March 10, 2011

Reminder: Daylight savings time starts Sunday

Purchase this image

Daylight savings time begins Sunday, March 13 at 2 a.m.

Spring forward, Granville.

As sure a sign of spring as the robins frozen to the branches and the icebergs at the end of the driveways dropping below six feet tall – daylight savings time has begun.

The key part of the saying is ‘orward’ so on Sunday, March 13 at 2 a.m. set your clocks ahead one hour before going to bed so you won’t be late for work Monday morning.

Conceived of by Benjamin Franklin, the idea of daylight savings time is meant to better utilize the hours of daylight. By changing the clocks, an hour of daylight is essentially moved from the morning to the evening when people can enjoy the additional hour of warm weather.

Franklin’s idea would not catch on for many years. It was first implemented in the United States nationally during World War I and again in World War II.

Until 1966 there were only local and state laws for daylight savings time. This led to confusion and Congress stepped in and standardized daylight saving time making it from April to October.

A consideration often cited for daylight savings time is conservation of electricity. The prevailing wisdom is that power consumption is tied to electrical demands for lighting homes and powering appliances. Studies dating back as far as the 1970s show the power consumption is about 1 percent less per day.

According to the California Department of Energy website a 1974 government study concluded daylight savings time not only saved electricity but saved lives and money as there were fewer traffic accidents. It also prevented crime by allowing people to avoid being victimized under cover of darkness.

Daylight savings time was tweaked in 2007 when President George W. Bush started it in March, three weeks earlier than before, and extended it by one week to the first Sunday in November.

Standard time resumes at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday each November.

Source – Energy.ca.gov