Daylight Saving Time, does it save energy?

March 20th, 2014 by Energyworx

The main reason for changing the clocks to Daylight Saving Time (DST) a.k.a. “Summer time” is that is saves energy. The pattern of use of energy has strong connection to the use of electricity in our homes, when we go to bed and when we wake up. During the evening lights and television is on, when we go to bed these are turned off.
But do these energy consumers contribute this much to the DST savings?
Daylight Savings Time, makes the sunset one hour later, which reduces the period between sunset and bedtime by one hour. This means less electricity usage by lighting and other appliances.
Even though the savings per household is minimal, because of the mass effects on the entire population that uses DST, the savings are huge.
There is a lot of controversy on Daylight Savings Time, even today different countries and regions are changing their approach to DST.
It complicates timekeeping and disrupts meetings, travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment and sleep patterns. But also in software programs this can lead to strange behavior if not correctly implemented. Especially when processing meter data the implementation of DST can be done from different points of view.
A few resources with more information and historical facts on this topic can be found on:

  • WebExhibits – Daylight Saving Time
  • Time and Date
  • Wikipedia

On Saturday March 30th the clock time will be advanced with 1 hour, which starts the DST time for 2014.

— Energyworx