1. Daylight Savings History
Daylight Savings Time was first used in 1908 in Thunder Bay, Canada, before Germany and Austria popularized it in 1916, two years into WWI. The rationale was to minimize the use of artificial lighting to save fuel for the war effort. Within a few weeks, other European countries and the UK followed but reverted to standard time after the war was over and it wasn’t until WWII that it made its comeback to Europe to help conserve energy and make better use of sunlight which would lower the workload of electric suppliers. Benjamin Franklin is also credited for suggesting Parisians could economize candle usage by getting people out of bed earlier in the morning back in 1784, but it was actually a joke.
DST is a seasonal time change measure where clocks are set ahead of standard time during part of the year, usually by one hour. As DST starts, the Sun rises and sets later on the clock than the day before. If you think Daylight Saving Time is a good idea, thank New Zealand scientist George Vernon Hudson and British builder William Willett who proposed a two hour shift in March and October in 1895, but it was never followed through. In 1905, Willett suggested setting the clocks ahead 20 minutes on each of the four Sundays in April, and switching them back by the same amount on each of the four Sundays in September, a total of eight time switches per year. He caught the attention of the Parliament and a bill was drafted for the House of Commons in 1908. the United Kingdom started using DST in May 1916.
Although modern DST has only been used for about 100 years, ancient civilizations are known to have engaged in comparable practices thousands of years ago. For example, the Roman water clocks used different scales for different months of the year to adjust the daily schedules to the solar time.
But, it was later discovered that as far as conserving energy efficiency, it’s not all black and white- which is always the case whenever there is a human involved.
2. Daylight Savings Time And Energy Conservation
People may think that with the time shift, they are conserving electricity otherwise spent on lighting. But recent studies have cast doubt on the energy argument—some research has even found that it ultimately leads to greater power use. A lot of research has been done, during which time the U.S. electricity usage patterns have changed as air conditioning and household electronics have become more pervasive.
Although daylight time reduces demand for household lighting, the researchers suggest that it increased demand for cooling on summer evenings and heating in early spring and late fall mornings.
Not all recent analyses suggest that daylight saving is counterproductive. Looking at 67 electric utilities across the country both commercial and residential, a 2008 report found that the four-week extension of daylight time saved about 0.5 percent of the nation’s electricity per day, or 1.3 trillion watt-hours in total. That amount could power 100,000 households for a year.
Retailers, especially those involved with sports and recreation, have historically argued hardest for extending daylight time. Representatives of the golf industry, for instance, told Congress in 1986 that an extra month of daylight saving was worth up to $400 million annually in extra sales and fees.
So instead of worrying about cranking up the air conditioner at home, think about what more you can do outdoors when the sun is out. Or even better, how to make your home and lifestyle more energy efficient.
3. Energy Conservation Tips
Energy efficiency means you are using less energy to do the same jobs, reducing your home’s energy waste and saving money. It requires you to become aware of your energy usage patterns and identify where it is being wasted and how you can make your living more energy-efficient.
Cook wisely by not peeking in your oven while baking because every time you do that, you reduce the temperature as it allows heat to escape and therefore your oven has to work harder to rebound. Heat your meals in the microwave and not on the stove.
Use ceiling fans to reduce the burden on your AC. During summer, they will cool you down. However, during winter, they can make your house warmer by pushing the hot air down – all it takes is to reverse their direction.
Let the sunshine in during winter for some free heat. During summer, keep your blinds closed to preserve indoor cold from the outside heat. Make sure your windows don’t have any drafts as the better your home is sealed the less energy is wasted.
Dress for the weather by putting on many layers during winter, along with warm socks, blankets and gloves if necessary, as any part of your body that is uncovered is losing heat. During summer, wear as little as possible so your AC doesn’t have to work hard in creating North Pole temperatures to cool you off.
Takeaway
Even though Benjamin Franklin meant it is a joke, the truth is that getting up with the sunrise enables us to complete many tasks before the night falls. Science gave us the gift of electricity, but we shouldn’t take it for granted as at the end of the day, working throughout the day and sleeping at night is the natural thing to do – and living in a way that honor’s a natural rhythm is healthier and more energy-efficient.
