Incandescent Strip Light on a Timer?

12 years ago

Hello Everyone,

This is such a simple question, one would think I could find the answer easily on the internet. But a whole day of typing and plugging in questions, search words and watching quite a few YouTube videos, I have not been able to find the answer.

I have my very elderly parents living with me.
They get up in the morning before the roosters next door wake up.

Because it's still dark, you can imagine the mess I wake up to every morning at the coffee pot.

I started research for battery tap lights but then I realized I'd be spending way too much money on batteries because my parents would forget to turn them off.

I have a plug with GFI right behind the coffee maker so I thought I would add a 12" or less slim-line light under the cabinet.
I would like to set the timer so the under-cab light will turn on about 4 in the morning and turn off at 7 a.m. when there will be plenty of light in the kitchen for parents to see what they're doing.

I know I can't use a digital timer with a fluorescent strip light
but is it possible to use a digital timer with Incandescent lighting in a strip such as this:
Westek SL10LB 10-Inch Plug-In Incandescent Strip Light

I sure hope it's possible as this would be the best solution for my morning.......save time, much less clean-up of the whole coffee area, less aggravation for me.

Thank you so much for reading and for any answers you can provide.

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Comments (4)

greg_2010
12 years ago
I'm confused. Do your parents refuse to turn the lights on and stumble around in the dark?
ladyamity
Original Author
12 years ago
LOL it does sound that way, doesn't it Greg 2010, but noooooo. I have an older tract home (1950) with a very narrow galley kitchen.
There were already four of us adults in the 1475 sq. ft. house when we brought my parents to live with us.
Things had to be squeezed in the best we could.
We do have 3 ceiling lights that give off plenty of lighting but at the time they moved in, the only place for the coffee pot was at the end of the galley with corner wall cupboards so that corner is quite dark, even for me.
They do turn one overhead light on but once you get to that corner, well, not only is it much darker but the body shadows over everything there.
I just thought the best possible solution was to put a little strip light in that corner on a timer.
It would solve a whole lot of problems. :)
If you've ever lived with an elderly/set-in-their-ways/ stubborn couple, then you'll understand when I tell you about the ceiling light situation.
They will only turn on one of them.

"Three is too many and we are throwing money out the window/wasting so much electricity, and the light in the center of the room makes way too much glare on the counters".

I've already been down that argument road way too many times to try and get them to turn on other lights when they get up in the morning.....I'm too tired to argue again with them now, thus, the Incandescent Strip Light. :)
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kudzu9
12 years ago
Why don't you use a mechanical timer with the fluorescents?
ionized_gw
12 years ago
linear fluorescents should work with an electronic timer. I'd probably buy one with mechanical contacts anyway.