[A few jottings in response to Jessica Furseth's column in today's edition of the i newspaper, entitled "You can turn your clocks back, but I'll be sticking with BST".]
Daylight Savings Time (DST) is madness.
Just on a point of usage: that's an American term. In Britain we normally say "daylight saving time" without the "s", although it's more commonly called "summer time".
Winters are bad enough with the cold and rain, so why have we created a situation where, to top it off, we're plunged into darkness at 4pm?
We haven't, certainly not in the south of England. Tomorrow after the clocks go back, sunset in Bath (where I live) will be around 4.45pm, which means it'll get properly dark around 5pm. It'll be a little earlier in the north of England and Scotland but not by much. When we get into December sunset gets close to 4pm, but that change happens gradually - we're not "plunged" into it.
But in any case, that change isn't caused by Daylight Saving Time - it's caused by the end of Daylight Saving Time. If we got rid of Daylight Saving Time it would make no difference to the times of sunrise and sunset in the winter, only in the summer.
This time last year, I decided to do a little experiment. When the rest of the country changed their clocks, I just carried on with BST.
So actually you're not saying that Daylight Saving Time is madness - you're saying it's so good that you want it all year round! This is sometimes known as "permanent Daylight Saving Time", and it was tried in this country under the name "British Standard Time" from 1968-71. The experiment was not a success.
No, I don't ignore the real time. I refer to it when making plans with other people, but the prominent clock on my phone screen is set to BST.
What about synchronizing with public transport timetables? Broadcasting schedules? Shop opening and closing hours? School hours (if you have children)?
As a freelance writer I am fortunate to be able to set my schedule, so throughout the winter I keep the same hours as I do through the summer.
Many people aren't in a position to do this of course, but fair enough.
I start the day at 9am, have lunch at 1pm, and wrap up at 5pm.
Well actually, you don't. You start at 8am, have lunch at noon, and wrap up at 4pm. Which is absolutely fine of course, and there's a lot to be said for such a working day. But if it's such a good idea, why not continue with it throughout the summer as well? That way you'd have even more daylight after the end of the working day.
But as I follow my BST clock, it means that when I pack up for the day, I've had an extra hour of light.
No you haven't. You've had an hour less of light, because you've started an hour earlier in the morning. That's why there's an hour left over when you finish work.
My little trick means that when it's 4pm in gloomy Britain and the sun sets, it's actually 5pm for me and, trust me, that one hour makes a world of difference.
Well good for you, but it's not caused by changing the clock. It's caused by the fact that you've chosen to work an 8-4 day rather than a 9-5 one. I used to work a 6-2 day (not through choice, I was running a newsagent's) and there were always a couple of hours of daylight after the end of work, even in the depths of winter. I didn't need to change the clock to appreciate them.
If we stayed on BST, it would save on energy costs and cut down carbon emissions.
I very much doubt it. What you saved in the evenings you'd lose in the mornings. Where I live, sunrise wouldn't occur until after 8am in November, and in December it would be dark until nearly 9am.
...my personal summer time rebellion has solved a lifelong problem for me.
Well good for you, but you could have achieved the same thing by simply getting up earlier!
