Why do we observe Daylight Saving Time (DST)? There are many old wives’ tales about the reason, but the official government reason is to save energy. Intuitively, it makes a little sense. If the sun stays out longer during the evenings in the summer then people will most likely not turn on their lights until later in the evening. Of course, all the people who wake up before sunrise (a much smaller percentage) will have to turn on their lights a little earlier, so that negates some of the “theoretical” savings.
Maybe this rationale was valid back in 1957 when we started observing DST in Wisconsin, but as far as I have searched, I have seen no concrete evidence that energy is actually saved. In fact, as I reported previously in the blog (Down With DST!), the opposite might actually be the case. A small study conducted in Indiana found that there was a small increase in energy usage for people who switched the clocks vs. those who didn’t.
So if this is the case, why do we still change the clocks? Because it is habit. Because not many people have asked questions about it.
When I asked people why they support DST, most people – even if they know that it doesn’t do anything positive for the environment – say “I kind-of like it”.
Let’s save some time…not really.
I don’t like it so much, but then again I am a morning person. Considering the old saying “early to bed, early to rise, makes one healthy, wealthy, and wise” maybe we should stop doing DST because it will help people be healthier, wealthier and wiser.
All kidding aside, studies have been conducted that show a small increase in negative health and psychological effects in people after the clock change every Fall and Spring. Accident rates also rise after the clock change.
Some people say “it isn’t THAT big of a hassle”. That’s true, but then again most of us are not programmers who have to program DST into every electronic device. Real resources in the form of time and money are spent on making sure everything in this information age syncs up every time we change the clocks.
So if there is hardly anything good about DST, why do we still do it? Thankfully, a couple of lawmakers in Wisconsin are at least starting a debate about it. You never know, it could come to a vote. Read here on waow.com. I doubt there will be a change this year, but maybe next. We can hope.
Some past blog posts about the topic:
Here is a Gizmodo article about how DST is utterly pointless.
Lifehacker is smart and details how DST does more harm than good.
The Verge insists DST is “Hot Garbage”.
Meteorologist Justin Loew
