Daylight Savings Time

Spring forward . . . Fall back.  Those words are ingrained in our minds.  I still remember “Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November . . . “.  In fact, I still use that one to help me remember how many days each month has.

So, every year we do this thing of turning our clocks forward and back.  It is quite annoying and has become even more frustrating now that I have kids.  After the time change it seems to take a few weeks to get them on schedule again. 

I find myself questioning this time changing event each time it occurs.  I wonder why in the world we are doing this.  Could we not just leave the clocks alone.  Why couldn’t we just move the clocks 1/2 hour and compromise, leaving it there all year?  I was talking to one of my friends today about this irritating subject, and we did some online research.

During my research, I found that the main reason for Daylight Savings Time (DST) is to conserve energy.  The energy that we use is directly connected to when we go to bed.  When we go to bed, we turn out the lights, the televisions, and whatever else we were using.  This is what the California Energy Commission has to say about it:

In the average home, 25 percent of all the electricity we use is for lighting and small appliances, such as TVs, VCRs and stereos. A good percentage of energy consumed by lighting and appliances occurs in the evening when families are home. By moving the clock ahead one hour, we can cut the amount of electricity we consume each day.

Studies done in the 1970s by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that we trim the entire country’s electricity usage by about one percent EACH DAY with Daylight Saving Time.

Study done in the 1970s????  Wow!  That’s a long time ago.  We have so many more electronic gadgets and gizmos now then we had in the 70’s.  I’m sure by cutting off the computers and such we are saving more energy now then we were then.  Then again, maybe not.  Before I go to bed I usually run a load of clothes in the washer or turn on the dishwasher. Either way, the whole idea of the Daylight Savings Time is to conserve energy.

Daylight Saving Time “makes” the sun “set” one hour later and therefore reduces the period between sunset and bedtime by one hour.

We use less electric during the spring and summer because of the longer daylight time.  People are able to do yard work, play outside with the kids, have cookouts, etc.  A lot of people use these longer days for outside activities.

The amount saved by each household is small, but when added up the savings become huge.  Some states have even made a state law to observe DST in order to conserve energy.  In 2005, Indiana made a law to observe DST because only half of the state was using it.  California asked for approval to move to a year round DST in 2001 because of the energy crisis.  The request was not acted upon by Congress because of the world changing events of September 11th.

For more information about DST and the history behind it, you can visit the California Energy Commission website.