On Sunday, the British will put their clocks back one hour to celebrate the conclusion of Daylight Saving Time, granting us all one additional hour of sleep.
Even though we could all use more time in bed, the move could have grave financial ramifications.
According to research, the annual changeover to Standard Time increases our energy and electricity expenditures by £400 each year.
This is because winter evening energy demand peaks between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., and setting the clocks back reduces the amount of daylight during this period.
This results in individuals turning on their lights and heating earlier than they would if Daylight Saving Time stayed.
Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast estimate that when the clocks are turned back at the end of October, the average household spends an additional £1.20 per day on power.
Professor Aoife Foley, an expert in sustainable energy and the study’s primary author, believes that eliminating the return to Standard Time could help individuals save money during the current cost-of-living crisis.
By omitting the winter DST in October, we save energy because the evenings are brighter throughout the winter, so we lower business and residential electrical demand as people leave work and go home earlier, requiring less lighting and heating,” she explained.
Why is Daylight Savings Time observed?
Every year, at 2 am on the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October, the clocks in the United Kingdom are advanced by one hour.
In the spring and summer, this increases the duration of evening daylight and decreases the number of hours of sunrise.
It is generally believed that Daylight Saving Time originated with the ideas of William Willett, an English builder who suggested the notion in 1907.
He persuaded the British Parliament, promoting it as a way to save money and take advantage of the extra daylight during the summer months.
As a strategy to conserve energy during the war, Germany, the United Kingdom, and many other European countries eventually adopted it in 1916.
Willett passed away just before this, which is ironic.
What effect does it have on our heating and electricity costs?
Even though Daylight Saving Time was created as a strategy to conserve money during the summer, some research has discovered that it has the opposite effect.
In 2007, the state of Indiana introduced Daylight Saving Time, and Yale economists were able to determine the associated change in residential electricity usage.
According to their research, Daylight Saving Time raised the annual home electricity demand in the state by one to four percent.
As sunlight aligned with a larger chunk of their day, people tended to use air conditioning more frequently.
Similar to Dr. Foley’s research, this study also discovered an increase in energy use in the fall, since the darker mornings caused consumers to turn on their heaters sooner.
In addition, while some research indicates that Daylight Saving Time resulted in a drop in electricity consumption because of the brighter evenings, others claim that this decrease is countered by an increase in consumption in the mornings.
On the other hand, research has indicated that Daylight Saving Time reduces the average cost of delivering energy during those seven months.
This is because it evens out energy consumption throughout the day, hence reducing provider stress.
What other effects does Daylight Saving Time have?
Time changes can disrupt sleep patterns, which can increase the levels of stress hormones that increase heart rate and blood pressure as well as inflammatory chemicals.
In general, heart attacks are more prevalent in the morning, although incident rates climb somewhat on Mondays following the springtime change when individuals rise an hour earlier than usual.
Numerous studies have also linked the beginning of daylight saving time in the spring to a small increase in automobile accidents and poor performance on measures of attentiveness, both of which are likely attributable to sleep deprivation.
The research includes a German study that discovered an increase in traffic deaths in the week following the beginning of daylight saving time, but no similar increase in the fall.
Russell Foster, a professor at Oxford University, is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the circadian rhythm, or the body’s internal clock.
He asserts that a combination of sleep deprivation and circadian rhythm disruption can potentially cause a stroke.
It is known to elevate blood pressure, which can lead to the formation of clots that restrict blood flow in the arteries leading to the brain.
In addition to negative consequences on health, the transition to Standard Time is also associated with an increase in violent and sexual offenses.
This is related to the fact that more people will walk home in the dark after work.
