Electronic Water Timer

I bought this hose timer for my mother-in-law to automate watering the garden while she’s away, and it’s been a fantastic purchase. The best part? It’s so simple to use that even my mother-in-law (bless her), who struggles to send a text message, managed to set it up and operate it without calling me once after I had demonstrated it at my house. That’s saying something! The timer has a straightforward dial and button interface, no confusing menus or Wi-Fi apps to mess with. Just set the frequency and duration, and it does its job reliably every time. Also worth noting: it fits perfectly on her Darlac hose tap, provided the inlet hose is connected after the water timer. So just make sure the water timer is screwed directly onto the tap, and then connect your hoses to the inlet and outlet sides.

I have had several water timers which have failed for different reasons so this time I opted for a basic timer with no frills. It was easy to to set up and get going and as I write this it has been performing well watering my pots on the piped system while I have been away. The two knobs are self explainitary but of course the time of day that you set them will be the same as the watering time. So if you want it water at 2am then that's when you need to set it. My only concern at the moment is battery life as it only uses AAA size and they don't have much staying power to open and close the valve each watering time. So to be sure I will put new batteries in before I go away next time so it keeps working. I like the waterproof cover that screws over the front to keep the controls dry.If it keeps working well I might have to update for an extra star!.So far so very good at this price.

For the price this is an absolutely excellent timer. This is my second one as the first one I had was gifted to me and my partner had left the cover off and accidentally ran it over causing water to get into timer and I didn’t hesitate to buy the exact same one. So easy to use. Used this to water my greenhouse through summer when I was away for 2 weeks. No leaks

Only bought this very recently, just before we went on holiday. I didn't wish to spend a lot of money, because I only wanted it for a couple of pots and ordinarily I never use a timer. I set it up on a ordinary hose without an irrigation hose system just to water 2 pots of hydrangeas. I'm really impressed. It's only a very simple timer, but very easy to use. Because it doesn't have a digital clock, you have to do initial set up at a time you wish the hose to come on. I set it up at 6pm and set the dials for every 12 hours and for 5 minutes. So, from the time of set up, the timer clicks on at 6pm and 6am (every 12 hours, ie. twice each day) for 5 mins. Simple! In fact, with such hot weather recently, and my back garden being a sun trap, I've left the timer on! (No coming out to thirsty hydrangeas!) Once I've redesigned my garden, I'll put in a proper irrigation system and set it to that too! It's also quite varied in its timings. You can set it run for longer periods with varying increments (up to 120 minutes if I recall correctly) and set it to come on hourly, several times throughout the day, up to every 72 hours or even just weekly! I spent £12.49 and it's been well worth the money. I confess, it was significantly cheaper than some other brands I saw and I was worried that it wouldn't work properly, fall off the tap etc. etc. But I've been very pleasantly surprised and pleased with its performance and simplicity. It's only been working for just over a month now, so I can't comment on battery life or its long-term durability, but everything else is very good and I wouldn't hesitate in recommending it to anyone.

I must caveat this that the following is based on my experience of the 1 item I received. It is possible I have a dodgy one. Still early days. I installed this 4 days ago and so far it seems hit and miss. So far, more miss than hit. Let me explain: The instructions, although relatively easy to follow are rather high level and vague as to exactly how the timer works when setting up other than stating that you have to start it at the time you want it to come on. OK, got that. First of all, it seems rather temperamental as to whether it actually wants to do anything or not. Installing the batteries gets the system opened up and yo can hear a shirt whirling sound. Water comes out the pipe for about 30 seconds, then it shuts down. OK, so batteries are fine. The light winks on and off, seems random as to how often. No indication on instructions as to the meaning of different frequencies. Send: Turning the duration to "Open" from fist putting in batteries, sometimes opens the valve, sometimes doesn't, again seems pure lottery. More often than not, nothing happens at all. Thirdly: Setting up, as per instructions the timer and duration, again, sorry, to harp on, but is another lottery. SO far, it's worked once on the timer, whilst i was testing. However, when I then changed the frequency, it didn't register at all and stopped working completely. The only way to get anything to happen was to remove batteries and start again. Again, not always fool proof. Lastly The last attempt has failed to get the timer to work. Although the thing make all the right noises on battery removal/insertion and the test worked, once I set the timer up to water every 6 hours for 3 minutes, nothing happened at all.I've now reset it again and will see what happens. And the instructions state that once you've set it up to start with, you can just change it and it'll be fine. No you can't. It takes no notice and stops working completely. Only way is to remove batteries, reinstall them and pray. All in all, a lousy product. It was cheap, which is the only thing going for it, but I still expect it to at least work. I shall give it one more week and if it still isn't playing, I shall ditch it and get a Hozelock instead. My opinion: Buy something else. Spend a bit more for a product that actually does what it says on the tin. Update 2 May 2016. Had this going for a while now and it's still not good. Have figured out by reading all the feedback that if the lights flash quickly it means the thing isn't working. Noting in the instructions about that. Thanks to the poster for that info. I can now get the unit to work for about 2 days max before the lights start flashing fast again, then have to take batteries out and reinsert before it'll work again. Not so critical at the moment as have only transplanted chili plants which are quite small so need very little water, but once summer comes and the plant are fully grown, bit of a problem. Am definitely upgrading to a decent timer This one will go in the bin of bad puchases forever more.

I purchased the Kingfisher Electronic Water Timer with high hopes of simplifying my watering routine for my garden. While the timer does its job in automating the watering process, I must admit that it has both its pros and cons. On the positive side, the timer is relatively easy to set up and program. It allows me to schedule watering cycles at specific intervals, which is convenient, especially when I'm away from home. The timer's electronic display is clear and straightforward to navigate. The build quality seems decent, and it has proven to be durable enough to withstand outdoor conditions. I haven't experienced any issues with water leakage or other major malfunctions. However, I have encountered a couple of drawbacks that prevent me from giving it a higher rating. Firstly, the programming process can be a bit tricky to get used to initially. It took me some time to figure out how to set up the timer correctly, and the user manual could have been more detailed and user-friendly. Secondly, the timer's battery life leaves much to be desired. I find myself replacing the batteries more frequently than I'd like, which can be quite inconvenient, especially during busy gardening seasons. Additionally, the display could be improved with better visibility in bright sunlight. I often have to shield the display to read the settings, which can be frustrating. In summary, the Kingfisher Electronic Water Timer gets the job done in automating watering tasks, but it has some room for improvement. While the build quality and basic functionality are satisfactory, the programming process, battery life, and display visibility could be enhanced for a smoother user experience. If you're looking for a simple water timer and can overlook some minor inconveniences, this product might suit your needs. However, if ease of programming and longer battery life are critical factors for you, you may want to explore other options in the market.

I bought this because I thought my other one had broken as it would not turn off. It appeared to have a good specification / cost balance. This initially had the same problem and then I realised I was connecting the water the wrong way round. I have fitted a similar plug in connector to the water inlet as per the water outlet as I have the timer inline rather than connected directly to my outside tap. I swapped the timer around and it all works fine. It was easy to set up and has worked for weeks including during a week's holiday away and no problems yet. I was concerned about how long the small batteries would last but they are okay so far. Due to low water pressure I have another timer to water my garden via a porous hose and this timer to water my hanging baskets and pots at a slightly different time at the start and end of the day so they are not on at the same time. Time will tell how long the batteries last and how reliable / waterproof it is.

Purchased for £13.64 from Garden Selections; arrived promptly. It appears to have worked well whilst away for two weeks. I'm not sure that the timer is accurate. I have observed it working up to the 8 hour schedule (ie 3 times a day), but when set to 24 hours (once a day), I either find the plants already watered or bone dry (but when I lose interest in watching it and return indoors, it appears to have watered the plants the next time I look - it knows I'm watching!). The override (where it's set to be on all the time) works well, meaning that I can attach the hose to water the garden at will without disconnecting the timer from the outside tap. I'm not sure whether setting the duration dial to on all the time affects the frequency dial (how often it comes on) - I hope not, although it could explain why it appears to water when I'm not watching. However, if this is indeed a problem, then I may insert a 'Y' connection to the tap so I can run a hose pipe independently, bypassing the timer altogether for ad hoc watering. Taking my cue from other reviews, I'll change the batteries every time I set the timer for use when I'm away: I wouldn't like the valve to be stuck in the open position as I'm on a water meter. Also, I'd think twice about using any timer if I didn't have a neighbour popping round occasionally.