When to change your clocks back in 2023. Plus, 10 things to know about daylight saving time
The annual ritual is nearly upon us.
The end of daylight saving time is fast approaching, marking the time to switch clocks an hour backward. The seasonal time change will occur on Sunday, Nov. 5.
Daylight saving time ends that day at 2 a.m. which is the official hour to set all of our clocks once again to standard time. That's when local time will instantly become 1 a.m. and people "gain" an extra hour of time.
The change also brings a downfall, since many people with traditional 9-to-5 office jobs will no longer see much daylight outside the office on weekdays until next spring.
Here are 10 things to know 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 pluralize 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 the farmers
It was not started to help America's farmers out. 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.
How about the Sunshine Protection Act?
In 2022, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved the Sunshine Protection Act, which would permanently extend daylight saving time to the entire year.
The measure has not yet passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. For more information on the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 bill from congress.gov click here.
Which states want permanent daylight saving time?
As of 2023, at least 28 states have introduced legislation in support of establishing year-round daylight saving time, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Nearly every state has introduced bills and resolutions addressing daylight saving time since 2015.
In 2018, Florida became the first state to pass legislation permanently observing daylight saving time, pending it is allowed by federal law.
"Because federal law does not currently allow full-time daylight saving time, Congress would have to act before states could adopt changes," Jim Reed, the environment, energy and transportation director for the National Conference of State Legislatures, told USA TODAY.
What about the rest of the planet?
Daylight saving time is now used in more than 70 countries worldwide and affects over 1 billion people every year. The beginning and end dates vary from one country to another.
Who is in charge of daylight saving time?
The U.S. Department of Transportation oversees the observance of daylight saving time as well as U.S. time zones, according to transportation.gov.
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 return at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 10, 2024, when we will “spring forward.” It will last until the first Sunday of November, which next year will be Nov. 3, 2024.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Daylight saving time 2023: When do we change the clocks in NY
