When to change your clocks in 2022. Plus, 8 things to know about daylight saving time

Victoria E. Freile, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
·3 min read
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The annual ritual is nearly here.

The start of daylight saving time, which subtracts an hour of sleep, is fast approaching. The seasonal time change when we "spring forward" will occur on Sunday, March 13, a full week before the official start of spring on March 20.

Daylight saving time begins at 2 a.m. which is the official hour to set all of our clocks ahead one hour. That's when local time will instantly become 3 a.m. and people lose an extra hour of time.

Here's more about daylight saving time:

It's not plural

It's daylight saving time not saving's or savings time. It's singular, no matter how people around you say the phrase.

When is it exactly?

Since 2007, daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November. Previously, it had started on the last Sunday of April and ended on the last Sunday of October.

Never about farmers

Daylight saving time was not started to help out American farmers. According to timeanddate.com, daylight saving time was first used in 1908 by a few hundred Canadians in Thunder Bay, Ontario. But Germany popularized daylight saving time after it first set the clocks forward on April 30, 1916, to save coal during World War I.

Daylight saving time became a national standard in 1966 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act, which was established as a way to continue to conserve energy. The thinking was if it's light out longer, that's less time you'll need to use the lights in your house.

Do all states observe DST?

Presently, Hawaii and Arizona are the only two U.S. states that do not observe daylight saving time. Neither do the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and Northern Marina Islands.

Which states want out?

In the past four years, 19 states have passed legislation or resolutions seeking to make Daylight Saving Time the standard time in their states, if Congress takes action, according to the National Conference of State Legislators. The states include:

  • Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi and Montana in 2021.

  • Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah and Wyoming in 2020.

  • Arkansas, Delaware, Maine, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington in 2019.

  • Florida in 2018. California voters also authorized a change, but legislative action is pending.

Massachusetts and Maine also commissioned studies on the topic.

There's a similar bill pending in New York, to make daylight saving time the year-round standard. It would be contingent on a repeal of the 1966 federal law, and would only take effect if neighboring states went year-round, too.

The New York bill hasn't made it out of committee.

What about the rest of the planet?

Daylight saving time is now used in more than 70 countries worldwide and affects over one billion people every year. The beginning and end dates vary from one country to another.

Phones and smoke alarms

Most phones and computers automatically adjust for the time change, though manual clocks need to be reset. It's also a good time to change the batteries in your smoke alarm.

Next year?

Daylight saving time will end at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022, when we will “fall back” and again gain an hour of sleep.

Contact Victoria Freile at vfreile@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @vfreile and Instagram @vfreile. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Daylight saving time 2022: When do we change the clocks