Sunday March 25, 2007

Daylight saving time isn't worth the trouble

Changing our clocks for daylight saving time allegedly saves energy but I haven't seen any data that supports that assertion.

I was in Menlo Park during the recent DST change in the US. Prior to the change, I would wake up to a warm morning but after the change, it was barely dawn and the night chill was still in the air...which meant I, for one, used more energy; lights because it was dark and heating because it was cold.

The energy saving claim just doesn't scan with me and it seems that I'm not the only one who finds this explanation dubious. Kellogg and Wolff of the University of California Energy Institute wrote this paper that digs into these claims and concludes that they're inaccurate.

Now, I don't have anything against DST in terms of the choice of hour, I just wish we'd stop tweaking the clocks back and forth - not to mentioning causing chaos by changing when we tweak them for, apparently, no genuine benefit. I end up having to re-adjust my mental clock in relation to all my colleagues and friends in different locations around the world, which drives me nuts.

Pick a time and stick to it. Please! (2007-03-25 05:29:11.0) Permalink Comments [1]