Opinion | Flaws in daylight saving time - The Washington Post

lonk.indah.link

The flaw in daylight saving time is that the peak temperature of the day is moved later from its normal time, which is from 2:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. solar time (depending where one is in the time zone), to 3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. The outdoor heat peak combines with home and restaurant cooking and other work activities, which causes a spike in demand and requires power companies to build larger generators (or more of them) than if the heat peaked earlier than the other high demand uses.

With the U.S. population shifting south, outdoor temperature is a major factor in determining the amount of energy needed. The sun’s heat peak for air-conditioning needs to be separated from the peak demands for energy use, not added to them.

Old studies were generally flawed as they were based on high-electricity-usage lights, televisions and stereos and did not consider air-conditioning loads, electric cooking and industrial and commercial uses.

Daylight saving time also means that more people need air-conditioning at bedtime because the heat has not dissipated.

Ronald Brown, Sarasota, Fla.

I’m reminded of how Stephen Jay Gould described perfectly that cosmic juncture of the noise and fury of the impending chaos in the lead-up to Y2K: “A precisely arbitrary” point in time.

Time is a man-made construct. At first glance, switching to permanent daylight saving time seems like a fine idea. But delve deeper, and it’s not so great.

A better idea might be to leave the clocks alone — and the time zones — and switch the entire country to permanent standard time.

The sun comes up when it comes up. The sun sets when it sets. If businesses in the hospitality industry (bars, restaurants, etc.) want to shift their hours of operation, they are free to do so.

Has anyone figured out how to get livestock to switch their inner clocks and circadian rhythms an hour ahead (or back) for feeding time, milking time, and so on? The cows’ schedule is what it is, and the farmer is the one who must make the adjustment. Likewise, any parent can tell you that there is a mighty struggle in getting kids to suddenly modify their schedule and get to school an hour earlier, or later as the case might be. The cosmic clock has been keeping time — on the same schedule — for eons. It doesn’t need to be improved.

That said, if the Sunshine Protection Act making daylight saving time permanent should turn out to be Congress’s ping-pong diplomacy moment in the interest of growing bipartisanship, then in the words of Emily Litella, “Never mind.”

George Wolske, Bumpass, Va.

First, I love the eight months of daylight saving time we have. However, before endorsing it year round, people ought to look at opinions from January 1974, when we began using it in an experiment as a way to save energy during the oil crisis. It was hastily scrapped. Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Ann Anderson, Alexandria

Adblock test (Why?)

"time" - Google News
March 21, 2022 at 04:52AM
https://ift.tt/48lLbWO

Opinion | Flaws in daylight saving time - The Washington Post
"time" - Google News
https://ift.tt/9OpDeIl