Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends Sun., Nov. 7; set clocks back 1 hour, Sat. night
On Sunday, Nov. 7, at 2:00 am, Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends in the U.S., so when you go to bed on Saturday night, set your clocks back by one hour - remember "Fall Back, Spring Forward."
In America, Daylight Saving Time (DST) ENDS on the first Sunday in November at 2:00 am, which falls this year on Sunday, November 7, 2021. The mnemonic we use to remember this is "fall back," which means we should set our clocks back, one hour earlier, and thus 'gain' an hour during the night of the time change.
In America, Daylight Saving Time (DST) BEGINS on the second Sunday in March at 2:00 am, which will occur in 2022 on Sunday, March 13, at 2:00 am. The mnemonic we use to remember this is "spring forward," which means we should set our clocks ahead one hour and 'lose' an hour during the night of the time change.
SMOKE ALARMS
The time change, both fall and spring, is also a good time to associate with installing fresh batteries in smoke alarms, cleaning them, and testing them to see if they work, by pressing the test button (the alarm should sound, when the test button is pressed, if the batteries are good).
Your smoke alarm should be replaced if it is more than 10 years old, or the alarm doesn't sound when you press the test button.
Smoke alarms should be installed on every level of your home, including the basement, and in or near sleeping areas.
For the best protection, equip your home with a combination of ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms, or dual-sensor alarms. Interconnected alarms, alarms that all sound when one sounds, are available at most stores that sell smoke alarms.
EMERGENCY ESCAPE PLAN
Make sure that everyone in your home knows how to respond when a smoke alarm sounds - or when any other disaster strikes - with an escape plan to ensure that everyone will be able to safely and quickly get out of the home. Plan to meet in a place that’s a safe distance from your house and in an area where first responders can easily see you.
IRRIGATION TIMERS
The time change is also a good time to make sure irrigation system timers are set correctly, if this applies to your household, to ensure that your system operates consistently with year-round water conservation measures.
All 16 counties throughout the Southwest Florida Water Management District (water district or SWFWMD) are on year-round water conservation measures, with lawn watering limited to twice-per-week unless your city or county has a different schedule or stricter hours. Local governments maintaining once-per-week watering by local ordinance include Citrus, Hernando, southern Hillsborough, Pasco and Sarasota counties and the cities of Dunedin, Longboat Key, Sarasota and Venice.
Know and follow your local watering restrictions, but don’t water just because it’s your day to water. Irrigate your lawn when it shows signs of stress from lack of water. Pay attention to signs of stressed grass, which include: • grass blades that are folded in half, lengthwise, on at least one-third of your yard, • grass blades that appear blue-gray, and • grass blades that do not spring back, leaving footprints on your lawn for several minutes after you've walked on it.
For additional information about water conservation, please visit the water district’s website at www.WaterMatters.org/Conservation.
HISTORY OF DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME IN THE U.S.
According to Wikipedia, in 1784, American inventor Benjamin Franklin wrote a satirical letter to the editor of The Journal of Paris, suggesting that waking up earlier in the summer would provide considerable savings by economizing the use of candles.
Daylight Saving Time was first used in the United States during 1918 as a seasonal time shift, introduced by a bill that lasted seven months before it was repealed.
During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt re-established Daylight Saving Time, then called War Time, that ran from February 1942 through September 1945.
The Uniform Time Act of 1966 established a yearly time change, Daylight Saving Time, to begin on the last Sunday of April and end on the last Sunday of October.
To save energy during the oil embargo in 1973, the United States Congress ordered a year-round Daylight Saving Time, to run from January 1974 to April 1975. However, when the plan was unsucessful at saving energy, the U.S. switched back to Standard Time in October 1974.
From 1987 through 2006, Daylight Saving Time started on the first Sunday in April and ended on the last Sunday in October.
In 2007, Daylight Saving Time was changed - to begin on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November, which is still in effect in 2022.
Daylight Saving Time (DST) is observed in the United States, Canada, and Australia. A similar measure, called Summer Time, is observed in the United Kingdom, European Union, and several other countries.
Every state in the United States, with the exceptions of Hawaii and Arizona, currently observe daylight saving time. U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Guam do not currently observe Daylight Saving Time.
PRO AND CONS OF DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME
The clock shifts - to and from Daylight Saving Time - can poentially disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, and sleep patterns. However, computer software programs generally adjust clocks automatically to avoid problems with the time changes.
Since 2015, at least 350 bills and resolutions have been introduced in virtually every state, but none of significance passed until 2018, when Florida became the first state to enact legislation to permanently observe DST, pending the potential amendment of federal law to permit such an action.
According to the Department of Transportation (last updated on March 10, 2014), the agency in charge of time zones and Daylight Saving Time, "Daylight Saving Time is observed for several reasons: It saves energy. During Daylight Saving Time, the sun sets one hour later in the evenings, so the need to use electricity for household lighting and appliances is reduced. People tend to spend more time outside in the evenings during Daylight Saving Time, which reduces the need to use electricity in the home. Also, because the sunrise is very early in the morning during the summer months, most people will awake after the sun has already risen, which means they turn on fewer lights in their homes. It saves lives and prevents traffic injuries. During Daylight Saving Time, more people travel to and from school and work and complete errands during the daylight. It reduces crime. During Daylight Saving Time, more people are out conducting their affairs during the daylight rather than at night, when more crime occurs.
In the last four years, 19 states have enacted legislation or passed resolutions to provide for year-round Daylight Saving Time, if Congress were to allow such a change, and in some of the cases, if surrounding states would enact similar legislation. Because federal law does not currently allow full-time DST, Congress would have to act before states could adopt changes. The 19 states with resolutions to provide for year-round Daylight Saving Time are: Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi and Montana (2021); Idaho, Louisiana, Ohio (resolution), South Carolina, Utah and Wyoming (2020); Arkansas, Delaware, Maine, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington (2019); Florida (2018). California voters also authorized such a change (2018), but legislative action is pending. States that have commissioned studies on DST include Maine (2021) and Massachusetts (2017).
DST was originally enacted as a way to save energy by giving more daylight in the evening hours, but some studies have called into question the degree of energy savings. Some studies have shown negative impacts on people’s health and circadian rhythms (wake/sleep pattern) because of time changes, and a higher number of car crashes and workplace injuries in the days after a time change.
Although many claim that Daylight Saving Time did not prove successful in saving energy, many statistics show, that after Daylight Saving Time was extended to November in 2007, the extra hour of daylight has been a boon to retail sales, gardening, and many sports, such as golfing, baseball and tennis.