Summertime good idea, bad idea?

[ori]

The EU commission as always dealing with the important aspects of governance has decided to deal with the ancient discussion about whether summertime (aka daylight saving time) is a good idea through a call for public comments, so if you are a EU citizen or otherwise stakeholder your are asked to voice your opinion online.
So what's your take? I am quite agnostic on that and feel its mostly a minor nuissance so would not be terribly hurt if it was abolished, but generally don't care either way...

 

[Hrothbern]

I believe that one of the reasons for sleep problems of many people is that they are less able to adapt their circadian rhythm affecting their health.
Summertime generates every half year a kind of small jet lag.
Some people adapt within days, some people need months or more.

I think that the increased national health cost are simply higher than the savings on electricity from light bulbs.
Not even mentioning psychological effects.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

But you can stay at beach until late, and 'Summertime' sounds like the tittle of some Chris Rea's song. So keep it.

 

[Ryika]

Rate of death increases on the days after we're stolen an hour of our lives; that alone should be reason enough to get rid of it.

Plus, we live in a time where 4-6watt light bulbs are not only a thing, but also the most cost effective solution. Getting them into people's houses is probably a much more efficient solution than literally changing the time of day to get a few more sun hours.

 

[PhroX]

Summer time is good. What we need to get rid of is winter time. Permanent DST should be a thing.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

I like BST. Keep it.

 

[Bamspeedy]

I believe that one of the reasons for sleep problems of many people is that they are less able to adapt their circadian rhythm affecting their health.
Summertime generates every half year a kind of small jet lag.
Some people adapt within days, some people need months or more.

I think that the increased national health cost are simply higher than the savings on electricity from light bulbs.
Not even mentioning psychological effects.

Saving electricity, oh, are you talking of daylight savings time? Here I thought with 'summertime' you were debating summer vacations (no school in summer).
I don't like it either, but it would be a pain to send the kids walking to school in the dark (not so much when teenagers, more so when they are early elementary).

 

[ori]

meh its called "Sommerzeit" - translating that as daylight savings time is just wrong (though correct ).
Edit: Note though that the EU commission asks for comments on "summertime arrangements".

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Pick one or the other and stay there. It's long outlived any usefulness it allegedly had.

 

[Ryika]

I don't like it either, but it would be a pain to send the kids walking to school in the dark (not so much when teenagers, more so when they are early elementary).

But that's not what happens in either case; the clock is the same in Winter, Summertime is the one that was "created artificially".

 

[Arakhor]

But that's not what happens in either case; the clock is the same in Winter, Summertime is the one that was "created artificially".

All attempts to mark time are artificial, so it doesn't matter which you pick.

 

[Hrothbern]

Saving electricity, oh, are you talking of daylight savings time? Here I thought with 'summertime' you were debating summer vacations (no school in summer).
I don't like it either, but it would be a pain to send the kids walking to school in the dark (not so much when teenagers, more so when they are early elementary).

as such a good point.
But it nevered bothered my generation to walk to school in the dark during winter. Aged 4 I had to walk 1.5 km to school, alone or with other children aged 4-6.
I am from 1955.
Summertime was introduced in the Netherlands in 1977.
The main reason was the oil crisis of 1973 where the oil price increased from $20 per barrel to $50, and by 1977 it was clear that it would not go down in the foreseeable future.
It even went up to $120 before going down again as late as in 1986 to a level of $40.

Energy savings were the driver.

 

[Birdjaguar]

China is as large as the US and it works as a single time zone: Beijing Time. I think the best solution is to choose a method and stick with it. We will adapt. I prefer daylight time; my wife prefers standard time.

 

[Arakhor]

In the UK, we spend two months a year with it being dark by 4 pm (or earlier). BST would mean later dawns, but I'd much rather it be dark by 5 pm at Christmas than by 4 pm.

 

[Hrothbern]

The EU commission as always dealing with the important aspects of governance has decided to deal with the ancient discussion about whether summertime (aka daylight saving time) is a good idea through a call for public comments, so if you are a EU citizen or otherwise stakeholder your are asked to voice your opinion online.
So what's your take? I am quite agnostic on that and feel its mostly a minor nuissance so would not be terribly hurt if it was abolished, but generally don't care either way...

Can you still add a poll to this thread ?

 

[Arakhor]

We can, yes.

 

[Hrothbern]

We can, yes.

If Ori is ok with it, yes please

 

[ori]

I added a poll.

 

[Lexicus]

I can never remember which is which. I know the clocks go forward an hour and then go back months later, but I can never remember whether Daylight Savings Time is when the clock is forward or when the clock is normal.

None of it makes any sense whatsoever so I don't believe I can be blamed for my confusion.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I loathe DST. Right now we're on Mountain Daylight Time and it's a pain in so many respects. Some of my clocks have to be manually reset, and the "jet lag" effect mentioned above is something that really gets to me. And the website I use for TV listings is now an hour out of whack.

Back in the '70s, my grandfather decided my bedtime was 10 pm. No exceptions other than it being an election night; I was allowed to stay up until the coverage was over, usually about midnight, or unless my grandmother and I were watching the annual showing of The Ten Commandments; that was over between 11:30 and midnight.

This held even in summer when school was out. So I was put in the ridiculous position of having to ask to stay up until after midnight to see the Perseid meteor shower, since there wouldn't be much to see until that time. My grandmother cluelessly asked, "Can't you just watch it in the daytime?" and my grandfather blustered that I wasn't doing what I was told. He just didn't get that if you're interested in astronomy and want to count the meteors or take the telescope out and look at Mars, it has to be done after dark.

I can never remember which is which. I know the clocks go forward an hour and then go back months later, but I can never remember whether Daylight Savings Time is when the clock is forward or when the clock is normal.

None of it makes any sense whatsoever so I don't believe I can be blamed for my confusion.

Spring forward, fall back.

I think this is reversed in the southern hemisphere, but could be mistaken.