Daylight Saving Time (DST) is a practice where clocks are moved forward by one hour in the spring and then moved back in the autumn. The original idea, proposed by George Hudson, was to give people more sunlight in the summer. However, changing a clock doesn't actually make more sunlight. Instead, by moving the clocks forward an hour, the sun will seem to both rise and set later, giving people more time to enjoy the sunshine and nice summer weather after work.
The switch to DST is called Daylight Saving Time, and the rest of the year is called Standard Time. When winter is coming, the clocks move back. This is presumably because people won't want to go outside anymore. However, winter doesn't have this effect on everyone. For instance, Hawaii, being a tropical place, doesn't have seasons, so Christmas is just as good of a day to hit the beach as any other. As a result, Hawaii is one of two states in the Union that ignore daylight saving time.
The further you travel from the equator in either direction, the more the seasons assert themselves, and you get colder and darker winters, making summer time much more valuable to the locals. So it's no surprise that the further a country is from the equator, the more likely it is to use daylight saving time. Hudson proposed his idea in Wellington in 1895, but it wasn't well received and it took until 1916 for Germany to be the first country to put it into practice.
However, the effectiveness of DST in saving electricity is a topic of debate. For example, in places like Phoenix, where the average summer high is 107 degrees and the record is 122, if people get more sunshine, but don't use it to go outside, then DST might actually cost electricity, not save it. This is particularly true in a place like Phoenix, where the average summer high is 107 degrees and the record is 122.
Another problem when trying to study daylight saving time is rapid changes in technology and electrical use. As technology gets better and more electricity is dedicated to things that aren't light bulbs, the lure of a hot, sweaty, mosquito-filled day outside is less appealing than technological entertainments and climate-controlled comfort inside.
The bottom line is while some studies say DST costs more electricity and others say it saves electricity, the one thing they agree on is the effect size: not 20% or 10% but 1% or less, which, in the United States, works out to be about $4 per household. $4 saved or spent on electricity over an entire year is not really a huge deal either way.
So the question now becomes is the hassle of switching the clocks twice a year worth it? The most obvious trouble comes from sleep depravation – an already common problem in the western world that DST makes measurably worse. With time-tracking software, we can actually see that people are less productive the week after the clock changes. This comes with huge associated costs. To make things worse, most countries take away that hour of sleep on a Monday morning. Sleep depravation can lead to heart attacks and suicides and the Daylight Saving Time Monday has a higher than normal spike in both.
Other troubles come from scheduling meetings across time zones. Let's say that you're trying to plan a three-way conference between New York, London, and Sydney – not an easy thing to do under the best of circumstances but made extra difficult when they don't agree on when daylight saving time should start and end.
In conclusion, while DST may give more sunlight in the summer after work, depending on where you live, it might be an advantage or not. And it may (or may not) save electricity. But one thing is for sure, it's guaranteed to make something that should be simple, keeping track of time, quite complicated.
1. Every year, some countries adjust their clocks forward in the spring and back in the autumn. This is known as Daylight Saving Time (DST) and Standard Time.
2. The original idea behind DST was proposed by George Hudson to give people more sunlight in the summer.
3. Moving the clocks forward an hour doesn't actually make more sunlight, but it makes the sun seem to rise and set later.
4. When winter comes, the clocks move back, presumably because people won't want to go outside.
5. DST is more likely in countries that are further from the equator, where the seasons are more pronounced.
6. Hudson proposed his idea in Wellington in 1895, but it wasn't well received until 1916 when Germany was the first country to put it into practice.
7. The Germans thought DST would conserve energy by encouraging people to stay out later in the summer and thus use less artificial lighting.
8. However, the modern world has made DST less effective due to advancements in technology and electrical use.
9. The cost of DST in the United States is estimated to be about $4 per household, which is not a significant amount.
10. The most common issue with DST is the disruption it causes to sleep patterns, leading to decreased productivity and associated costs.
11. DST also complicates scheduling meetings across time zones, especially when countries don't agree on when DST should start and end.
12. Countries aren't even consistent about DST within their own borders. For example, Brazil has DST, but only if you live in the south.
13. The United States does have DST, unless you live in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Marianas Islands, or Hawaii and Arizona.
14. Inside Arizona, the Navaho Nation follows DST, but the Hopi Reservation, which is part of the Navaho Nation, does not.
15. The complexity of DST and time zone rules is such that even digital gadgets can't keep the time straight occasionally.