While most of you started Daylight Savings (DST) this weekend, in fact, Hawaii did not join you. Hawaii has never observed daylight saving time under the Uniform Time Act, having opted out of the Act’s provisions over fifty years ago. It still looks like the rest of the world may soon join Hawaii in eliminating this practice.
Until next fall, take note that Hawaii will be 3 hours earlier than the west coast, instead of 2 hours. And the east coast is now 6 hours earlier. Mountain states are 4 hours earlier, and central states are 5 hours.
Question: Why has Hawaii never adopted Daylight Savings Time?
Answer: Hawaii sunrise and Hawaii sunset times do not vary much.
Being much further south than any of the mainland states, and actually, at a latitude close to that of Mexico City, there’s no significant advantage to having daylight savings in Hawaii. The concept of daylight savings was, in theory, that it adjusts the time to make use of available natural light. With Hawaii reasonably close to the equator, sunrise and sunset time don’t vary nearly as much as is the case further to the north. Read on as to whether this theory holds water.
The other US locations that do not have daylight savings are:
- Arizona (most of the state)
- American Samoa
- Guam
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Puerto Rico
- United States Virgin Islands
Except for Arizona, the above locations are in a similar situation to Hawaii in terms of latitude. Arizona unsuccessfully tried daylight savings in the 1960s before opting out.
Why daylight savings?
Daylight savings started in the US in 1918, during World War I. While the stated reason was to benefit farmers and/or save fuel, it is now largely believed that it was promoting retail shopping in light evenings. It was also considered beneficial to health since with longer days, people would spend more time with recreation and sports.
After World War I, only New York City continued to observe DST until 1942, when a national DST policy came into effect. In 1966 the uniform time act said that the US would observe six months of standard time and six months of daylight savings each year.
States had to either opt-in or opt-out so that cities and counties could no longer decide on DST. Arizona opted out. Since then, the US has moved to the longer observance of DST, which since 2005 has been 8 months each year.
Europe has a similar policy and typically changes between “summertime” and standard time about the same time that the US changes. Europe will go from standard time to summer time the last weekend of March this year.
There is much doubt about whether daylight savings is useful or not, and in fact, it may not continue much longer. Europe could lead in that effort and we’ve heard that it may end next year. Furthermore, recent studies suggest that daylight savings can throw off sleep schedules and more. That may affect our well-being, judgment, and productivity.
Updated 3/14/21.
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Rich says
As many posters are bemoaning the US adoption of DST and indulging in rubbishing their own country I thought perhaps an external view might help. The EU is trying to abandon DST so they are allowing countries to adopt the standard or daylight savings time zone they wish. As a result there will be 4 time zones in the EU in place of 3. WEST, WEDT which is same as CEST, CEDT which is the same as EEST and EEDT. Additionally there will be many more changes between neighbors. It is being done as a political step to follow Russia and China who do not use DST.
The UK tried adopting DST permanently in the 1960’s when I was at school and it was a disaster. People in Scotland and the North complained about their school children walking to school in the dark (No fancy door to door school buses in UK back then) and the number of accidents on the roads increased across the whole country. As a result it was dropped. Several politicians have tried to relaunch it but in the UK that ws more to do with identification with an EU Superstate rather than any benefit.
I feel for those who do not travel as their systems are probably not used to time changes. Those of us who spend much of their lives at 39,000 ft, it really is no big deal. Many of us used to find remembering to date checks (remember them?) with correct Year on Jan 1st more difficult.
THe nearer you get to the equator the less benefit it gives. However dealing with Mexico changing on different day to US and to UK make life fun and having US and UK changing one way and Brazil going the other way all on different days really makes life interesting. Still all child’s play compared to flights to and from Japan when you arrive Japan having lost 18-19 hours and in reverse you leave in the evening and arrive the same morning. Now that is fun with or without DST.
Steven S says
DST is an utmost failure and the 2021 Congress is actually looking into keeping the mainland DST and stop the madness of turning clocks back in the fall. The rest of the world have kept their timezone the same and only Americans traveling internationally have no idea what time it is elsewhere without looking it up on a computer or smartphone! LOL