I Get My Hour Back! Daylight Savings Time Ends November 6

Tempus fugit
~Ovid

So I have been wondering when daylight savings time ends. It seems particularly late this year. Despite wondering and worrying, I have not done anything to establish when it happens this year - until today!

November 6. That is this weekend.

Daylight Savings Time was Benjamin Franklin's idea. His idea was that we should make better use of daylight. I guess he was a late sleeper.

Daylight Savings Time  decreases the amount of daylight in the morning hours so that more daylight is available during the evening.

DST also helps conserve energy (or so they say). The study that is relied on for this postulate was done in 1975. The thesis of the study was that energy usage was related to the times that people go to bed and when they wake. Also assumed is that people use lights, appliances, and electronics in the evenings when they are at home.

It is possible that in 1975 people were home more in the evenings and were less inclined to have lights, appliances, and electronics using energy in the early morning hours. In 2011 I don't think that is the case. I would posit that the average household in the US now uses more energy in the early morning hours than an equivalent household in 1975. At 7 a.m. the TV is on, the computer is on, and there are even new appliances that were not de rigueur back in the 20th century - today we may well grind our own coffee with a small appliance, brew the coffee in a coffee maker, microwave our breakfast, and run the dishwasher - all before we leave for work.

While I am thrilled to get my hour back I question the usefulness of Daylight Savings Time. I don't think it is saving me any daylight (or energy).


Note: Other countries also participate in DST.

Something else I learned: Daylight Savings Time has nothing to do with farming schedules or children waiting for a school bus.