Indiana helps prove Daylight Saving Time should actually be called Waste of Time and Money

I found an article the other day about an interesting opportunity that Indiana provided to some researchers who wanted to study the energy savings of Daylight Saving Time. It looks like Indiana is helping to prove that Daylight Saving Time actually wastes energy instead of saving it. As the article says, while we do save some energy by not requiring as many lights on in the evening because of the time change, that is more than offset by the fact that we’re home during a warmer part of the day. Being home when it’s warmer means the air conditioners are running more.

I thought one of the funnier parts of the article is where it says that the Daylight Saving Time advocates always talk about the energy savings; however, the numbers they use are based on data from the 1970s. That’s probably because the studies done since then (like this one) show that it’s just a waste of time and money.

I’d actually be interested in seeing some more research on the other social benefits that were mentioned in the article. If I recall correctly, there was an article I read about some studies involving that back when we switched the days of the DST change. It had mentioned that there were fewer traffic accidents in the evening because of the extended daylight hours. It also said that it may be offset by there being more traffic accidents in the morning.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I know some people enjoy the extra daylight they get in the evening to do things outside. Then again, others don’t like the fact that they still have to get up when it’s dark outside. In my opinion, it all just seems like a wash when you account for everything. Maybe at least with studies like this, the people pushing DST will stop saying they’re doing it to save energy.