Timeguard FST24 24 Hour Fused Spur Timeswitch Storage/Immersion Heater

This is a great product, easy to install and a good price. But, if you have no electrical experience get an qualified electrician to do install it. The other thing to watch is the depth of the wall box and length of the two fixing screws, you can get a box spacer extension plate from Amazon, actually Amazon suggested this on check-out. Very easy to program and the instructions are well written in English. It works well with all the functionality required such as 4 on/off periods per day and an essential boost button. I am using it to heat my water during periods of low-cost electricity, with Octopus Go tariff, this is 12:30am to 5:30am. Having to do this as here in the countryside only other practical fuel source is Oil and the price has more than doubled as a result of the war in Iran. So preserving my current oil stock for as long as possible.

Used this to control an immersion heater, easy to fit, works well and good instructions.

This is my second purchase of these great time clocks I’m using this time clock to control my recently fitted outside lights It’s perfect for this type of setup-easy to install very fast and easy to use program menu Fits onto a standard surface mounted box You will need to wait for the inboard battery to charge and if the display doesn’t come up gently press the reset button located on the right hand side Boost button is perfect to override the lights for BBQ’s or family get togethers Very pleased with the design and functionality

As a switch, this seemed on paper to be exactly what I was looking for, and so far that is what it has proved to be! The programming seems a little daunting at first sight, but is actually reasonably straightforward, and once it's set up it can all just be forgotten! That said, I did have a few little difficulties with installing it, related to what I view as design flaws. I fitted this switch to replace an existing switched fused spur faceplate, which was also the connection point for another spur. The mains supply therefore required connection of 3 cables - 2 from the ring plus a third for the spur. The first problem arose when trying to connect the "power in" conductors - 3 conductors into each connector, The problem with this that the conductor sockets are simply too shallow. When I removed the original spur box, the conductors each had bared ends up to 2cm long, and these bared ends had been completely accommodated, down to the insulation, by the sockets. However, the conductor sockets on this Timeguard switch were not deep enough to take them, and I was obliged to clip them down to about 1cm bare ends to ensure that they could be completely inserted in the sockets on the new switch. This makes it very difficult to reliably fasten 3 conductors - even the slightest movement of one of them between insertion and tightening the screw can make the connection unreliable. I did succeed in the end, but it was not a job I ever wish to repeat - and had I known about the issue before purchasing the switch I would not have done so. The second problem was also to do with connections - in this case the earthing conductors. Note that I needed to connect the 3 conductors from the 3 mains supply cables (see above!), plus the earth conductor from the switched output cable, plus the earth conductor to the metal back-box - that is 5 wires in all. The original faceplate had two earth connections, this Timeguard switch has only a single one - and it is physically not possible to fit 5 conductors into it! In order to fit this switch at all, then, I was obliged to make additional connections separate from the switch, which is at best undesirable. In my view this single earth connector renders this switch barely fit for purpose. The third problem was really an aggravation to the other two. On the original faceplate, the screws used to set the conductors into their connections were accessed from above and from the sides. On this Timeguard switch two of the connectors are accessed from below, which is an additionalinconvenience. All told, installing this switch was something of a nightmare, and whilst fundamentally this was caused by the way the previous electrician had left slightly short tails on the cables, the three design shortcomings of this switch made fitting it far more difficult than it need have been. It won't be this difficult in all cases, but it certainly was in mine!

Works well. Ideal to set up and leave

Works for immersion heater timer. Not too difficult to set up.

Easy to install and good value for money. Fitted to an existing thermostat controlled immersion tank heater linked to domestic oil heating water heating boiler. Pays for itself at the moment with high cost of heating oil when providing hot water only. Sepperate terminals live and -neutral for input and output sides of the timer common earth point for both. Good instructions may need a spacer if tight behind the unit in its final position not needed for my installation.

This is a replacement for an older version of Timeguard timer which lasted 19 years. Updated version has simpler in and out terminals for live and neutral which enough space on the terminals to allow for spurs. Clear instructions and nice back lit display. My only gripe is the following: newer models have a slimmer profile from the wall surface. However, this results in more internals protruding into the recessed metal back box, I have had to purchase 10mm spacers in order to be able to fit the new item. Whilst I can understand cost and potential waste reasons for not including a spacer in the package, what has been annoying is not having long enough screws included. The included 35mm screws allow very little room to reach the screw holes in the back plate even if you aren’t needing to use a spacer plate. The screws from the old units were 65mm long! and are too long for the slim profile of the new unit. I feel that 50mm screws should be additionally included with the package.