Early Daylight Saving Time a Failure

Hey, remember that trouble we went through all those weeks ago in updating our computer, PDA, and cell phone clocks so we could get with the U.S. government's decision to move Daylight Saving Time ahead by three weeks? Well, we did it all for nothing. The results are in: We didn't conserve any energy at all.

Turns out the conventional wisdom and some common sense really had it right: Setting clocks forward an hour in early March forced people to get up when it was still dark and cold outside, causing increased use of light and heat in the morning hours. Though we may have saved a little power in the evenings, any savings were offset by additional morning use. Reuters notes that most large utility companies are noting they have seen no change in power consumption over the last three weeks.

What's this mean for technology? Well, governments don't like to admit their mistakes, so I highly doubt we'll be returning to the slightly-saner standard DST schedule any time soon. And really, that would wreak even more havoc on your computers, as you'd have to unpatch or re-patch all the hard work you already did getting your systems ready for the change in the first place.

There's also that little issue that DST now ends in November. (Word has it the candy companies pushed for the change so trick-or-treaters could stay out later, thus increasing candy sales.) My bet is after a few years, after the current administration has ended, the DST rules will change again: We'll move back to an April "spring forward" but will continue to "fall back" at the November date.

Now give me a Twix. 

LINK: Early U.S. Daylight Savings a bust in power savings