Time change may lighten ‘winter blues’

By Mike Ford, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Thursday, March 1, 2007 (1 year, 4 months ago)
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“Spring forward, fall back.”

The saying helps area residents remember whether an hour will be added or subtracted in the appropriate middle of the night. Until this year, an hour was gained on the first Sunday in April; now the change will occur at 2 a.m. March 11.

The federal government’s goal in changing the date was nationwide energy conservation. U.S. Department of Transportation studies show an electrical savings of one percent per day of Daylight Savings Time, due to decreased customer usage in warmer months when outdoor activities increase.

Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 in July of that year. President Bush signed it into law that August.

Locally, the savings due to the change is not expected to be significant.

“It’s certainly going to increase the amount of energy conservation as a result, but I don’t think it amounts to any significant difference for us. At this point, we don’t have any prediction. The AEP Research Analysis Group in Columbus cannot say if changing Daylight Savings Time will create any energy savings for AEP or any of its affiliates due to change in customer lifestyles and/or the weather,” said company representative Shelly Dimatio.

The OSU Extension’s educator in Van Wert, Andy Kleinschmidt, doesn’t anticipate the change meaning much to area farmers.

“This time of year mostly what farmers are doing is getting equipment ready for the planting season, moving grain, selling grain and cleaning grain bins. These types of things can be done during the normal day, so daylight probably isn’t that big of an issue. Most farmers will probably just accept the change and not give it a second thought,” he said.

Added sunlight could have significant influence over one’s mood as the “winter blues” maintain a cold choke-hold on the region.

“Our system is on a biological clock and when that is interfered with, depression can occur. It’s not just daylight alone; it’s accompanied by colder weather. Grass dies; trees die, so they’re barren. It looks bleaker outside, so it isn’t just sunlight. It’s the whole picture,” said Ohio Northern University Assistant Professor of Psychology Dr. Steve Hundersmark.

“Spring denotes new life. When you see visual proof of that with more sunlight during the daytime, you start to see other things like robins flying around. It’s all the things we take in through our senses. When you talk about major depression or slight depression, by adding sunlight and a chance for hope, it certainly does help one’s outlook,” he said.

The concept of Daylight Savings Time is attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who wanted to conserve electricity. As the minister to France, he suggested the idea in a 1784 essay titled “An Economic Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light” published in the Journal de Paris.

An Englishman named William Willett also suggested the concept in 1907 in a pamphlet called “The Waste of Daylight.”

The British parliament instructed British residents to move their clocks ahead one hour in 1916. Approximately 70 nations now participate in Daylight Savings Time.

The United States will now lose one hour at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday of November instead of the last Sunday in October, as in previous years.

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