>This isn't about comfort, this is about cutting costs. Exactly. That's why I said, it optimizes both comfort and energy savings. The whole selling point of this system is how it intelligently manages everything. It will only call on anything above first stage heat if it is absolutely needed. Staging heat strips based on time is one of the LEAST efficient ways to run them. What if it's running for 20 minutes, and the timer says it needs to add more aux heat, but that isn't really necessary? When temps get low and you begin to supplement with wood, the system will find it much easier to keep up, and therefore keep aux heat use down. The only things you need to do are set an appropriate aux heat lockout (which you already did) and NOT set back your thermostat. Setting back is what leads to high stages of aux heat being called unnecessarily.

Assuming in FRONT of the garage if it is phototimed? I replaced my back deck light with the phototimer and love it, it automatically comes on in the evening for 6 hours and there is a manual override if we wanted it longer. The nice thing about a photocell is that it automatically adjusts for the changing time of sunset which a regular timer would not do.

I purchased the Honeywell RPLS740B1008/U ECONOSwitch 7-day solar-programmable light switch timer from Home Depot in May of 2012. Installed it in an unheated garage for operating an outdoor light. It worked perfectly until Nov. 2012. We thought the bulb must be burned out, but it started to work again following the cold winter. It worked without fail through spring, summer and fall and then stopped when the weather became cold again. When we had a warm spell last week (Dec. 2013) it started to work again for those few days, and then stopped when the temperature fell. This timer is advertised for indoor and outdoor use, but is clearly not working when the temperature drops, usually when it hits the low 40's. It will not even manually turn on the light. We recently wrapped it in insulation, but that has not helped. Any suggestion for getting this to work in the cold as it is supposed to? Or failing that, any recommendations for a hard-wired timer that will work in the cold? Here is a link that might be useful: Link to Description of Timer

Back when I had 3 active teens at home & a full time job, my old oven's Delay Start & Time Bake were fantastic conveniences. I'd get home at 3 pm, put a refrigerated casserole in the oven, start my 2 1/2 hours of pick ups & drop offs & errands, then we'd all come home to a cooked meal. I can see how remotely operating an oven could be very useful for a busy family. I use my new oven's wifi. It's not essential, and if it fizzles out as the appliance ages, no real loss. But it's a nice convenience for now. I was grocery shopping the other day, & the fish looked great. I have a good baked fish recipe, so I got the fish & other ingredients. Starting the oven in the grocery store, I came home to an oven ready to go. I assembled the fish dish & popped it in the oven, then put away the rest of the groceries. It gave me some time to get off my feet afterwards, especially when the end time rang on my phone & I turned the oven off without having to get up. We had guests recently, & dessert was still baking when they arrived. I could sit with them on our deck & converse because I had my phone with me to keep an eye on the oven. Otherwise, I can't hear the oven timer from the deck. GE sometimes adds features via software upgrades. They've added air fry to some ranges; hopefully they'll add it to my wall oven. This summer they added a weather feature to my clock display, which I like. I can see the current temp, projected high & low, & the day's forecast.