yeah you dont need any expensive one. just something cheap works.
also im not sure about the t2i but my 7d came with some eos utility thing. you can control the camera from your computer, aperature, shutter, iso, etc. and you can set a delay between shutters and stuff. really cool. if your indoors/in a safe area i guess you can use that if your willing to give up your laptop for the night.
and yeah the night polution thing is annoyinh.