Daylight Savings Time. Most of us in Australia, save for Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, have been practising this semi-annual time change for as long as we can remember. More summer light and theoretically less power consumption. But is it really so great?
C.G.P. Grey put together an infographic-y video that breaks down all the benefits and pitfalls of Daylight Savings Time, complete with a history of the practice and a statistical breakdown to support the arguments for and against. For example, the sleep adjustment to the time change can cause dips in production and health hazards as a result of fatigue. But who doesn’t love having the sun out until 8pm? [C.P.G. Grey]
Gordon
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 7:16 AMnice vid
ideasman
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 7:34 AMyep i enjoyed that.. there were some good lols in it
krow
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 8:11 AMfunny start to the day
Limimi
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 9:13 AMThat was good, also it reminded me of Paul F Tompkins’ bit about DST – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_EkxFlVqZA
Chris
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 9:24 AMAll I took away from this was that the average US household only spends $400 a year on their electricity bills ($4 saved is 1% of total average usage), either my Australian household is extremely wasteful or we are being gouged severely for our energy here ($400 is about what we are charged PER MONTH!)
Ollie
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:18 AMIf you’re using $100p/w in power you definitely have some issues dude.
Ozoneocean
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 4:18 PMEVERYTHING is way, way cheaper in the US- has nothing to do with the conversion rate either: food, electricity, fuel, everything.
Yes we ARE being gouged, very deeply.
The Corrector
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 11:32 PMApprox $400 is the median power bill per QUARTER. Check the ABS stats.
Corrector needs Correcting
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 11:34 PMCorrector – I think you meant to reply to Chris
olearymo
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 9:31 AMI still don’t really ‘get’ DST. If it’s so great having sunlight later in the day, why not do it all year round?
Roland
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 9:48 AMYou’re obviously from WA, NT or North Queensland…
olearymo
Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 10:30 AMSouthern QLD actually. Why did you say specifically north? Unless I’m missing something and getting into work at the wrong time every day!
Used to live in NSW. Wondered the same thing then.
Timmahh
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 3:04 PMYeah, it definitely won’t work, because, well, you know, the curtains fade and the cows don’t come in. Bloody hell, it’s seasonal, the days are longer or shorter from one season to another, so adjust the clock to get the most working hours of light. Qld needs to get this done, I’m sick of being an hour in front when I’m doing business with NSW.
olearymo
Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 10:34 AMAre you implying that adjusting the clock in winter, so that 5 o’clock (nature) becomes 4 o’clock (by measurement), wouldn’t result in us enjoying an extra hour of sunlight?
You’re implying the sun would magically set earlier? Forget fading curtains mate, you seem to think it alters the solar system!
My question was why it’s only done in summer and not all the time. Doesn’t seem anyone has a good answer.
taau
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 12:07 AMhe was being sarcastic, they are references to the “augments” from FNQLDers against DST (probably Katter :P).
Ian
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 9:50 AMI love my DST. As I enjoy being outside in the warmer weather, DST gives me that extra hour :D
codework
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:10 AMI’d happily abolish it in a heartbeat. And I am always curious about why some folk choose to add an S to Saving making it Daylight Savings Time. Is that a geographical or social marker?
Phil
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:47 AMSo much agree about the extra S. Crazy. And it’s spreading.
John
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 8:36 PMyour bank account is a savings account. not a saving account. same with this.
Ollie
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:19 AMWhat I don’t understand is why we don’t just move half an hour in the middle and leave it at that permanently…
Ozoneocean
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 4:24 PMThat’s it exactly! There is no reason to en-mass yearly alter everyone’s body clock and time structure only so some people can imagine that they have an extra hour.
It’s quite crazy really. If they’re that mad for it, your half an hour solution is the perfect fix!
Allan
Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 11:00 AMA simple solution that avoids the six monthly time changes and resultant time differences between the States was tabled in the Queensland Parliament this year. It proposes one time zone for ALL the eastern states with year round daylight saving and no time changes ever again. Just advance the clocks by 30 minutes in QLD, NSW and VIC and be an hour ahead of SA/NT time. SA can still advance their clocks in summer (for 4-6 months) and be in the same time zone as the eastern states for however long they chose. http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Documents/TableOffice/TabledPapers/2011/5311T4685.pdf
miguel sanchez
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 12:44 PMmy cat’s breath smells like cat food.
Mark
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 12:53 PMWhy not get rid of DST and just adjust your working hours?
Sicarius123
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:33 PMI work 8-4, and I still love the extra hour of usable daylight after my working day that DST gives me.
I’d hate to waste my summer inside at work.
Neil Nuttall
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 1:14 PMAll this talk about having more light at the end of the day, nobody talking about less light at the start of the day. If for one reason and one reason only, I’m very happy to have DST stop the light peeking in around the curtains at 5am
Paul
Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 12:32 AMWouldn’t that mean it would rise at 4am without DST?
Danny
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 2:25 PMJust make every day start with sunrise at 6am and be done with it. No need to jump an hour forwards or backwards every 6 months, but all the benefits of daylight saving! (OK, non-wirelessly connected watches might become redundant, but that’a a small price to pay)
Me
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 3:54 PMSeriously, if you want an extra hour at the end of the day, GET UP AN HOUR EARLIER!! There is no reason why DST has to be put in place for everyone. If you don’t have flextime at your workplace yet, seriously, tell your boss to get caught up with the 21st century…
red t-rex
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 4:48 PMThat’s easy to say if you work in a cubicle or some job in isolation but a lot of society runs on schedules that rely on common time due to interactions with each other. Anyone involved with transport can’t elect to individually change their starting times e.g. pilots, train/bus/ferry drivers, etc. Retail outlets also have standard trading hours and deliveries are often scheduled around these. If Person A decides to change their start time and Person B relies on Person A being somewhere at a certain time or completing a task at a certain time then everything gets screwed up. Any sort of manufacturing would suffer from this as well.
That is why DST is needed as it is a coordinated shift in the time system to stop things falling apart.
Me
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 8:07 PMNothing gets screwed up if nobody changes their clocks. Just means that those who need to be in certain places at certain times still need to be in those places at those times.
If you really want an hour in the evening to go surfing or whatever, but your work schedule doesn’t allow it, you should consider changing careers, talking to the boss etc – this is a personal choice which should NOT impact everyone else.
Me
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 8:10 PM…Basically I’m saying. Just because you want to go surfing in the evening is no reason for me to get out of bed an hour earlier :)
red t-rex
Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 3:37 AMExcept when a majority agree to change the time (rightly or wrongly). Then it is you who decides to stay in bed and start work later than everyone else and thats your choice. It obviously bothers you but there are many who hold a different view (maybe a majority maybe not) and then there are those who are ambivalent about it and just go with the flow. It’s just another compromise made in the name of a democratic process.
Ross
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 5:50 PMI say DST is like changing my calendar and saying it’s my birthday.
It’s a solution to a problem without actually offering a solution.
A more logical solution would be to just shift work hours rather than pretending time has changed.
On a personal note, i reckon the better solution is to have everyone work an hour less. The average working week is arbitrary already.