April 2nd, 2007
Rather Than Saving Power, Early DST Just Wastes … Our Time
By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
It was posited even before early Daylight Savings Time this year … that we would not get much savings from it. In fact, researchers had studied the similar move that Australia had made prior to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, and that study showed a tiny increase in power use.
Well, according to a spokesperson for one of the nation’s largest power companies, after the switch to early DFST, there was no measurable drop in power usage.
The move to turn the clocks forward by an hour on March 11 rather than the usual early April date was mandated by the U.S. government as an energy-saving effort.
But other than forcing millions of drowsy American workers and school children into the dark, wintry weather three weeks early, the move appears to have had little impact on power usage. Source: Reuters
We Say: Think of how much money companies spent on patching Exchange, their Blackberrys and other PDAs, etc. etc. Now think of what might happen if the government decides to switch back. After all, it was supposed to be an experiment, right?
John Corliss says:
Hmm. The price of peanuts tripled during Jimmy Carter’s presidency, the price of a movie ticket went from a couple bucks to around 8 during Reagan’s presidency and now we have a president whose agenda is to increase the price of petroleum products. I wonder why his administration pushed for a time change that increases consumption of energy?
April 3rd, 2007 at 4:05 am
Ken Barbalace says:
From the prospective of living in Maine, which is the eastern most state in the Eastern time zone, the early time switch was a God send. Except on the shortest days of the year the sun comes up for us hours before it is needed when people are still asleep in bed and they it gets dark way too early.
With the time switch, all of a sudden it wasn’t getting dark at quiting time and the sun rose at a more reasonable time. If I had my way I’d eliminate standard time all together and stick with DST year round. Now granted some people out in Western PA might not be so happy.
Maybe what this shows is how stupid the break up of time zones really are. Maybe what is really needed is to split some of the Eastern most states (Maine especially) off from Eastern Time and place them on Atlantic Time. It may not be so convenient for businesses like stock trading, but for the rest of us it would better tune the rise and fall of the sun to when we need it most. Does it really make sense for Marquette Michigan to be on the same time zone as Bar Harbor Maine where sunrise is 1 hour and 15 minutes earlier? Oh these aren’t the eastern and western most extremes of the Eastern time zone. There is about 1:25 difference in sunrise from the eastern most and western most places in the Eastern Time Zone.
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:15 am
Dennis Shanley says:
I’m in full agreement with Ken. DST all around is the way to go. Its a given that I have to drive to work most of the winter in the dark. Its so great to not have to drive home in the dark as well and to have time for some outdoor chores after work. I can put up with eating my cornflakes with a light on thanks if it means actually being able to see my woods in the late afternoon. Most people don’t realize that the further north you go the shorter winter days and the longer summer days are. The extra DST hour makes a huge psychological difference in places like Maine and Vermont. Lets keep it that way all year. That way I won’t have to reset all those danged cows twice a year!
April 4th, 2007 at 7:18 am