We have/pay for wifi year round so what we do is have a wifi camera pointed at the dock so we can view it remotely. With that we have one of these that can be controlled remotely at any time via an app on my phone. As well as it has timers that you can set remotely that can run on/off even multiple times a day if need be. Completely controllable.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It can run up to 15A/1800W and is waterproof if it needs to be outside.
The app is free, easy to use and we have it with other devices like lights and outlets as they sell other type nodes.
Works great for us as I agree, during the winter a one size fits all for the timer is usually not optimal in either power use or results... Again if you have Wifi year round.