APC P6GC 6 Outlet/120V Power-Saving Timer Essential SurgeArrest

I have a few plants at work and, unfortunately, am not near a window. (Yay for cubicle mazes.) So I have some LED grow lights to help my plants along. I was looking at single and dual socket timers to make my life easier, and to help my plants on weekends. Then I saw this surge protector power strip with a timer for LESS than many of the timers I was looking at! It works beautifully AND it's safer AND you have far more timed outlets to use! The instructions kind of suck however. What was especially confusing until I figured it out, is that the timer only seems to turn things on or off AT the time specified. So if the time is, say, 6:50am when you're programming the timer to turn on at 7am, it'll turn on for you as expected. BUT if the time is, say, 7:10am when you're programming the timer to turn on at 7am, it won't turn on for almost another 24 hours when it FINALLY gets around to 7am again. As a computer programmer, I find that logic pretty poor in design. HOWEVER, knowing that bad logic, to fix it, after you're done programming your timers, set the clock time to 1 minute before your timer would go on, let it go on naturally, and then fix the time to be correct again. Works like a charm. In theory I think you might even be able to use the override button instead of resetting the clock. But the documentation was unclear if doing that would be a permanent override (forever ignoring the timers), or just a temporary override (so that the next timer-state-change would cancel the override). Not sure. Wasn't worth the effort to test and find out after having already solved the problem by changing the clock. But it might be helpful to someone setting theirs up for the first time to try. The one thing that baffles me about this device however is why there are so many programmable timers when they ALL turn ALL of the sockets on/off simultaneously. It'd have made more sense if you could turn on/off individual sockets. But you can't. So why so many timers? It makes no sense to me. But maybe someone will find it useful?

Very good surge protectors. Had many sudden, power outages, and so far, no damage has occurred to printers, computers, laptops. These have timers on them, which you can program to have the surge protector go off automatically. I find this very handy, especially when I leave the office for the day and if I forget to turn off the monitor, the programmed surge protector goes off at the specified time, and so does everything else. Users need to program the current Time and Day first, so all the timed schedules that you input thereafter, will fall into place. In the right, bottom corner of the screen, there is a P for p.m., or an A for a.m...it is really tiny, so have a magnifying glass handy. The top shows the Day for the week (i.e., MO for Monday, TU for Tuesday, etc.)., the far left side shows you ON or OFF. When setting the clock (Time), especially the minutes, you need to scroll through one minute at a time...I haven't found a way to go through 15 min. intervals anyway. There are 6 outlets, and yes, you can program each one differently. You will set the timer for each outlet pretty much the same way you did to set the current Time and Day, the difference is that, instead of pressing the TIME button, you will press the TIMER button. EAch time you press the Timer button, you will see a number to the left...this indicates the numher of the outlet you are programming...if you see the number 1, then you are programming the 1st outlet, if you see the number 2, then you are programming the 2nd outlet, etc. To the right of the number is either an "ON" or "OFF". Again, it's very tiny, and barely visible, but it's there. This tells you when you want to turn the particular outlet on or off. For example, if I see "ON" next to the number 1, and I input the time 6:00 a.m., then that particular outlet will power on at 6:00 am. I can then program this same outlet to power "OFF" at whatever time I want.

I bought a pair of these timed power strips to both save on power and to help keep my electronics from overheating. Can be used to randomize lights as well as power down your TV, wireless network, DVD, Playstation, cable box, etc. Anything that draws power deserves a rest - and be aware that many electronics cost you money when you leave them plugged in (often to reduce the time it takes to turn them on quickly). Pro: + Timer can handle 6 timed events + Many day options - any individual day, all weekdays, all weekend days, all days (plus any hour, any minute) for on and off settings + Easy to set clock (do once) and then to set timer(s) - I set 3 events in about 2 minutes! + Industrial strength... I was surprised by how heavy duty this was + One plug is always on, 5 others are controlled by the timer (you can, I suppose, leave them all on if you want) + 3 prong (grounded) strip + Manual off/off switch, plus a one-touch temporary override (at next trigger will resume that program, if any) + Surge protection + I am familiar with the APS brand, and I've liked their stuff (we use a lot of it at work) + I was pleased to see at enclosed, prepaid warranty card - that was unexpected Con: - LCD is hard to see, especially the "A" and "P" (for AM/PM), small screen, small font size, and isn't backlit - Cord is about 3' long - I'd kill for one that was 5' - Cannot easily tell when the unit is allowing power to flow (although if you are there when the clock trips the power, a faint click can be heard) Neutral: > Keeps time well-enough to limp along until daylight-savings time (DST) but no if in a non-DST area > If you set the "on" time for an event, and that's before the current time, the unit will not start/stop power. The tripping mechanism must "see" the time you have programmed for on, otherwise nothing - simply use the override button > One color: yuk white... gimme black! > It would be cool if the unit estimated how much power it saved based on how much it was on and off over the last 30 days of usage > Many TVs offer conservation options. If you can be patient, try this feature to save even more power. Bottom line: Recommended. If the LCD weren't so darn small and it kept better time I'd rate this 5 stars.

The APC P6GC is a great basic surge protector with a Lifetime warranty to the original owner. There are 6 outlets 5 of which you can program individually to go on and off at a desired time. The instructions are a little vague in describing how to set the timers for each outlet. Once you figure that out the item works very well. The LCD panel is fairly small, making it a little difficult to differentiate the AM and PM portion. That is the reason why I only gave a 4 star rating for ease of use. Other than that this is a solid surge suppressor.

Don't bother trying to read the directions to set up the timer -- this piece of equipment is defective. While you can set the time and day, it does not actually turn anything on or off based on the timer settings. It does work as a power strip though. So you might just want to get a regular power strip, and save yourself time and money.

I had purchased this item for my Christmas lights. With this item, you can never forget to turn them on, plus it helps save on electricity because I can't forget to turn them off either. It was easy to set up, a great price, and works perfectly. The only negative thing I have to say is that the cord is a little on the short side. But all in all, it's a great product.

I have bought four of these over a period of time, the last one almost a year ago. They are powering my various aquariums, turning on and off the lights. Since there is only one continuous outlet, I use 1-3 adapters for filters and air pumps. The programming is a little finicky due to the small LCD, and it takes me some time to remember the sequence. However, all in all these are great timers and they have served their purpose reliably for the past year or more.

Very nice timer... works exactly as it should. Not difficult to program once you go through the instructions once. Appears to be good quality and heavy duty. There are 5 timed outlets and 1 'always on' outlet. I wish there would have been another 'always on' outlet but I connected a small power strip to the 'always on' outlet to expand it. So far the unit has been working perfectly.

This works wonderfully. I use it to turn lights on in the morning so that I don't have to wake up in the dark. Makes a huge difference when the sun doesn't come up till nine in the morning. One of the outlets always has power, and the other five are connected to the timer. It seems to keep time pretty well, and the clock and timer are easy enough to set.

I have had this running on a humidifier for a year now and it has worked flawlessly! No more expensive time of use electricity for me. I also have a couple of tool battery chargers on it to keep them topped up. Definitely going to order more. I will admit it wasn't the easiest to program but it has held it's program through many power outages so I can't complain too much.

Easy to use. Works great for my tanks.

works great, well designed. its running the lights on my aquarium in my room. operates completely silently. a little hard to program the first time but if u just carefully follow the instructions you'll figure it out. tons of programming options if you're looking to set up something more complex than just 12hours on and 12 hours off.

Les prises avec minuteur ne fonctionnent pas avec lumière led, les lampes flashent quand supposées être éteinte et l’horloge ne garde pas l’heure ni les programmes de minuteries, doit toujours reprogrammer au bout de 2-3 jours...même chose pour celle que la compagnie m’a renvoyée en remplacement