Why did Daylight Savings time shift from late April to early March? (Congress, Indiana)
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For as long as I can remember, Daylight Savings Time started on the last Sunday in April, and ended on the last Sunday in October. A bike ride I used to participate in (Ironman Century) in Minneapolis, usually ran on the last Sunday in April, with the first heat starting at 7:00 AM, and getting up that extra hour early was especially excruciating. Similarly, Halloween usually occurred right after the time change, making trick-or-treating that much "earlier".
The reasons were pretty clear - especially the reasons for having the change forward, exactly six months after the change back.
DST was an effort to make the sun come up closer to the same time every morning, whether winter or summer. Of course, it can never be exactly the same time. But this helped it be a little less wildly eccentric.
But now we have changed it for some reason. There are now EIGHT months between the change forward (today) and the change back (Mid-November).
What is the rationale, exactly, for having them eight months apart rather than six? I'm pretty baffled at this.
Some people tell me it's for energy saving. But others say that that's a phantom - people in most of the country who have an extra hour between getting home from work, and sundown, tend to run their air conditioners MORE at home for that hour in the summer; while the air condititoners at work don't get reduced for that extra hour. And people who will now get up an hour early, in early March instead of waiting till late April, will be turning on their lights more in that early time while fixing breakfast, getting the kids ready for school etc.
Also, some say that fewer pedestrians get run over in the evening after DST changes in March... but doesn't that simply mean that more will get run over in the morning?
I even heard one rumor (probably not true) that barbecue manufacturers got together to lobby Congress to change the clocks-forward change to March, so that people would have more barbecueing time in the evening and so they would buy more grills, sooner.
I liked it a lot better when we turned the clocks forward in late April, than doing it now in early March. Why did we change? I can't find ANY upside to this new way.
And no, I'd rather not move to Arizona or Indiana where they have never done DST at all.
It was a Bill signed into law in 2005. States were still allowed to determine when they observe DST Begin and End (since some states don't even observer DST):
It changed in 2007 thinking people would leave their lights on less if Daylight Savings was longer. Really, it ends up just being a wash because people use their cars more to enjoy the later hours of daylight.
If I were in charge, we'd be on DST year round. I hate the winter months when I go into work and it's dark and then I get out and it's dark -- nothing is more depressing. Nothing annoys me more than the switching.
If I were in charge, we'd be on DST year round. I hate the winter months when I go into work and it's dark and then I get out and it's dark -- nothing is more depressing. Nothing annoys me more than the switching.
Location: Just transplanted to FL from the N GA mountains
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Little-Acorn
And no, I'd rather not move to Arizona or Indiana where they have never done DST at all.
LOL.. I used to live 5 miles from the part of Indiana that never changed. We'd be on the same time for 6 months, different for 6 months. The only thing good was I could work till 5 yet be home by 4:15..
The earlier in the year I get that extra hour of daylight the better. I could care less about the energy saving reasons, I just tire of darkness at 6pm when the weather is nicer.
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