Does Daylight Saving Equal Energy Savings?
The seven-month period of daylight saving time is mandated by governments -- not biological clocks -- which began implementing the time switch during World Wars I and II to save energy and resources for the war effort. From World War II until recently, daylight saving in the U.S. ran from April until mid-October.
But in 2007, Congress adjusted daylight saving time to begin three weeks earlier and end one week later, a move they hoped would help save energy. At the time, they pointed to the fact that longer daylight in the evening hours reduced people's need to turn on lights in their homes at night.
Critics of the policy questioned the government's decision, wondering whether people would simply turn on as many lights in the morning hours instead. In response, the Department of Energy studied the energy savings in 2008. They found that during daylight saving time, U.S. electricity use decreased by 0.5 percent per day, which added up to 1.3 billion kilowatt-hours, enough to power about 122,000 average U.S. homes for a year.
Now, as daylight saving time comes to its November close, energy use will tick up again as the sun sets earlier in the evening.
In the early morning hours of Sunday, Nov. 6, the clocks will be set back an hour, from 2 a.m. to 1 a.m. For an individual who goes to bed at 10 p.m. on Saturday night and awakens eight hours later, they will wake up at 5 a.m. on Sunday morning. It will still be dark, of course, but the sun will come earlier than normal, at 6:30 a.m.
Daylight Saving Time Ends This Weekend, and It's Healthy
By NED POTTER and COLLEEN CURRY | ABC News
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