I had used a 24 hour timer for while; the kind that turn lights on and off to make it look like you're home. Problem was I would wander off or get distracted and let the thing turn on and off for a couple days.
I found a niche over the washing machine and put up a little shelf. I split the duplex outlet and added a wind-down timer for the top outlet. Now I can pop the batteries in and twist the dial a bit and not worry about wandering off.