electrical help

[muddywings]

Happy Christmas Eve!!!
I have an electrical question for anybody-
I have two outdoor light poles in my backyard but the switch for them is in the basement. To turn them you have to walk down there which is a bit of a pain. Looks like the previous owners just wired the switch down in the unfinished basement for ease.
So, I'm roaming through Home Depot for some projects and did a walk through of the lighting section when I saw a timer switch with a dial. Looks like one of those timers you plug into your wall to turn a light on when you are on vacation but instead it is a light switch.
I open it up and it has a red wire which is throwing me because I always thought the red wire was for three way switches.
Per the diagram:
Green-ground
Black-line
White-neutral
Red-load (huh??)

Of course when I pull the old standard switch I have black/white/ground but no red.

For some reason I'm thinking cap the black and connect the red from the new switch to black from the wall.

Don't really want to burn my house down tonight though so I thought I'd ask.

THanks

[SideShow Bob]

Red is the load side of the timer , hook the black to AC+ white to AC neutered and red to the feed to the lights. Make sure the contacts on the timer are rated for the total load of both lights.

You could also just leave the switch on and put motion sensors on the lights.......

[Sparky]

SideShow Bob nails it. The black wire connects to the wire coming from your breaker and red goes out to the light. Wire nut all neutrals together. Add wattage of all lamps together and make sure timer is rated for it.

[muddywings]

thanks guys....working now!