# Does your country adopt daylight savings time in summer?



## Heba

Hi
I wander if many countries adopt the summer time by putting all clocks one hour ahead to save daylight. 
The summer-time is adopted here in Egypt. I thought that all countries follow this system in the summer, but when I visited KSA, I found out that summer-time is not adopted there.

I would like to know if it is followed in other parts of the world.


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## gato2

En España,en verano, vamos con dos horas de adelanto con respecto la hora UTC mientras que en invierno vamos con una sola hora de adelanto.


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## osloborger

HI!

In Argentina, we don´t change to sommer or winter time, we just maintain the same difference with GMT all year round. In Norway as in Egypt, we put our clocks one our ahead to enjoy the beatifull extra light we get during summer.

Enjoy the spring!!!! 

Oborg...-


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## maxiogee

Oh yes, we do it here in Ireland, and I would prefer if we didn't. It used to be something done to allow more daylight in the evenings for agricultural work, I believe, but I don't see the need for it now that we have a lot fewer people engaged in agriculture.


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## DearPrudence

Yes, in France and in the UK we adopt summer-time.
(not so bad for me as daylight woke me up at 6:30 and now it's 7:30  but apart from that, there is a 'debate' in France to know if it's still useful)


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## Fernando

As a general rule, countries close to Equator does not change (as an example, Venezuela). 

European Union change the time.

And Chile change to summer time also.


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## ag1059

maxiogee said:
			
		

> Oh yes, we do it here in Ireland, and I would prefer if we didn't. It used to be something done to allow more daylight in the evenings for agricultural work, I believe, but I don't see the need for it now that we have a lot fewer people engaged in agriculture.


But what about those who are still engaged in agriculture? Also, the arrival of Summer would be far less exciting if the evenings were still relatively dark around this time of the year... Changing the clocks is symbolic of what is to come!  But I suppose it's a little annoying..Maybe a compromise: put the clocks back 30 minutes and just keep it there all year round (that'd be in UK and most of Europe)

I still think it's a nice thing to do - one of the few things that brings a whole country together (ok, that's a little romantic, but it's sort of true - anyone know what i mean?)


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## Fernando

Yeah, we are all together asleep on Monday.


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## Vanda

We do. From middle October to middle February. Until some years ago it was valid for the whole country, nowadays it´s for the Southeast, South and Center-West states.


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## maxiogee

ag1059 said:
			
		

> But what about those who are still engaged in agriculture?



Can't they get up earlier if they want to avail of extra daylight?


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## fenixpollo

ag1059 said:
			
		

> I still think it's a nice thing to do - one of the few things that brings a whole country together (ok, that's a little romantic, but it's sort of true - anyone know what i mean?)


Living as I do in the only state in the contiguous 48 of the United States that does not observe daylight savings time, I am proud to say that I do not know what you mean.  It is a confusing, obsolete and unnecessary tradition.  Hopefully, the rest of the country (and the world) will come around to our way of thinking before too long.


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## Fernando

The DST was "invented" (or at least, its use grew) during the 70s, when the paranoia around oil prices triggered all kind of energy-saving measures.

It is suppossed to serve to optimize the daylight adapting it to the working time. There are studies that says it saves around 7% of yearly energy consumption. To me it is so a gross overestimation that I think is just another urban legend that journalists repeat every six months.

Please, if someone has better information, let us know. In Europe, when we have the same time from Galicia (Spain) to Galitzia (Poland), 3,000 km away or so and where we do not share a life style is hard to estimate the saving.

Some people have said it saves because of its psycological effect: The more saving measures, the more the people will worry about saving energy.


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## maxiogee

Time was when all time was local. When the sun was overhead it was noon. Then came the feckin' railways and time had to be standardised. I can accept the concept of every contiguous set of 15º of longtitude being all at the same time, but after that it's just plain wrong to go mucking about with the clock.


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## Bettie

In Mexico we have adopted the summer time, that happened around  eight years ago... it was hard at the beginning and still is... I want my hour back!!!!!


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## Hakro

maxiogee said:
			
		

> Time was when all time was local. When the sun was overhead it was noon. Then came the feckin' railways and time had to be standardised. I can accept the concept of every contiguous set of 15º of longtitude being all at the same time, but after that it's just plain wrong to go mucking about with the clock.


That's exactly what happened in Finland, too. A hundred years ago there were three different noons in Finland, and it's not a very "broad" country. It was too difficult for the trains and the timetables, so they changed it.


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## over

Fernando said:
			
		

> In Europe, when we have the same time from Galicia (Spain) to Galitzia (Poland), 3,000 km away or so and where we do not share a life style is hard to estimate the saving.


I recently found out that in the UK during WWII there was constant "double summertime" (two hours ahead of GMT/UTC) for several years.
I guess that would have made the evenings arrive even later than they do in Galicia.


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## fenixpollo

But in Mexico there has been a lot of debate about el horario de verano, right?  Several years ago, the governor of Mexico city and some other regional politicians rebelled against the federal government and said that they wouldn't observed DST, but then later they went back on it.  

Definitely a hot topic in some areas.


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## Hakro

Yes, we have winter time and summer time in Finland, but the one hour difference isn't enough. In summertime the night is maybe three hours, and it's not really dark at all. In wintertime the day is three hours, and if it's cloudy there's no real daylight at all.

For us it's no problem as we're used to it. We have our own habits. But there was a foreigner who came to Lapland and asked a local man:

"How is your life here in the middle of nowhere, what do you do?"

"It's fine, in summertime we fish and we f***."

"I see - but in wintertime, when it's really cold?"

"Well, in wintertime we don't fish."


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## TrentinaNE

maxiogee said:
			
		

> Can't they get up earlier if they want to avail of extra daylight?


I live in the U.S.'s Eastern time zone. My company has offices on the west coast as well, so our work day tends to start later, while theirs starts earlier (in regard to our respective time zones) so that we can overlap more (in real terms). Realistically, people tend to engage in leisure activities after the work day ends rather than before it starts, so having that extra daylight in summer hours is just fine by me.  

In addition, I live in the far eastern portion of my time-zone (Boston could almost be in the next zone east in purely geographic terms), so our daylight hours are already very front-loaded. Even with DST, it's prettu much dark by 9 p.m. at the summer solstice. I think Bostonians and New Yorkers in general give DST a big  .

Elizabeth


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## Pivra

Equatorial countries don't change the time


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## panjandrum

over said:
			
		

> I recently found out that in the UK during WWII there was constant "double summertime" (two hours ahead of GMT/UTC) for several years.
> I guess that would have made the evenings arrive even later than they do in Galicia.





> British Summer Time was permanently in force during the Second World War from February 1940 until October 1945 and again from February 1968 until October 1971.
> Double summer time was in force from 1941-1947 except for 1946.


 Source dee dum, dee dum.


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## danielfranco

Yes.
In both countries I have lived (México and USA) they both spring forward in Spring, and fall back in Fall.
So far, the only benefit I perceive this schedule has wrought in my daily life is that it is a fairly faithful reminder for changing the batteries for the smoke alarms and the weather radio.


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## te gato

Yes we do here as well..
We set the clocks forward one hour last sat. April 1st at midnight.And Right now I am still mixed up in my sleeping..
tg


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## winnie

Fernando said:
			
		

> It is suppossed to serve to optimize the daylight adapting it to the working time. There are studies that says it saves around 7% of yearly energy consumption. To me it is so a gross overestimation that I think is just another urban legend that journalists repeat every six months.


 
Here http://193.108.204.130/ita/search/search.asp you can find some reports on energy savings iussed by Italian national elettric agency.
Unfortunately it's only in Italian but they say we saved:

2005: 640.000.000 kWh,  69 Euro Millions
2004: 609.000.000 kWh, 61 Euro Millions

for this year they forecast an energy saving similar to the amount of energy used by an Italian Region  in the same period, so this is not working for peanuts, according to me!


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## weirdgirl

Japan doesn't have summer time/daylight savings time so in the winter it is 8 hours ahead of GMT and in summer 9 hours ahead of BST.

Máire


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## Brioche

Heba said:
			
		

> Hi
> I wander if many countries adopt the summer time by putting all clocks one hour ahead to save daylight.
> 
> I would like to know if it is followed in other parts of the world.


 
Parts of Australia have summer time.
Australia has 3 time zones.
Western = GMT +8, in Western Australia
Central = GMT +9.5 (yes, nine and a half hours) in South Australia, Northern Territory
Eastern = GMT +10 in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania.

In summer, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania have Summer Time, but Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland do not.

Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory is west of the time line, so it effectively has 50 minutes of daylight saving all the time.

Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, is east of the time line, and has 45 minutes of "daylight wasting" all the time.

People say it's hard to get the kids to bed when there's daylight saving, but being woken up by them in the morning is much worse.
I lived in Brisbane with very young children, who woke up at sunrise.  In Brisbane that is 4:45 am.  Not much fun.
In Adelaide the earliest sunrise (thanks to daylight saving) is 5:55 am.
I liked that extra hour and 10 minutes in bed in the morning.


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## Fernando

winnie said:
			
		

> Here http://193.108.204.130/ita/search/search.asp you can find some reports on energy savings iussed by Italian national elettric agency.
> Unfortunately it's only in Italian but they say we saved:
> 
> 2005: 640.000.000 kWh,  69 Euro Millions
> 2004: 609.000.000 kWh, 61 Euro Millions
> 
> for this year they forecast an energy saving similar to the amount of energy used by an Italian Region  in the same period, so this is not working for peanuts, according to me!



Thank you very much.

The link did not work so I could not read it (with my pathetic Itañol).

I think a saving of 69 m euros means every Italian receives one euro for the cost of sleeping badly two or three nights a year and have to change all watches.

To me it does not pay.


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## winnie

Fernando said:
			
		

> Thank you very much.
> 
> The link did not work so I could not read it (with my pathetic Itañol).
> 
> I think a saving of 69 m euros means every Italian receives one euro for the cost of sleeping badly two or three nights a year and have to change all watches.
> 
> To me it does not pay.


 
It pays a lot! It's a lot less CO2 and NOx  in the atmosphere! (just not speaking of oil saving)


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## Fernando

Obviously we give different value to the comfort of the people and CO2 production. So, our conclusions are different. 

Anyway I would like to let the public know that figures because maybe they would prefer to save CO2 in other ways (with nuclear plants as an example) or not to save it at all (in such a small amount).

But, again, it is a matter of public choice.


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## winnie

Fernando said:
			
		

> Obviously we give different value to the comfort of the people and CO2 production. So, our conclusions are different.
> 
> Anyway I would like to let the public know that figures because maybe they would prefer to save CO2 in other ways (with nuclear plants as an example) or not to save it at all (in such a small amount).
> 
> But, again, it is a matter of public choice.


 
Fernando we are going OT (Mods and foreros I beg your pardon) but I don't think nuclear is the answer. Nobody really know what the dismmissing nuclear plants cost is (please ask our French friends about that) not to mention its unsafeness...


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## Fernando

It is a public choice problem. We have risks, environment and the people's time to decide.

To me, there are better ways to spend 69 m euros. I would gladly pay my euro to save energy and sleep with the same sun time all the year around.

About nuclear power, it is off-topic. I will not go along, on behalf or the other foreros.


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