Daylight Saving Time... What does it really save

As every process has a purpose, I started researching on the purpose of Daylight Saving Time (referred to as DST further in the blog). The most common reason I came across was "optimizing the energy utilization by utilizing day light". However, up on deep diving in to the concept of DST, I came across statistics which contradict with "optimizing energy utilization". Also, there could be other efficient ways of playing around with clock to use power efficiently. This assumes high significance owing to ever increasing oil prices.

Let us dwell up on the concept of DST. DST is nothing but getting up early to reach office at the same time. I am sure the above sentence is very confusing. Let me explain in a different way. DST is nothing but advancing clock so that "day" starts early and ends early.

Let us discuss various advantages of DST.

1) As a normal day would start early and end early, this leaves more time for leisure. This encourage people to spend more time outdoors.

2) As a typical day would end early leaving more time for activities like shopping (much to the delight of women :) and to the retailers ofcourse) and partying.

3) Reduction in energy consumption due to the extra one hour of sunlight which is utilized in the evening owing to getting up early.

I am not sure if there are any other advantages of DST. My initial reading on DST led me to the above and I very much agree with the first two advantages. I would like to discuss one more factor which is cited as an advantage of DST before focusing on energy utilization.

4) People would drive back to home when the sun is still in the sky making driving relatively safer.

I am not able to comprehend how driving is made safer by the extra sunlight offered by DST. Let us restrict our discussion to the American context. First of all, DST is implemented during spring and summer. During those six months, most of the working people would drive back to their respective homes from work when sun is still in the sky even without DST taking effect. Those who would be benefiting by driving are the one who spend that extra time for other activities. So, the people who would be benefiting are the ones who would spend time outdoors.

Let us talk about energy consumption. It looks very obvious that energy consumption would be reduced by DST. Effectively, we utilize sunlight by getting up early and not sleeping when the sun is already in the sky. However, there are lot of factors which needs to be considered before concluding that DST would actually result in efficient power utilization. Few of them being; geographic location, climate and social habits of the populace in the region. However, if the decrease in consumption in the evening is more than the increase in power consumption in the morning, isn't it worth trying DST during winter? However, there needs to be empirical evidence to support this claim. Contrary to popular belief that DST results in reduction in energy consumption, certain studies by National Bureau of Standards reveal that DST does not always result in reduction in energy consumption.

However, DST could result in better performance of retailers. Is DST the boon to retailers who are devoid of shopping festivities like thanksgiving, christmas, new years eve etc which are all during winter?


DISCLAIMER: The contents of this blog are strictly my personal opinions and not those of any organization/institution I am a part of, nor made in any official capacity of such organization/institution unless expressly stated otherwise and where I am explicitly authorized to do so.