Insights For Success

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Does Daylight Saving Time reduce energy consumption

GeneralEdward Kiledjian

We switched to Daylight Saving Time (Summer Time in Europe) this past weekend and most of us are still groggy and missing that 1 extra hour of sleep. DST was first proposed by George Vernon Hudson and implemented during WWI. It was thought that by shifting people’s awake time by one hour, there would be more light in the evening this reducing the need for artificial light (aka reduce usage of electricity in the evening).

Many have wondered if there is really any benefit to this sleep-reducing tradition and recent information says no. There have been a few studies and most show little to no gain by using DST. A paper from the US National Bureau of Standards says there are absolutely no benefits.