Daylight Saving Time — Is There Really A Benefit?
Daylight saving time has been around longer than most of us realize.
Although made into U.S. law by the Uniform Time Act of 1966, it was first proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1784, while he was a minister to France. No action was taken then, but in 1907 the subject came up again when Englishman William Willett suggested that England move the clock ahead by 80 minutes. For the best betting website statistics you can look at https://www.topratedbettingsites.co.uk
Daylight Saving Time The British House of Commons rejected the idea. Then, in 1916, British Summer Time was created by an Act of Parliament.
But what about America?
“In the early 19th century… localities set their own time. It was kind of a crazy quilt of time, time zones, and time usage. When the railroads came in, that necessitated more standardization of time so that railroad schedules could be published.
“In 1883 the U.S. railroad industry established official time zones with a set standard time within each zone. Congress eventually came on board, signing the railroad time zone system into law in 1918. (Bill Mosley, U.S. Department of Transportation)
In 1918, in order to conserve resources for the war effort, the U.S. Congress placed the country on Daylight Saving Time for the remainder of World War I. It was so unpopular that the law was repealed. That is, until America once again went to war.
Daylight Saving Time was reinstated on February 9, 1942 and the clock stayed one hour ahead until September 30, 1945.
From then until the Uniform Time Act of 1966, states and localities did as they pleased — setting their clocks ahead or not.
Does Daylight Savings Time Lower Your Electricity Costs?
In 1973 crisis once again played a role. Following the Arab Oil Embargo, Congress put most of the nation on extended DST for two years. According to studies, the experiment did work to reduce our energy consumption, but was met by strong opposition, especially from the farming states. Apparently, cows get really upset when their schedule is disrupted.
Now the start and stop dates have been changed several times. At present DST begins on the second Sunday in March and ends the first Sunday in November.
The idea behind all this was, of course, to save energy. The theory is that when daylight lingers longer during the summer months, people will stay outdoors longer and thus not use their lights and appliances.
During the war years it appears to have worked. And a Department of Transportation study of consumption figures for 1974 and 1975 says that observing DST in March and April saved the equivalent of 10,000 barrels of oil each day.
But these figures are for 1974 and 1975. Considering the changes in our way of life over the past 35 years, would new studies yield the same results?
Now that more people are living in cities — and many in apartments with no yard and no outdoor chores to do — will they stay outside and leave the television, the air conditioner, the computer, and the lights off for an hour longer each day?
Do people adjust the dinner hour so they can remain outdoors longer, even though they have household tasks to perform and still need to be up and out at the same time in the morning? I personally would love to stay outdoors until pitch dark, because I have plenty of things to do outside that are more fun than cooking dinner. But families need to eat even in daylight.
Do consumers with air conditioning leave it off longer, or turn it on sooner because they get home before the night air begins to cool their homes?
A blog I just read said that if we leave five 100 Watt light bulbs off for an extra hour a day, we’ll save $12 per year. That was based on a 10 cent per KWH electric rate, and using standard light bulbs. But what if you use energy efficient bulbs — which are already supposed to save $30 per year per bulb? How much energy is saved by turning them off for an hour?
A 2001 study done in California indicated that Daylight Saving Time would be beneficial because it would cut energy use during peak hours, when utilities there charge more per KWH. But a 2008 study revealed that Daylight Saving Time actually increases residential electricity demand in Indiana.
Thus, the true benefit hinges on a variety of factors, including use of heat and air conditioning and the variation in temperatures throughout a 24 hour period.
Maybe it’s not just about saving energy…
Other aspects of the 1974–75 study cited benefits that are unrelated to energy savings.
By allowing people to travel home from work in daylight, it prevents accidents. And by allowing people to do their errands and chores in daylight, it prevents exposure to various crimes. DOT estimated that 50 lives were saved and 2,000 injuries prevented during the study period. They also estimated that $28 million was saved in traffic accident costs.
