Room for debate on benefits of daylight savings time

The beginning of daylight savings time 2011 falls on March thirteen. Congress declared an earlier start date for daylight savings time five years back, believing that stretching the period would save power. Proving energy savings has been elusive since daylight savings time was extended by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Source of article - Daylight savings time 2011 not likely to save energy in the U.S. by MoneyBlogNewz.

Those who like and don't like daylight conserving time

Daylight saving time 2011 moves clocks forward one hour at 2 a.m. on March 13 everywhere in the United States except Arizona and Hawaii. Ever since Germany started daylight saving time in World War I to conserve on coal, saving power has been the reason for it. The need for electric lighting goes down when an additional hour of day is added with daylight saving time. However, it has been argued that manipulating clocks to save energy is the equivalent of stretching the length of a rope by cutting off one end and attaching it to the other. Many are confused about daylight conserving time. It may help retail and outdoor recreation but farming and entertainment hate this change yearly.

Does it really save power?

The period of daylight saving time was extended by four weeks in 2005 with the Energy Policy Act that promoted conserving energy. There was a change to the Uniform Time Act of 1966. On March 11, 2007, the first “spring forward” began. There would be a 1 percent savings of energy in the U.S. with daylight conserving time extensions according to Energy Policy Act of 2005 authors. There was a study done in Indiana with the daylight savings time change. There was really a decrease in energy saved. Converting the entire state to daylight saving time cost Indiana households an extra $8.6 million in utility bills because of higher heating costs in the morning and higher air conditioning costs in the afternoon.

Daylight conserving time benefits and drawbacks

Daylight conserving time has not been proven to conserve energy, however research has noted a rise of heart attacks during the first week of daylight conserving time, attributed to sleep deprivation. On the optimistic side, research has found that daylight saving time reduces fatal vehicle crashes and automobile collisions with pedestrians.

Citations

U.S. News and World Report

health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/sleep/articles/2009/03/03/13-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-daylight-saving-time

Wall Street Journal

online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120406767043794825.html

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Policy_Act_of_2005