Set the on/off timer on a TCL window or through-the-wall AC

How the timer works

TCL’s Timer does one of two things, depending on whether the air conditioner is running when you start:

• Unit on → Timer Off. Press Timer, set the delay with ▲/▼, press Timer again. The unit turns itself off when the delay ends.
• Unit off → Timer On. Press Timer, set the temperature, press Timer, set the delay, press Timer a third time. The unit turns itself on when the delay ends.

Delays run from 0.5 to 24 hours. The Timer and ▲/▼ buttons are on both the remote and the unit’s control panel, so you can do this either way. The steps are the same on every electronic TAW model (TAW…19, TAW…0N and TAW…0W), UH (TWC-…/UH), window quick-start models (W3E1, W3ER1, W9E1) and through-the-wall TTW-…/UF and W…T9…-A models.

Turn the AC off after a delay

Start with the air conditioner running.

1. Press Timer. The SET light comes on while you’re setting.
2. Press ▲ or ▼ until the display shows the number of hours you want.
3. Press Timer again to confirm and start the countdown.

When a timer is running, the display shows time instead of the mode and set temperature.

Turn the AC on later

Start with the air conditioner switched off with its Power button, not unplugged.

1. Press Timer. Then press ▲ or ▼ to set the temperature you want when it starts.
2. Press Timer a second time. Now press ▲ or ▼ to set how many hours from now it should turn on.
3. Press Timer a third time to confirm. The display shows the time left before the unit switches on.

The first ▲/▼ step sets temperature and the second sets time, which is easy to mix up. If the display shows a temperature (61 to 88 °F) when you expected hours, you’re still on the first step.

TCL’s documents don’t say which mode or fan speed the unit uses when it switches on. If you need a particular mode, check it when the unit starts.

Which delays you can choose

Each press of ▲ or ▼ moves one step:

Delay	Step size	Values
Under 10 hours	30 minutes	0.5, 1, 1.5 … 9.5 hours
10 hours and over	1 hour	10, 11, 12 … 24 hours

The manuals describe only a delay, not a clock time such as “7:00 pm”. Work out how many hours from now you want, counted from when you confirm.

Cancel the timer

TCL’s instruction is to press Timer again to cancel. The manuals don’t describe what the display shows afterwards. Check that the time is no longer shown and the unit’s normal mode and set temperature are back.

If the timer doesn’t behave as expected

• Nothing happens when you press Timer on the remote. TCL’s troubleshooting lists batteries inserted the wrong way or flat batteries (AAA). Try the Timer button on the unit’s panel to set the timer meanwhile.
• The unit turned on but isn’t cooling yet. TCL builds in a protective delay of about 3 minutes before the compressor starts, so cooling can take a few minutes to begin after the unit turns on.
• There was a power cut. The unit restarts on its own when power returns, but TCL doesn’t say whether a timer you had set is kept. After an outage, check the display and set the timer again if the time is gone.
• You wanted it off after you fall asleep, and used Sleep. Sleep isn’t an off-timer. It raises the set temperature gradually through the night (lowers it in heat mode on through-the-wall heat models) and none of the manuals says it turns the unit off. Use Timer Off for that.

Common questions

Do the window and through-the-wall models set the timer differently?

No. The UH and TAW window manuals, the window quick-start guides (which TCL lists for TAW…0N/0W models, TAW12CRB19 and W3E1/W3ER1/W9E1 models) and both through-the-wall documents describe the same sequence, the same 0.5-24 hour range and the same SET light. Heat/cool through-the-wall models use the same steps.