Daylight Saving Time ends Sun., Nov. 3, 2024 at 2:00 am; set clocks earlier, by one hour, Sat. night
Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends in the United States on the first Sunday in November - this year on November 3, 2024. At 2:00 am, on November 3, time will revert back to Standard Time (ST) for the time zone in which you live.
The popular pnemonic to help you remember how to set your clocks for the time change is "Fall Back" in fall (autumn), which indicates that we should set our clocks back, or earlier, by one hour, and 'gain' an hour during the night.
U.S. Time Zone Abbreviations:
• Eastern Time (ET), Eastern Standard Time (EST), Eastern Daylight Saving Time (EDT)
• Central Time (CT), Central Standard Time (CST), Central Daylight Saving Time (CDT)
• Mountain Time (MT), Mountain Standard Time (MST), Mountain Daylight Saving Time (MDT)
• Pacific Time (PT), Pacific Standard Time (PST), Pacific Daylight Saving Time (PDT)
If it is 12:00 pm noon in Eastern Time, it is 11:00 am in Central Time, 10:00 am in Mountain Time and 9:00 am in Pacific Time (time becomes 'earlier' as you travel from east to west in the time zones, one hour per time zone, or 'later' as you travel from west to east).
U.S. exceptions to the time change include Hawaii and Arizona (although the Navajo Nation, located partially in Arizona, does observe DST) and U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Guam.
The beginning and ending of Daylight Saving Time is commonly used as the time to:
• Replace batteries in smoke alarms.
• Check your smoke alarms to ensure they are in working order.
• Set your irrigation timers one hour earlier, if you have an automated irrigation system.
Smoke Alarms
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 also 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.
Review Your Emergency Escape Plan or Make One
Make sure that everyone in your home knows how to respond when a smoke alarm sounds - or when any disaster strikes - with an escape plan, to ensure that everyone will be able to safely and quickly get out of the home. After the immediate danger is over, plan to meet in a place that’s a safe distance from your house, but in a nearby area where first responders and other residents of your home can easily see you.
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 7 months before it was repealed.
During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt re-established a 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. It allows states to opt out and exempt themselves from the practice, but does not allow states to permanently establish Daylight Saving Time. This measure is still in effect today, although modifications have been made (see below).
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 deemed unsuccessful 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, the beginning and ending dates of Daylight Saving Time were changed, to begin on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November, which is still in effect.
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. Because federal law does not currently allow full-time DST (due to the Uniform Time Act of 1966), Congress would have to enact new legislation before any state could adopt this change.
Since 2018, 19 states have enacted legislation or passed a resolution to provide for year-round Daylight Saving Time, a move known by many as "lock the clock," if Congress were to allow such a change, and in some cases, if surrounding states would enact similar legislation. These states include Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi and Montana in 2021; Idaho, Louisiana, Ohio (resolution), South Carolina, Utah and Wyoming in 2020; Arkansas, Delaware, Maine, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington in 2019; and Florida and California in 2018)
Pros and Cons of Daylight Saving Time
On March 10, 2014, the Department of Transportation, the agency in charge of time zones, made this statement about 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."
Although DST was originally enacted as a way to save energy by giving more daylight in the evening hours, some studies have called into question the degree of energy savings. Some studies have shown negative impacts on the health of people and their circadian rhythm (wake/sleep pattern) because of time changes, and a higher number of car crashes and workplace injuries in the days after a time change.
Some people claim that shifting clocks to and from Daylight Saving Time could potentially disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, and sleep patterns, although computer software programs generally adjust clocks automatically to avoid problems with time changes.
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.
Similar Time Changes
Daylight Saving Time 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.