BN-LINK 7 Day Heavy Duty Digital Programmable Timer VS ECO Farm Smart Digital Programmable Outlet Timer

 While a few of the grow lights are available with in-built timers to help you set an automatic timing, the same isn’t available in all of them. If you have a set of grow lights that don’t come with a timer, buying one separately is advisable. Not only does it help with optimal growth of the plants, but it also reduces your burden as per your likings.

The best grow light timers will come with a range of highly functional features and designs, making them ideal for use everywhere around. Having these help, you control your plant’s growth in check, ensuring that you wouldn’t have to worry about the quality and the functions.

With the growing popularity of the grow light timers available in the market, it is not surprising that more and more brands have come out with their version of the grow light timers. But, with the abundance of products, choosing just one can be a little confusing.

Following are the best grow light timers that you can consider buying if you are looking for the best products.

BN-LINK 7 Day Heavy Duty Digital Programmable Timer

Features:

With super simple controls and the ability to set up to 8 on/off programs, the BN-LINK is a versatile lighting control option. Now, it’s debatable whether you really need more than one indoor growing plan. But it’s nice to have this option, even if you’re only using it for weekend outings. Providing a backup battery is what we really like about this digital timer. Even in the event of a power outage, you will not lose your programming capabilities. In our opinion, this is what makes it the best timer for making money.

ECO Farm Smart Digital Programmable Outlet Timer

Features:

While we might prefer vintage mechanical timepieces for their near-perfect reliability, this digital option from ECO Farm might change our minds. For absolute ease of use, it’s hard to beat this ECO Farm timer. Just like a classic alarm clock, the large numbers and clearly marked buttons mean you never have to worry about programming or changing the timer. Power Timer makes it easy to set up to 8 different on/off programs to control your device at any time. It’s affordable and simple, with a timer function that does exactly what you want: ensuring your plants get consistent light and darkness. For optimum efficiency and simplicity, it simply cannot be beat.

An Ultimate Buying Guide For Grow Light Timers in 2022

When you are on a journey of starting your own grow room in your house, you will start it with a grow tent, grow light and then move on to the grow light timer. These are markedly important enough for you to ensure that your plant is getting the optimal amount of light that they need to grow and prosper without any hindrances along the way.

However, this is where things get a bit tricky. Since grow light timers are now abundantly found in the market, choosing one can become a tedious and challenging task. You have to look out for a lot of factors that make an option truly worthy of your money.

For your convenience, we have sorted out just those pointers that you should be looking out for.

1. Start with the design
It goes without saying that when you are buying a grow light timer to manipulate the light cycles in your grow room, you want an option that is sturdy, well-designed, and worth the hype and efforts. You need to look into the design without any questions asked. You need to assess the durability of the product, the kind of portability it brings, and the ease of functionality it brings along. So, when it comes down to you, we’d recommend you start from there as well.

2. Look into the functionality
Once you are sorted out with the design and have shortlisted a few products based on the design and the structure, the next thing worth looking into is the functionality. The majority of indoor growing plants come with a set of preconceived requirements when it comes to temperature, light exposure, and environment. So, when you have a grow light focused right on the plant strain, we’d recommend that you focus on the options that come with adjustable light settings.

These light settings should mimic the requirements of the plant depending on which phase of growth it is in. This suggests that a strain that is in its vegetative stage will need a different intensity as opposed to the one in its flowering stages.

So, when it comes to the grow light timer, you want the functionality to be likely in the same prospect so it meets the growing needs of the plants inside the grow room. Some grow light times even come with separate programmable settings that you can set in according to the needs.

3. Consider the user interface
So, the grow light timer you are considering has all the features that you likely need. However, you have no idea how to use them. All of this sounds pretty confusing, doesn’t it?

Well, this is one of the biggest factors that you need to look out for. You want to ensure that the user interface is easy to handle and without any kinds of complications that would reflect in your usage on a daily.

Also, find a timer that comes with a large and expansive LCD so you don’t have any issues keeping up with the timer readings and the associated user experience. The buttons should be large enough to be pressed individually as well. Some timers even come with automatic switch on and shut off functions that save a lot of battery.

4. Assess and compare the price
Grow light timers aren’t too expensive. They are generally under $100 and that itself is a far reach. Typically, the common options are priced between $30-$50 depending on what you deem the best for your needs. Just ensure that you focus on comparing the price with the other purchases too.

Since you have so many different brands and types of products already available, finding the one that best aligns with your needs and budgets shouldn’t be as difficult to find.

5. Compatibility
Last but not least is the compatibility of the remote. Always make sure you buy a remote that is compatible with your existing LED grow light set. If that isn’t the case, your entire purchase will go to waste.

You should be able to get an idea about the functionality and compatibility of the products without needing to deep dive into the individual features. The purchase page should have details about the compatibility, so check that.

Should Grow Lights Be On A Timer?

Finally, this is an important question to consider before you even start looking.

The answer is mostly yes.

The reasoning behind this is that firstly, LED grow lights should never stay on for the full 24 hours, as that can result in the opposite of what you would want to achieve with grow lights.

Your plants won’t know the difference between you manually controlling the lights and the natural sunlight, and a grow light that has been automatically programmed.

And, since you most likely have a life separate from the plant, you probably won’t have the time to always be right on schedule.

Most plants love their schedules, so having something that will help you in with plant care could only benefit both you and the plants.

Conclusion

Hopefully after looking through our step by step comparison of each of these models, you feel confident in your ability to choose the perfect timer for grow lights in your own home. A few dollars’ difference is usually all it takes to get the exact right fit for your unique grow setup, so treat yourself to the timer you really want. Thanks for reading, and may your next harvest be well-timed and bountiful!