New Daylight Savings Time next week!

[victoryfactory]

"The Energy Policy Act of 2005 was passed by Congress and then signed into law by President George W. Bush on August 8, 2005. Under the new law, Daylight Saving Time begins three weeks earlier than previously, on the second Sunday in March. DST is extended by one week to the first Sunday in November. The new start and stop period begins March 2007. "

I don't know about you, but this is GREAT news for me....
I love to get in a 1.5-2 hr ride after work, and can only do it
safely during daylight savings.
This extends my (outdoor) riding season dramatically!

Maybe the only really great piece of legislation to come out of
Washington in the last 6 years.

Don't forget to set your clocks ahead next Sunday.
You can download a free patch from Microsoft to
fix the automatic DST in your PC.

VF

PS: my apologies if you are an AM rider....

[Tom]

I remember what Brett Hull said when the NHL Board of Governors wanted to make hockey more popular and their best idea was to have the game clock count down from 20 instead of up to 20.

Something along the lines of "With all the problems to be addressed, they came up with changing how we tell time. Morons."

I think it applies here, too. Fuel conservation requirements? Nope, move the clocks. Real incentives to R&D in solar power? Nope, move the clocks. Real incentives to installing solar power? Nope, move the clocks. Requirements to install solar on all those new houses in Florida and throughout the sunny places? Nope, move the clocks. Urban planning to eliminate sprawl? Nope, move the clocks. Public transportation? Nope, move the clocks.

I'm not ripping on you, VF, I'm just expressing my frustration with the grand symbolic gestures made while the real problems fester like gangrene.

[39cross]

And what is the cost of adjusting all computers and software programs written using the "old" DST rules? It's not quite Y2K, but it's not trivial. I think it's going to surprise some people.

I like having an extra hour of daylight which I can hope I can use riding when I get home, but this time of year it's probably not going to help much.

[Avispa]

One of the reasons I had to work this Saturday, grrrr...

I guess, I will get more sunlight to ride earlier this year ;)

[fiamme red]

As if people don't use electricity in the morning, and are happy to fumble around in the dark before work.

[BigDaddySmooth]

I think it applies here, too. Fuel conservation requirements? Nope, move the clocks. Real incentives to R&D in solar power? Nope, move the clocks. Real incentives to installing solar power? Nope, move the clocks. Requirements to install solar on all those new houses in Florida and throughout the sunny places? Nope, move the clocks. Urban planning to eliminate sprawl? Nope, move the clocks. Public transportation? Nope, move the clocks.

I read somewhere that if "we" created a HUGE solar panel (100 square miles) in southern Nevada, it could exceed the yearly electricity used in the U.S. After the probable astronomical start-up cost in $ and time, the future costs would be for maintenance/distribution and the like. However, shouldn't "we" start thinking of what it is going to be like 50 years from now?

[Onno]

The logic of how this is supposed to save energy utterly escapes me. You actually hear news stories about this that say that we have an extra hour of sunlight, as though the day really expands by an hour. But it is great for getting in late afternoon bike rides at the end of the season, and for late afternoon skiing around here! We have enough snow now to last us until mid-April, it seems.

[dauwhe]

Apparently it actually does reduce energy usage. Some info here:

http://www.energy.ca.gov/daylightsaving.html

Dave

[93legendti]

Apparently it actually does reduce energy usage. Some info here:

http://www.energy.ca.gov/daylightsaving.html

Dave

"...One of the biggest reasons we change our clocks to Daylight Saving Time (DST) is that it saves energy. Energy use and the demand for electricity for lighting our homes is directly connected to when we go to bed and when we get up. Bedtime for most of us is late evening through the year. When we go to bed, we turn off the lights and TV.

In the average home, 25 percent of all the electricity we use is for lighting and small appliances, such as TVs, VCRs and stereos. A good percentage of energy consumed by lighting and appliances occurs in the evening when families are home. By moving the clock ahead one hour, we can cut the amount of electricity we consume each day.

Studies done in the 1970s by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that we trim the entire country's electricity usage by about one percent EACH DAY with Daylight Saving Time.

Daylight Saving Time "makes" the sun "set" one hour later and therefore reduces the period between sunset and bedtime by one hour. This means that less electricity would be used for lighting and appliances late in the day.

We also use less electricity because we are home fewer hours during the "longer" days of spring and summer. Most people plan outdoor activities in the extra daylight hours. When we are not at home, we don't turn on the appliances and lights. A poll done by the U.S. Department of Transportation indicated that Americans liked Daylight Saving Time because "there is more light in the evenings / can do more in the evenings."



While the amounts of energy saved per household are small...added up they can be very large..."

[flydhest]

. . . err, the study was done in the 1970s? Did it study these habits relative to the old DST? The sun setting later also means that it rises later. For some times of year, this may not matter, for others, it might. If 1% is the upper-bound, I'm still skeptical that it's a good idea given how much difficulty it's caused with IT stuff.

[93legendti]

"...A report was released in May 2001 by the California Energy Commission to see if creating an early DST or going to a year-round DST will help with the electricity problems the state faced in 2000-2001-2002. You can download an Acrobat PDF copy of the staff report, Effects of Daylight Saving Time on California Electricity Use, Publication # 400-01-13, (PDF file, pages, 5.2 megabytes).

The study concluded that both Winter Daylight Saving Time and Summer-season Double Daylight SavingTime (DDST) would probably save marginal amounts of electricity - around 3,400 megawatt-hours (MWh) a day in winter (one-half of one percent of winter electricity use - 0.5%) and around 1,500 MWh a day during the summer season (one-fifth of one percent of summer-season use - 0.20%). Winter DST would cut winter peak electricity use by around 1,100 megawatts on average, or 3.4 percent. Summer Double DST would cause a smaller (220 MW) and more uncertain drop in the peak, but it could still save hundreds of millions of dollars because it would shift electricity use to low demand (cheaper) morning hours and decrease electricity use during higher demand hours..."
http://www.energy.ca.gov/reports/2001-05-23_400-01-013.PDF

[mcteague]

It's Daylight Saving Time, not savings. No compound interest involved.

Tim McTeague

[fiamme red]

Michael Downing, author of Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time, says that energy saving through DST is bunk (its biggest benefit is to retailers):

http://www.tufts.edu/communications/stories/083105AnHourHereAnHourThere.htm

“I am a fan of long summer evenings and of social policy that promotes conservation. But I can’t promise I won’t turn on a light until 8:30 in the morning,” Downing wrote in the Times. “Come November, wouldn’t it make more sense for Congress to leave the clocks alone, ask us to turn down the thermostats at night and maybe spring for a pair of flannel pajamas?”

But personal conservation is anathema to the Bush Government. As Mr. Cheney said in 2001, "Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy."