Timeguard FST24 24 Hour Fused Spur Timeswitch Storage/Immersion Heater

Very easy to fit and programme. Compact and user friendly design. Good screen and has an fuse incorporated to avoid another box. Works well!Early days but very impressed for the money.

Very easy to wire up and install. Had to replace a 'wonderful' job by a qualified (?) electrician (last 2 pics - note burned wiring..). Thought I'd do it myself this time, with the product I wanted initially, and the knowledge of a job well done. Very straightforward. Wiring is very simple and so is timer programming. I bought a 25 mm Pattress at the same time as I was fitting it to the inside of the airing cupboard (no marks for aesthetics). It's a solid and well-made bit of kit that does precisely what is required. I installed it in 35 mins (running around to switch master isolator on & off, getting correct tools etc) and it has been working perfectly for 48 hours as I write this review.

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!

Great item love it so simple to use helps with day to day life

This is the third Timeguard FST24 timer I have bought over several years, I have found them to be reliable, and dependable. They keep good time (+/- 1min per year) and automatically change between wintertime and summertime without intervention.

A little more expensive than some options but when it's Electrical you want something quality especially as we have this in our AirB&B . Simple to install, substantially made, very easy to set up and set. Works a treat and I feel comfortable knowing it's a good and nice looking piece of kit for guests.

The retaining pins were not long enough to secure to patris,which I purchased with the timer

I am using this to time the illuminated house number light.I found the instructions clear and concise, installation was easy. On turning it on the first time the display was blank, but the instructions state this may occur and to leave the switch on for 15 mins before then pressing the reset button, this I have done, and the display appeared, following the instructions I set the time, date and timer settings I required and all looks good.I like the look/style of the switch and the ease of setting it up.I cannot comment on the reliability in the long term, as I have only just purchased and set it up.