Daylight Saving Time: US adjusts clocks for longer daytime

The official switch, for most of the nation, took place at two in the morning when Americans moved their clocks one hour forward.

Though people lose an hour off the clock, DST is aimed at conserving energy and power, as the time is adjusted so that afternoons and evenings are more sunlit.

DST, which begins near spring and ends in autumn, is observed by almost every state, with Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the state of Arizona being exceptions.

Idea originated with Franklin
The idea of better utilizing the sunlight hours in the afternoons and evenings originated from one of the founding fathers of the nation, Benjamin Franklin.

One night an accidental noise woke Franklin at six in the morning, and he was astonished to see his room filled with light.

Initially, he thought that the light was from the lamp but he later realized that it was the light of the sun rising from the horizon.

“I looked into the almanac, where I found it to be the hour given for his rising on that day. I looked forward, too, and found he was to rise still earlier every day till towards the end of June,” wrote Franklin in a letter to the editors of the ‘Journal of Paris’ in 1784.

Though most countries gave up the practice of DST after the First World War, many reintroduced it over the years.

Considering the fact that afternoons have more daylight in summers, he calculated that the citizens in Paris, France were not taking advantage of the sunlight hours in the evening and were unnecessarily burning 127 million candles a year.

Following this, Franklin proposed measures like taxes and penalties to ensure that citizens efficiently utilized the daylight and limit the use of candles.

Springing forward since World War I
The DST was first put into practice by Germany during the First World War in order to preserve energy for war production by taking advantage of the more daylight in the afternoons and evenings.

On April, 30, 1916, Germany advanced the clock one hour ahead until Oct. 1, 1916. Three weeks later, UK observed DST, followed by Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and Turkey.

In 1917, Australia, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia, Canada put into practice the idea of daylight saving time. Later, on March 19, 1918, U.S. Congress made DST official in the nation.

Though most countries gave up the practice of DST after the First World War, many reintroduced it over the years.

Are we actually saving power?
DST may be beneficial for retailing, sports, and other activities that take advantage of sunlight for longer hours. But many argue that it is doing more harm than good.

According to the study conducted by Michigan State University in 2009, DST alters sleep patterns and adversely affects work.

Further, the study conducted by researchers of University of California, Santa Barbara, on residents in Indiana in 2008, has shown that DST led citizens to use more energy than used by them when they followed the standard time.

If the residents saved energy by switching off lights, they used more energy on heating and air conditioning, the researchers found..

The researchers added that air conditioners were used only by the very rich before World War II, unlike now. This fact was not taken into consideration when the Congress passed the 2005 Energy Policy Act, thus extending DST by an hour every second Sunday of March.