TIFTON — Daylight-saving time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 10. That means everyone should set clocks ahead one hour either at that time or before going to bed Saturday.
The idea for daylight-saving time began with Benjamin Franklin’s essay “An Economical Project” in 1784, according to webexhibits.org, but it wasn’t put to use until World War I. In 1916, Germany and Austria pushed their clocks forward an hour to save fuel for the war effort. Other European nations — who were fighting Germany and Austria and needed fuel for their war efforts — quickly followed suit. The United States did likewise in 1918.
Moving the clock an hour forward changes the clock’s time relative to daylight. It effectively moves an hour of daylight from the morning into the evening, which has a variety of effects: It allows families to have outdoor activities after work, it reduces electricity use by about 1 percent per day because less power is used for lighting, and it even reduces traffic accidents as fatigued drivers gain the benefit of extra light.
Daylight-saving time will end the first Sunday in November, Nov. 3, when we move our clocks back one hour.
The clock-changing dates are used as reminders of important biannual activities — most commonly, changing the batteries in your home’s smoke detectors.
The International Association of Fire Chiefs and the American Burn Association have long sponsored the “Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery” fire safety program, which encourages people to change the batteries in their smoke detectors at the same time they change their clocks to ensure the smoke detector will work if there’s ever a fire. If your smoke alarm uses standard batteries that’s still a good idea, but many now use long-lasting lithium batteries that are good for five years or more. In those cases, check the smoke alarm regularly, but if it works fine, leave the battery alone.
In 2021, the Georgia Legislature voted to make daylight-saving time permanent, but the state law is on hold pending a change to federal law. Until the conflict is worked out, Georgians will continue to change from standard to daylight-saving time.