My Electronic Digital Timer

We all have electronic devices in our homes that we don't need on all the time, but sometimes it's  a pain to constantly turn them off and on ourselves (switches are just so hard to operate sometimes).  That's where electronic timers come in handy.  I wrote about electronic timers in December of 2009 in an article title, Control Vampire Loads with Automatic Timer.

I recently purchased an electronic timer from RadioShack for $20 that is labeled with the GE name but is actually made by a company called Jasco Products.  I've had the timer for a few months now, but it wasn't until recently that I decided to use it for the reason I highlighted in my earlier blog post:

When my wife and I head out on vacation (unfortunately not often enough) we like to use an automatic light timer to turn on our lamp (with its CFL)  in the living room for a few hours each day to foil would-be robbers.  (Yes, occasionally I rank home safety over saving a few watts.)

The only problem was I lost the instructions (this almost always happens with me and instructions) and the device isn't that intuitive.  Luckily, I am good at googling and I found them conveniently online from the Jasco Document Support page.  All companies need to have their support documents online!

Now that I have improved my electronic timer skills, I plan on utilizing them on my digital cable box so it's not sending daytime TV signals to a TV that is off.  Considering my wife and I only watch TV for about 30 minutes each night while we eat dinner, it doesn't make sense that our cable box is working for 24 hours a day.  I just have to time it right to ensure that our favorite cable TV shows get recorded.

What other devices would work well being on a timer?