Saving candles ??

chaimjm · Nov 2, 2008

Does daylight saving really save money, not the statistics we have all seen them. Your own energy bill.

Daylight-saving time is a system established to reduce electricity usage by extending daylight hours (clocks are set ahead one hour). Why is this done? Because at different times of the year – in the spring/summer -- , there is more light than darkness, and some of this light is early in the morning when people are sleeping and is wasted. So for example, if the sun rises at 5:00am during standard time in June and sets at 7pm, daylight savings transfers the “hour of light”, so daylight is now from 6am – 8pm. This is important as a lot less energy is needed during daylight hours than during evening hours. It also gives us the benefit of an hour extra sunlight to enjoy the outdoors in the summer.
This year, standard time begins on at 2am on on Sunday, November 2, 2008 and daylight-saving time begins Sunday, March 9, 2009. In the past, daylight-saving time began in April and ended in October. However, an energy bill signed by President George W. Bush on August 8, 2005 extended daylight-saving time as part of a long-term solution to the nation's energy problems. The new law extended daylight-saving time by four weeks - beginning three weeks earlier and ending one week later. Also under this law, the entire state of Indiana now observes daylight-saving time. Prior to the new laws, only certain areas of the state observed the time changes.
There are a few exceptions to the above. In the United States, Hawaii and most of Arizona do not follow daylight-saving time – which is why the clocks at both ends of Hoover Dam (One side Nevada and the other side Arizona – are the same part of the year and an hour different during the other part of the year.
Other Countries:
· About 70 countries around the world observe daylight-saving time.
· Neither China nor Japan observes daylight-saving time.
· Many other countries refer to "daylight-saving time" as "summertime."
The history of daylight-saving time Benjamin Franklin is thought to have come up with the idea for daylight-saving time in 1784 - In a whimsical letter to a French journal, he said that Parisians could save thousands of francs a years by waking up earlier during the summer because it would prevent them from having to buy so many candles to light the evening hours. In 1918, The U.S. first adopts daylight-saving time, in the same act that created standard time zones, in an effort to save energy during World War I. It didn't prove popular, and, as a result, it was repealed the following year.
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DavidGP · Nov 2, 2008

I have absolutly no idea, I dont see any change in the electricity bill in those quarters that have BST/DST etc in them.

To be honest and just an observation is that its swings and roundabouts, where as it may now be lighter in the mornings in the UK, the nights draw in earlier because of the -1Hr to get us back to standard GMT, so what you may save in the summer due to BST/DST you "may" loose in the winter months.

Some interesting observations http://green.msn.com/articles/article.aspx?aid=280

Speculant · Nov 2, 2008

so daylight savings time was created to save money?

i thought it was created so people could just get an extra hour of sleep one day every year...

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Saving candles ??

Does daylight saving really save YOU money

Yes for sure

No not at all

I don't Know

chaimjm Staff Sergeant

DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

Speculant The Confused One