Top 7 Myths About Daylight Saving Time

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Daylight saving time is the practice of moving the clock forward by an hour in the summers. This gains one extra hour of sunlight in the evening while sacrificing daylight in the mornings. Places that observe daylight saving time move the clock forward by one hour in the spring and back by one hour in the fall. In other words, you lose an hour of sleep in the spring but gain it back in the fall. However, most people don’t really know the history of daylight saving time. In fact, there are a lot of false facts out there about this day. With that in mind, check out the top 7 myths about daylight saving time.

7. The Germans Were the First to Use Daylight Saving Time

One of the biggest myths about Daylight saving time is that the Germans were the first to adopt it. In reality, they adopted daylight saving time in 1916 during WWI in order to conserve energy. While they were the first country to fully adopt the practice and make it popular, in reality, they were not the first to officially do so. In fact, Port Arthur in Ontario, Canada were following DST as early as 1908. In addition, Regina, Sask adopted it in 1914 and Winnipeg did so in 1916.^[1]Reader’s Digest – 6 Biggest Myths About Daylight Saving Time—Debunked!

6. The United States was the first country to practice DST

Benjamin Franklin first thought of the idea of daylight saving time in order to have people wake up with the daylight and therefore conserve burning candles. However, the United States was not the first country to practice daylight saving time. In fact, the British mostly likely practiced it first. In addition, as stated before, Germany officially adopted DST in WWI. The US Chamber of Commerce soon followed suit by backing a measure to adopt daylight savings time. They did so because they thought that the extra hour of daylight would promote people buying more things.^[2]Big Think – Daylight saving time 2018: 7 myths and facts about changing the clock

5. Daylight Saving Time Is Good For Your Health

Many people think that because daylight saving time means more hours of sun, that you can get more beneficial vitamin D. While this is true, this doesn’t mean the DST is actually good for your health. In fact, according to numerous studies, daylight saving time is linked to an increase in health problems and road accidents. For example, a 2008 Swedish study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that heart attack rates increase significantly for the first 3 weeks after daylight saving time.^[3]Reader’s Digest – 6 Biggest Myths About Daylight Saving Time—Debunked! In addition, according to Manitoba Public Insurance, in 2014, there was a 20% increase in car crashes in Manitoba following spring daylight savings time.

4. The US Adopted DST to Help Farmers

One of the original reasons the government gave for daylight saving time was to help farmers by giving them more hours of daylight to work out in the fields. However, in reality, many farmers actually fought the adoption of it. In fact, for many farmers it meant that there was 1 hour less in the morning to milk the cows as well as get the vegetables to market. In addition, some farmers thought that by changing the time, it would take them off of “God’s time.” Daylight saving time was unpopular enough, that after WWI it was repealed and wasn’t made official until 1966.^[4]Sixty Fifth Congress

3. Everyone Observes Daylight Saving Time

One of the biggest myths about daylight saving time is that everyone in the world observes it. In fact, a lot of the world doesn’t follow DST. For example, many countries around the equator don’t follow DST. In addition, many countries in Asia and Africa, Iceland, as well as states such as Arizona and Hawaii don’t follow DST. One of the main reasons for this is that in many of these areas daylight hours don’t change that much with the change of the seasons.^[5]Reader’s Digest – 6 Biggest Myths About Daylight Saving Time—Debunked!

2. Daylight Saving Time Saves Energy

One of the myths about Daylight saving time is that it saves energy. In fact, the US Congress passed the Energy Policy Act in 2005, which extended daylight savings time to a total of 8 months. This was the second time they did it. The first was in 1984. However, according to a study in 2008 by the US department of Energy, the amount of energy saved due to the increase of DST was extremely modest at only 0.003%. In addition, another study by the University of California Santa Barbara found that the energy usage might have actually increased! This was supported by the state of Indiana which found that with the extra sunlight, people were more likely to run their air conditioning longer.^[6]Impact of Extended Daylight Saving Time on National Energy Consumption

1. The Correct Spelling is “Daylight Savings Time”

In Australia and North America, many people refer to DST as “Daylight Savings Time”. However the actual correct spelling is “Daylight Saving Time”. In addition, depending on where you live in the world DST is to referred to by many different names. For example, in England it is called “Summer Time” and in Italy it is called “Ora Legale”.^[7]Reader’s Digest – 6 Biggest Myths About Daylight Saving Time—Debunked!