Here we go again. On Sunday, November 6 at 2 AM the United States returns to Standard Time. So naturally, one of the topics open for Eco-debate this week is; how green is Daylight Saving Time? In early November we “fall back” and then in March we “spring forward.” A catchy way of remembering which way to reset the clocks one hour. On Sunday, we actually gain an hour, so there is less likelihood of us waking up in the still-dark morning. Of course, on the flip side, we lose an hour of daylight in the evening. So, conceivably in the months that we have Daylight Saving Time, we can save energy, potentially a lot of energy. The first large-scale study was done in the 1970′s during the oil crisis, which found that it saved at least 1% of energy. More recently, 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.
One of the best definitions for what Daylight Saving Time I have found comes from the folks at timeanddate.com: ”Daylight Saving Time (or summertime as it is called in many countries) is a way of getting more light out of the day by advancing clocks by one hour during the summer. During Daylight Saving Time, the sun appears to rise one hour later in the morning, when people are usually asleep anyway, and sets one hour later in the evening, seeming to stretch the day longer.”
The whole idea began in 1784 when Benjamin Franklin thought up the idea of daylight saving to conserve candles, and get people out into the daylight. The U.S. did not begin using Daylight Saving Time until World War I as a way to preserve resources for the war effort. And now, it is a way of life for many, if not most, people in the world. Some states, such as California, argue that the amount of energy saved is miniscule. On one side of the debate is the fact that there are so many air conditioners using energy, especially in the daylight hours. On the flip side, there is research to support that in the first week of Daylight Saving alone, there is a 10% reduction of TV watching.
The Scientific American poses this thought: “If time shifting turns out to be an energy waster, should the sun set on daylight saving? Certainly that would please farmers, who have long opposed it for how it disrupts their schedules. The chances, though, appear nil. “I’m skeptical we could change daylight saving time on a national level, because we’ve become accustomed to it,” Kotchen says, adding that “we might want to consider it for other costs or benefits it could have.” Retailers, especially those involved with sports and recreation, have historically argued hardest for extending daylight time. Representatives of the golf industry, for instance, told Congress in 1986 that an extra month of daylight saving was worth up to $400 million annually in extra sales and fees.”
Some countries and states have changed their tune, and are giving up on Daylight Saving Time. Notice that throughout this post I have used the word Saving and not Savings, as it is more commonly known. The correct version is, in fact, just Saving. Russia has given up using any system of altering the time for better or worse. As we keep a watch on DST, it will be interesting to see what develops.
Weigh in – Daylight Saving Time…love it or hate it?
