…and we fell for it.
Living in Paris in April 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote an article — fully tongue in cheek, that suggested a way that Parisians might save money on candle wax and lamp oil. (Read it here: Ben Franklin’s Essay on Daylight Saving.) Though meant as a joke, Americans and much of the western world now have made Franklin’s idea into law in the form of Daylight Saving Time (also known as Summer Time).
But can we really “save” daylight? Yes, certainly, in terms of storing sunlight in various ways it is a great idea. The Earth itself stores the energy of sunlight and releases it slowly over months. That’s why there is a lag in seasons from the astronomical dates that set them. (For example, the hottest part of summer is usually in July or August, not June when the Sun is highest.)
Fossil fuels and even the crops we grow for food and fuel are in essence stored sunlight.
But the value of shifting the clock forward and back through the year is debatable at best. If it ameliorates some problems, it exacerbates others. It’s like the situation of someone who deliberately sets their watch ahead by a half hour to avoid being late for appointments. More often than not, the person then adjusts their mental machinery to process this — knowing that the watch is fast — and still pushes things to the last possible moment and ends up late anyway. (Check out this article: “Saving daylight increases energy use.”)
Ben Franklin’s original idea was clever and humorous, not practical. But the institution of setting clocks forward and back by the season in the major economies of the world is not, in my opinion, the result of clear thinking. It is an example of politicians looking for a “quick fix” that should be dealt with in more sober and intelligent fashion.
I’m no Ben Franklin, but I know when to laugh at a joke, not set it as national and international policy.
Length of a day using Dayight Standard Time = 24 hours: Length of day in Daylight Savings Time= 24 hours. Only Politicans and people in Washington DC believe a mandated “change of the clock on a national level” can actually save time and energy. If it were ture, why not do it “All Year”.
APG,
Amen to that. I remember a line in “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” where Klaatu said, “I’m impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it.” Boy, I wish I could say that about our people!
But I guess, considering all the inanities and stupid ideas in Washington, this is more just an annoyance.
I like it light at night. so I like daylight saving even if it doesn’t save energy. My guess is it is a wash whether it does or not.
Tom,
I think you are right — it is really a matter of taste rather than energy savings. However, even if it is a wash for energy savings (although I think the argument that it actually costs more energy is likely valid), it still involves a great deal of effort and complications due to the attempt to “fool” Nature — or really just fool ourselves.
LS
If anyone watched “CBS Sunday Morning” (Charles Osgood), they would have seen a feature story on how much in Indiana alone that DST costs. The biggest increase is in AC costs in their analysis. That is suppositioned on, I suppose, that one changes the thermostat for when they aren’t home.
I find it interesting that the law instructs us to pretend that it’s one hour later than it is! No doubt, our ancestors thought of noon as midday - that moment when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky for the day, halfway between sunrise and sunset. Isn’t a bit absurd to call noon one o’clock in the afternoon because of some official decree? Why not admit that we’re getting up an hour earlier at this time of year?
Ben Franklin must be enjoying a good laugh!
Bruce