Can someone explain what DST is for? I was told it was for the farmers.
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Can someone explain what DST is for? I was told it was for the farmers.
In theory, the thinking goes, since we have more natural daylight during times when most people are awake, we are consuming less electricity in our houses. I'm too lazy to look it up on whether or not it actually saves any energy though.
Can someone explain what DST is for? I was told it was for the farmers.
Just a guess, but it was probably for an extra hour of sunlight. I can see why it would have been a good idea way back when we did not have the light bulb, but nowadays, its probably not as significant as it was before since we can pretty much have light on demand now...
Of course, I could be way off...
Last edited by FlamingStuffedTiger; 03-13-2010 at 08:26 PM.
I think most farmers either dislike or are indifferent to it since they work when they need to regardless of what the clock says.
The origins of DST go back to the war when there were blackouts in towns and cities in an effort to reduce the likelihood of aerial bombings at night, because it got darker later, people could do things later in the day without the need for artificial lighting. It also provides a way to reduce energy consumption by pushing back the need for people to use electrical lighting an hour later during the summer months.
In June, it stays light in Calgary until well after 10pm. Sunrise in June is still at 5:30am even with DST, and since there are a lot more people awake at 10pm than at 4:30am, it makes sense to shift the clock an hour later.
DST is great for golf courses and other businesses that rely on people participating outside during daylight hours, but not so much for drive-in theatres and other businesses that do better when it's dark out.
Daylight savings time keeps getting extended - when they did the latest change I seem to recall hearing some talk about going to DST year-round. If that happens, since there is actually some astronomical significance to time of day (e.g. 12:00 is when the sun is directly overhead), I think it just makes sense to shift everyone's schedule by an hour (have the financial institutions open an hour earlier, and everyone else will end up following).
I have SAD, so I love Daylight Savings Time. December is hell when it gets dark at 3:30pm.
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Daylight Saving Time
Damn last call moved an hour earlier.
