Comments on: Daylight Saving Time

By: gordon.dewis.ca | Brace yourself for a little sleep deprivation

gordon.dewis.ca | Brace yourself for a little sleep deprivation — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:34:12 +0000

[...] most of North America switches over to Daylight Saving time in a futile attempt to save energy. As I’ve mentioned before, there’s evidence that energy consumption actually increases, as do accident rates in the [...]

By: gordon

gordon — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 05:33:25 +0000

David Prerau’s book Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time (hardcover: 1560256559; softcover: 1560257962) describes the history of daylight saving time from the beginning when Benjamin Franklin mused about how many candles could be saved if the clocks were adjusted so that people were more in-sync with the sun up to just a few years ago. Worth a read if you have a chance.

Personally, I haven’t noticed a difference in my energy consumption patterns. If it’s dark and I’m awake then I have the lights on. If it’s dark later in the morning then I have the lights turned on earlier in the day and then delay turning them on in the evening. If it’s light earlier in the morning and dark earlier in the evening then the lights are on earlier in the evening. Basically, I just shift when I’m using the electricity rather than realize an overall reduction in consumption.

By: Squid

Squid — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 23:25:56 +0000

Historically, Daylight Saving Time hasn’t saved a nickel, and as you have noted, that fact is pretty well documented.

Personally, I wish we’d just stay on daylight saving time. Sure the historical connection to “noon” being “sun at maximum elevation” would be gone, but who cares? DST always seems more convenient.