| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2010 12:59 am |
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Nation & World 
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Daylight saving time may not save much energy For Joyce Swain, daylight saving time means enjoying the outdoors well into early evening."My mornings also seem to go better," said Swain, of Port Hueneme, Calif. Swain and millions of other Americans will have to turn their clocks forward by an hour this weekend. Daylight saving time starts at 2 a.m. Sunday. Supporters of the time shift say it brings numerous benefits, including more time to exercise outdoors and meet others after work. But one long-touted benefit -- that daylight saving time reduces energy use -- might not be true. A study published last month by a University of California-Santa Barbara economics professor and a graduate student found that residential energy use in Indiana went up 1 percent to 4 percent during the months of daylight saving time. Laura Grant, a doctorate student at UCSB's Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, said Indiana provided her and economics professor Matthew Kotchen with an opportunity to test whether daylight saving time actually reduces energy use. Until 2006, only 15 of Indiana's 92 counties switched to daylight saving time. Most rural counties chose to stay on standard time, partly because farmers objected to an extra hour of morning darkness. But a law mandating daylight saving time for all counties took effect that year. Grant and Kotchen compared monthly meter readings of electricity consumption provided by Duke Energy Corp. for millions of households across Indiana before and after daylight saving time was implemented statewide. The readings showed that electricity use "actually went up during the warmer months, when daylight saving time was in place," compared with earlier years when it was not, Grant said. The study found daylight saving time cost Indiana households $8.6 million more in electricity annually. While daylight saving time might have reduced lighting needs, "those savings were more than offset by having to turn on the heat during the colder early-morning hours," especially at the beginning and end of daylight saving time, Grant said. And during the summer, many people turned on their air conditioners when they came home from work an hour earlier and it was still hot, Grant said. |
- Sorry, Hawkeye; M*A*S*H gets bowled over
- Former Whidbey student shot
- County archive software paid for but waiting for set-up
- Ruling expected on Sultan beating statement
- ‘Roadkill’ caucus seeks a voice for centrist Democrats
- Police seek witnesses in two accidents
- PAWS calls out for critter care-givers
- Boeing has a busy test schedule
- Ex-Boeing engineer jailed for espionage
- Morning mystery: What happened to House Bill 3181?
- State Senate votes to toss I-960's tax-raising hurdle
(9) - Lynnwood sets height limit on grass: 8 inches (9)
- School levies in Snohomish County all passing, Marysville bond failing (6)
- A tidy lawn could be law in Lynnwood (4)
- Vote on school levies by Tuesday (3)
- Two suspects sought in Everett shooting that injured two (3)
- County archive software paid for but waiting for set-up (3)
- Snohomish County's bargain housing won't last (2)
- Reader poll: Should the WIAA add lacrosse as a sanctioned sport? (2)
- Former Whidbey student shot (2)
- Jackson girls outlast Meadowdale owdale
- OBT raises barre in children’s program
- Junior firefighters
- School levies passing
- Mavericks topple Wolfpack
- Get a second look at Second City Feb. 13
- Sports Briefs
- Warriors advance 11 to regional meet
- Arlington's Cascade Valley Hospital celebrates expansion, national award and 100 years of service
- Business Licences Feb. 2010
- Technology tips for launching your own business
- Business Events Feb. 2010
- Tech Talk: No excuse today for going without a Web site
- State already raising fees and rates that restrict business growth
- Some legislators again targeting people’s initiative petition rights
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