# Annual Daylight Savings Time Poll **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 13, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398 "2010-03-13T22:18:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/21 "2010-03-14T04:33:44Z")
It irritates the hell out of me. Despite being in Arizona, my company’s work hours are based on Central Time. I work from 9 am to 6 pm Central, which outside of DST is 8 to 5 and inside is 7 to 4. At least folks outside of Arizona can switch their clocks so that 7 is the new 8, so to speak, and continue working on the same artificial time even if you have to adjust to the different natural time. I don’t get to do that; I have to consciously shift my schedule an hour back without actually changing the clock. It’s not really that big an annoyance in the grand scheme of things, but it is tiresome and unnecessary. ---
**Author:** ![LIONsob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/76d3ee/32.png) [@LIONsob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LIONsob)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/22 "2010-03-14T05:20:57Z")
When you work night shift DST does not change anything, if the suns not up when I go to work it will be when I get off. Personaly I think we need to set the clocks ahead by 30 minutes and leave it there all year round. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/23 "2010-03-14T05:31:32Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > But it’s still light late. I guess that depends on where you live. I live in Chicago and in June it’s dusk at 8:30pm in June. If not for DST, it would be Dusk at 7:30pm. And dark by 8pm. So this gives children an opportunity to stay out longer. I guess if you live in Duluth, MN or Edmonton, Alberta it is light pretty late regardless 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/24 "2010-03-14T05:35:58Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I guess if you live in Duluth, MN or Edmonton, Alberta it is light pretty late regardless 🙂 I’m basically on the Canadian border. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/25 "2010-03-14T06:27:19Z")
I can’t stand it because I forget and go into work early or late. I have a lot of clocks, which do me no good btw and have to reset them all again. Daylight savings time and the time challenged don’t mix. Also the clock in my car is such a pain to reprogram. I drive around with it saying the wrong time till I get the manual out… In like May. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/26 "2010-03-14T06:55:47Z")
> [@pedescribe](#): > > You didn’t have an option for “I hate it with the white-hot fury of a thousand suns”, so I just clicked no. This. If I was in charge, we’d pick a time schedule and we’d stick to it. Just…stop messing with the clocks, please. That being said, I’m so glad I don’t have to work tomorrow (er, today, I guess). We’re opening an hour earlier than usual for some special event, so the folks who are usually there at 9 have to be there at 8. Which, of course, is going to feel like 7. Even my parents were like “dang, that’s brutal.” As for me? I’m sleeping 'till noon, and anyone who tries waking me up before then will do so at their peril. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/27 "2010-03-14T14:51:29Z")
I simply don’t like that DST isn’t the official standard. Based on **notfrommensa’s** comment above, there are 134 days of standard time, which means there are 231 days of non-standard time. Therefore, we should have standard time from March-November, and the remainder should be called…something else. Winter Time? Nightlight Saving Time? Daylight Loss Time? I don’t know, and I’m sure that’s why the names haven’t changed. (I barely post, and this is the second time I’ve brought this issue up, and that annoys me almost as much as the wrong part of the year being the standard.) ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/28 "2010-03-14T15:08:42Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > Repeat: It’s a PITA. I understand _why_ it was necessary way-back-when, when everyone was mostly farming-oriented, and people needed to work when there was as much _natural_ daylight as possible. Now that we have electric lights, etc. I don’t really see a need for it. That’s not the reason DST was created. How could it be? Farmers can work anytime they want to. They have as much sunlight as nature provides, regardless of what the clock says. DST is an energy saving measure, created because of those electric lights. Personally I’d like them to split the difference. Fall back a half an hour in October and just leave it there. That way it doesn’t get dark at 5 pm in December or stay light till 9:00 pm in June. But I understand DST is about energy savings, not convenience. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/29 "2010-03-14T15:14:24Z")
It’s March and already the sun has been waking me up at a quarter to seven. As painful as the transition in, I’d rather not be woken at five something in the morning this June. ---
**Author:** ![figure9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/30 "2010-03-14T15:16:03Z")
It takes me a week to adjust to the time shift. For that week I’m groggy and testy. Hate the the time change. Really hate it. I mean I hate it big time. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/31 "2010-03-14T15:29:20Z")
Well, it got me. I went to bed at midnight. When I woke up, I looked at the clock and it said ‘8:00’. Eight hours is enough in bed, so I rolled over and put my legs on the floor. There’s a little travel clock on the table, and its hands were in the wrong position. Yep. seven o’clock. My electric clock had changed itself overnight; the travel clock didn’t. Oh, well. It feels like I slept eight hours anyway. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/32 "2010-03-14T17:05:58Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > It was introduced to save electricity, but studies show it doesn’t. Thus it is purely disruptive. . Cite? Studies have been contradictory true, and it doesn’t vae a huge shit load, but (wiki): \*The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) concluded in a 2008 report that the 2007 U.S. extension of DST saved 0.5% of electricity usage during the extended period.[49] - In any case, the Master has spoken: [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/861/what-are-we-trying-to-accomplish-with-daylight-saving-time-anyway](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/861/what-are-we-trying-to-accomplish-with-daylight-saving-time-anyway) ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/33 "2010-03-14T17:22:42Z")
I love it. Dunno why, just do. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/34 "2010-03-14T17:31:29Z")
I love it, too. I love it when it stays light until 10 p.m. in the summer. I know there isn’t actually more daylight, but it _seems_ like there is. I’d rather it stay lighter on the tail end of the day, rather than it starting to get light at 3:30 a.m… ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/35 "2010-03-14T17:43:35Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > That’s not the reason DST was created. How could it be? Farmers can work anytime they want to. They have as much sunlight as nature provides, regardless of what the clock says. DST is an energy saving measure, created because of those electric lights. It’s my understanding that farmers didn’t (don’t?) like DST because, while they have as much sunlight as nature provides, they also have to account for their consumers’ schedules. That is, they lose an hour of daylight that might be used in preparing their goods for market. (I’m not sure that the lost morning hour is still such a burden, considering things like electricity availability, factory-farming, etc.) So, while I think you’re correct that “the farmers” is **not** why DST was actually instituted, I don’t think it’s for the reason you gave. (On preview, **DrDeth** ’s link to Cecil makes me wonder about the farmers. Not an argument I’m gonna pursue one way or the other.) Furthermore, IIRC (from a study done in IN – around the time they switched and while I still lived there), the “energy saving measure” aspect of DST is a farce, at best merely shifting around the _type_ (e.g., electricity for gasoline) of energy consumed. It doesn’t actually “save” energy at all. However, from what I recall, there _are_ a few items consistently associated/correlated with DST. One of them is increased consumer expenditures. Another is an increase in accidents/injuries in the week or so after the time change. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/36 "2010-03-14T18:22:29Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > My electric clock had changed itself overnight; the travel clock didn’t. Yes, and therein lies my problem - most of my electric clocks that are direct connection (Internet, cable box) re-set without me doing a thing. But my electric clock in the bedroom, supposedly set to the standard time by radio frequency, just refuses to set for the next couple of weeks. I can move it up, and by morning it has moved back; same with another battery clock/thermometer in the kitchen, set by radio frequency. Both of those clock cannot be reprogrammed and are set to the old DST dates (prior to the change by Congress a few years ago). If anyone has any suggestions how to override these clocks, let me know! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/37 "2010-03-14T19:08:34Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > But my electric clock in the bedroom, supposedly set to the standard time by radio frequency… Huh. I wondered how they did that. I thought I’d have the same problem you’re having, but my clock reset just fine. I have a government-issue 12" wall clock that receives a radio signal (supposedly broadcasting an atomic clock signal). In spite of the poor reception I have here, and much walking-around when I got it to find a place where it would receive a signal, it reset itself in the night. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/38 "2010-03-14T20:05:38Z")
I like to be outside after work as soon as it gets nice, so I’m actually glad of the time change this year. I’ve been picking up the dog, commuting home, and getting changed in a flash, just so I can take her hiking/walking in the park before dark. Now I will have another hour to amble. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/39 "2010-03-14T20:07:03Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Yes, and therein lies my problem - most of my electric clocks that are direct connection (Internet, cable box) re-set without me doing a thing. > But my electric clock in the bedroom, supposedly set to the standard time by radio frequency, just refuses to set for the next couple of weeks. I can move it up, and by morning it has moved back; same with another battery clock/thermometer in the kitchen, set by radio frequency. Both of those clock cannot be reprogrammed and are set to the old DST dates (prior to the change by Congress a few years ago). > If anyone has any suggestions how to override these clocks, let me know! I have a clock like that. It has a switch on it somewhere to manually disable the automatic updates. Double check to see if yours does. Then, once it catches up, you can switch back. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398/40 "2010-03-14T20:10:01Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > Even though my ‘baby’ is 10YO now, speaking as a mother, I can say that DST is a PITA in a _huge_ way when you have a baby on a schedule! If said baby is accustomed to going to bed at 9PM (for instance) and getting up at 6:30, all of a sudden, you want them to go to bed an hour earlier (or so their body tells them) or an hour later (repeat: or so their body tells them) than they are accustomed to. God, yes. I tried to shift my 13-month-old’s schedule by 30 minutes today to get her halfway there, which resulted in a 30-minute morning nap and an afternoon nap that started way early for her. She’s still sleeping, though, so I think the adjustment is almost there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annual-daylight-savings-time-poll/532398.md?page=3)