Spring ahead before going to bed

First anniversary of extended Daylight Saving Time
Sat Mar 08, 2008

Don't forget to set your clock ahead one hour before going to bed tonight, Saturday, March 8.

Homeowners and businesses across North America will spring ahead tonight for tomorrow's first anniversary of our switch to extended DST, and the annual, sudden addition of daylight into our evenings.

The brainchild of Benjamin Franklin in 1784, Daylight Saving Time has been ticking off people since Germany, and then England, first tried it in 1916. Moving clocks ahead in spring gained a solid foothold during the energy rationing of World War II and the U.S. stretched DST to nine months during the oil crisis in the mid-1970s.

Our current additional six weeks of Daylight Saving Time – three in March and three in October/November – show some actual savings. The province's Independent Electricity Service Operator found a small drop in energy demand and use, says spokesperson Martine Holmsen.

During last March's extra three weeks' Daylight Saving Time, peak evening demand dropped 225 megawatt-hours, roughly the peak demand of a community the size of Guelph.

"We'd like to see the results over a greater period of time," says Holmsen. "But anything that can reduce electricity demand and consumption is a good thing."


As always, it is recommended you change the batteries in your fire alarms, to coincide with the time change.


-- with files from Torstar Network
http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/Breaki ... icle/95015