How to use the online alarm clock
While you wait to check the water level in the rain barrel, an alarm for 11:11 am keeps the appointed moment from slipping past. You can watch the time without repeatedly stepping into the garden, then make the check when the signal sounds. There are 49 minutes between 11:11 am and 12:00 pm, leaving a useful stretch before midday for noting the level and deciding whether the barrel needs attention.
A rain barrel may be near running taps, garden tools or an open back door, so the alarm volume needs to suit the noise around you. A quiet signal can disappear beneath conversation, a washing machine or outdoor work. The chosen volume is worth testing from the place where you expect to wait. The rain barrel check will receive no alert if the browser alarm has stopped running because its page was closed or the computer went to sleep, so a separate alarm is safer when you must leave it unattended.
By late morning, household and street noise can be noticeably busier than it was earlier. If 11:11 am falls during gardening, cleaning or nearby building work, keeping the alarm close enough to hear reduces the chance that a sudden burst of sound masks it. A brief test at the actual waiting spot gives a more useful guide than judging the signal in a quiet room.
Common questions
Can I change the sound?
Yes, there is a short list of tones to pick from before you press Start. Softer sounds are easy to sleep through, so a firmer bell tends to be the safer choice for anything early in the morning.
Will it still be right when the clocks change?
Yes. It reads your device's local clock, so the move between GMT and BST at the end of March and October is picked up automatically, as long as the computer's date, time and time zone are set correctly.
Can I use this on a phone?
It works in a mobile browser, but phones lock the screen and suspend background tabs far more readily than a laptop does, which can stop the alarm sounding. For anything important, a desktop or a plugged-in laptop is the steadier option.
Does the alarm still work if I close the tab?
No. Everything runs inside this page, so closing the tab — or quitting the browser altogether — ends the countdown there and then. Leaving it open in the background is all it asks, and switching to another tab makes no difference.
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