Daylight Saving Time: Myths, Misconceptions, And Its Impact On Modern Life

When you go to bed on Saturday night, don't forget to set your clocks ahead an hour. Also don't forget to change the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detector.  So what is the whole concept behind Daylight Saving Time?

For the longest time, I thought it had to do with the farmers and giving them more time in the field. Fake news, and in fact, the opposite is true. The farmers have been the strongest opponent against DST because the lost hour actually hurts them and the cows (like humans) don't adjust very well to the change.

Daylight Saving Time Myth

The concept of Daylight Saving Time is thought to begin with Benjamin Franklin. He wrote a letter to a French journalist in 1774. Traci has the rest of the story here. In the U.S., DST didn't start until WWI when Congress decided to give the idea a try in 1918 in an effort to save energy.

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They passed the law in the same act that created standard time zones, but that was repealed the following year. During the next big war in 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt tried a concept that he called "War Time." He wanted to permanently set the clocks an hour earlier all-year-round to save energy.

Does Daylight Saving Time Save Energy

After the war ended in 1945, most states adopted a summer-only time change. It was supposed to save energy but as the farmers could have told them, it's not true. In fact, because of air conditioning, we could be using 1% more electricity.

Here's my takeaway, until all this spring forwarding and fall backing comes to an end, just remember to set your clock ahead on Saturday night. Besides, you don't want to arrive at church, as the pastor is saying the closing prayer...do you?

On second thought, don't answer that.