Daylight Savings 2011: When It Ends And Why We Use it

No, it's not your imagination. You really have waited longer to get that extra hour of sleep this year.

In fact, Daylight Saving Time (DST) comes to an end on the morning of Sunday, November 6, when you move the clocks back one hour. Or, you forget to move the clocks back one hour and find yourself at work an hour early before the office lights are even turned on.

The extended DST began back in 2007, after the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005 came into effect and the clocks were set back one hour on the first Sunday of November instead of the last Sunday of October, reports International Business Times. They also changed the start of DST to the second Sunday of March from the first Sunday of April.

There's been a number of conflicting reports about how much energy is saved from Daylight Saving Time. Back in the 1970's, studies showed we saved 1% of energy nationally, which was a big motivation for adopting DST. On the one hand, states like California argue the energy savings are negligible. But another report published in 2008 by the U.S. Department of Energy concluded 4 weeks extra of daylight savings time could conserve 1.3 trillion watt-hours per day, enough to power 100,000 homes for a year, reports Scientific American.

Though Benjamin Franklin first came up with the idea in 1784, TimeandDate.com explains, DST wasn't used until World War I to conserve energy. The U.S. observed year-round DST during World War II and implemented it during the energy crisis in the 1970's, notes the Scientific American.

Not everyone across the U.S. observes Daylight Saving Time, including Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas.

A post by Chris Kline on ABC15.com discusses why most of Arizona doesn't observe the time change: "According to an Arizona Republic editorial from 1969, the reason was the state's extreme heat. If Arizona were to observe Daylight Saving Time, the sun would stay out until 9 p.m. in the summer (instead of 8 p.m., like it does currently)."

NOTE: The technical term for the occasion is daylight saving time, not daylight savings time.

Comments

[AskandThink]

05:10 PM on 11/01/2011

Natural law of the fittest seems to be well applied here…
Mess with the natural cycle and you get what you get….

[tkokesh]

01:58 PM on 10/30/2011

The end of the article demeans Arizona by reaching back to 1969 and quoting an comment out of context. Actually, Arizona is the ONLY state with a sufficient number of independent thinkers to reject this archaic and outmoded DST practice. A recent study at UC Berkely indicates no energy savings whatsoever. In our current technology-aided society there's no need to force people to change hour calculations - - computers will perform more than adequately to simply change schedules if people wish to experience more daylight in the evening.

[magicalnews2]

01:28 AM on 10/30/2011

Although many associate daylight saving time with the last week of October, this year we will fall back in the first week of November.
http://bit.ly/veb9cS

[Brian Shannon]

01:56 PM on 10/21/2011

toranga leela "I've got to say that I don't get all you daylight saving time haters..­so big deal, once a year you lose an hour of sleep, isn't all that extra light at the end of the day worth it "

No it is not.

And I do not understand all those who think anything is being gained or lost here. There are 23 hours and 56 minutes in every days rotation of the planet. I does not matter what arbitrary time some clueless people demand we set the clocks to.

End this quaint archaic practice and try to move into the 21st century

[cestlefun17]

08:59 AM on 10/22/2011

We DO gain and lose hours of sunlight throughout the year. This sunlight is not "created" by DST, but by the axis of the earth, which despite being in the 21st century, is still the same. DST shifts this extra sunlight to a time when it is more useful and more enjoyable. And we shift back in the winter so it's not still pitch black at 9:00AM in December.

It's a balancing act that must be done, at least up here in the north, to prevent the sun from rising and setting at bizarre times throughout the year.

[toranga leela]

11:16 AM on 10/21/2011

I've got to say that I don't get all you daylight saving time haters....so big deal, once a year you lose an hour of sleep, isn't all that extra light at the end of the day worth it - I wouldn't even mind year round dst, although I know that's not realistic where I live (NYC) because the winter mornings would be too dark, however, I think it could be extended even a little more, say President's Day to maybe mid November. Let's just say I'm a fan.

[cestlefun17]

11:09 AM on 10/21/2011

I completely disagree. The extra hour of sunlight we obtain in the summer naturally accumulates in the morning. Daylight Saving Time is really Daylight "Shifting" Time...it shifts the day forward an hour so this extra light finds itself in the evening (and the sun sets between 7:00 and 8:00), which to me is more pleasant than sleeping through the extra hour of sunlight at 5:00 in the morning. When this extra sunlight disappears, we shift back an hour so it's not still dark at 7 or 8 in the morning.

In fact I think we're on DST too much of the year. This is no reason for us to be using DST into November. But the system should remain. Really, if your body is screwed up by a 1 hour change then there are bigger issues going on.

The change in sunlight hours isn't as pronounced as you get closer to the equator, which is why southern states like Arizona and Hawaii can do without. Perhaps other southern states might consider abolishing it, but not for us up north please!

[Mark Moran]

12:37 AM on 10/21/2011

Daylight saving time was not used till WWI because it was not feasible until the railroads standardized the US into four time zones in the 1880s. Most studies show that it does little to conserve energy, but it does benefit retailers, and, more importantly, lower crime and car accidents. See: http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/Americas/2009/October/Daylight-Saving-Time--Don-t-Forget-to-Change-Those-Clocks.html

[TruthinSF]

12:19 AM on 10/21/2011

We should get rid of the entire Daylight Saving Time concept, and quit screwing around with the clock. Just leave it on regular time all year round.

[wolfpacka42]

01:12 AM on 10/19/2011

I think its time to do away with Daylight Savings Time once and for all. The last couple of years I didn't even bother to change my clocks back. I just kept it on one time all year long. At least I don't have to go through the drag of losing sleep in the spring and screwing up my body clock for about a month. My vote for President in 2012 will be for the one who ends Daylight Saving Time once and for all. Please keep the clocks either on Year round daylight time or Year round Standard time.

[ontariogirl]

08:15 PM on 10/18/2011

Well I am going to ignore it this year. Sorry but I`ll take a pass.

[Kristin Talbott]

07:00 PM on 10/18/2011

If we wanted to respond to the cyclical shortening/lengthening of daylight hours in a way that made sense, we'd start by shortening our workdays as the days grow shorter.

Bouncing the clock around doesn't change the fact that for a significant portion of the year most of us working anywhere near what is considered a full workday have to get up before it's light and don't get home until after dark. Given our that our bodies and brains (i.e., our levels of focus, energy, clarity, etc.) are hardwired to respond to the natural cycles of light and dark, what this means is that our employers are taking up virtually all of our most productive time each day, leaving nothing for our actual lives.

[macgal 74]

11:47 AM on 10/18/2011

my rant on the subject! http://chicswithaview.com/blog/thats-like-waiting-till-christmas/

[Rachel in California]

09:59 AM on 10/18/2011

I dislike getting up in the dark and leaving for work in the dark. And I don't think it makes sense that DST is lopsided. In the spring we go on DST when the days are nearly 12 hours long, so there's lots of daylight to go around, morning and evening; in the fall, we stay on DST as the sun comes up later and later, until the days are barely 10 hours long where I live, and the sun doesn't come up until nearly 8 AM. If we have to have DST at least make it symmetrical!

[rufus firefly]

09:13 AM on 10/18/2011

If you want to know why they keep messing with DST, like all other government policies, follow the money...Hersheys lobbied to extend DST past Halloween so tricker-treaters would have an extra hour to contribute to their bottom line. 7-11 and Clorox (maker of Kingsford charcoal) also lobbied to extend it because more people BBQ when there is more daylight in the evening and buy more beer and charcoal. As far as energy savings go, people are more likely to go out in their cars once they get home and its still light, then turn in for the night, so they actually use more energy (big surprise that it was part of the Bush energy bill to move the start of DST to early March). I am no fan of DST, the time change in the Spring messes me up for weeks and I almost missed a connecting flight on my way back from Greece when they moved the time change into November a couple of years ago. I say get rid of it and we will save money, energy, and hassles.

[Andrew Harvey]

02:07 AM on 10/18/2011

So when are they going to get rid of this insane practice of setting the clocks back and forward each spring and fall? I'd gladly give up 1% of my energy bill to not have to change my sleeping patterns, or potentially forget and arrive at work late.

In modern society, I'm not sure that the 1% savings is even true. We run the lights and computers regardless of the position of the sun.

It hasn't harmed Saskatchewan.

[MCJanes]

06:27 AM on 10/18/2011

Yes, changing your clock is suck a hassle once every 6 months. Complete inconvenience. Also, freedom.