site. I even had some exterior lighting at my previous home plugged into a very old transformer and then into a light switch in my garage. I bought one of these smart plugs (also from Lutron) that allows you to plug any household electrical item right into the side and control it via your hub and/or your schedule.