Tme to "SPRING FORWARD" clocks - Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday, March 12
When you go to bed on Saturday night, March 11, you should set your clocks FORWARD by one hour (one hour later) - and 'lose' an hour during the night. The SPRING time change can be rememerbered by the mnemonic "Spring Forward."
Conversely, in the FALL, when we set our clocks BACK by one hour (one hour earlier), we 'gain' an hour during the night. The fall time change can be rememerbered by the mnemonic "FALL BACK." DST will end this year on Sunday, November 5, 2023 at 2:00 am, when wem we revert back to Standard Time ('regular' time) in our time zone.
CHECK SMOKE ALARMS AND RE-SET IRRIGATION TIMERS
The beginning and ending of Daylight Saving Time is commonly used as the time to replace batteries in smoke alarms, check if smoke alarms are in working order, and set irrigation timers one hour earlier, if you have an automated irrigation system.
When testing a smoke alarm, it should sound when the "test" button is pressed. A good rule of thumb is to replace the alarm if it doesn't work properly when tested, or if the alarm is more than 10 years old.
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.
HAVE AN EMERGENCY ESCAPE PLAN
Make sure that everyone in your home knows how to respond when a smoke alarm sounds, or when a disaster, fire or other emergency 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.
HISTORY OF U.S. DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME
According to Wikipedia, in 1784, American inventor Benjamin Franklin wrote a satirical letter to the editor of Journal de Paris (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in the United States during 1918 as a seasonal time shift, introduced by a bill that lasted seven months before it was repealed.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 a form of daylight saving time, 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 2023.
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.
PROS AND CONS OF DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME
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.
"Daylight Saving Time is observed for several reasons," according to the Department of Transportation, the agency in charge of time zones and Daylight Saving Time, on March 10, 2014: "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."
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.
In the last few 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 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.