Daylight Saving Ends In IL: Time To Turn The Clocks Back

CHICAGO — We lost nearly three minutes of daylight every day in Illinois through the end of daylight saving time — and we'll lose even more as winter knocks at the door.

But by the end of daylight saving time on Nov. 3, days in Illinois will be down to just 10 hours and 18 minutes.

As we roll our clocks back an hour with the end of DST, that will set our sunsets back from 5:42 p.m. to 4:41 p.m. and the sun will start rising prior to 6:30 a.m.

And by the time the winter solstice rolls around on Dec. 21, Illinoisans will have less than 9 hours and 8 minutes of daylight.

The original idea behind daylight saving time was first implemented more than a century ago with the Standard Time Act of 1918, was to conserve energy by extending daylight hours to work shifts.

How effective daylight saving time is as an energy conservation measure is debatable. A 2008 Energy Department study found DST saved the country nearly 1 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, but a 2018 meta-analysis of 44 studies found only a meager 0.34 percent decrease in energy consumption. A 2011 study based in Indiana, which has a complicated and messy history with DST, found slightly more energy usage during daylight saving time.

Daylight saving time is also complicated in Arizona, which stopped observing it in 1968 based on the energy needs of a hot, desert climate. Shifting an hour of daylight from the morning to the end of the day, when temperatures are typically the hottest, translated to more air conditioning use, not less.

However, the Navajo Nation in the northeastern part of the state observes DST. The Hopi Nation, which surrounds it, does not.

The only other state that does not observe DST is Hawaii, where it is a moot point. The length of days and temperatures in Hawaii remain fairly consistent during the year due to the tropical state’s proximity to the equator.

Legislation passed in the Senate two years ago to adopt year-round daylight saving time briefly buoyed the hopes of some Americans who want to dispense with the twice-a-year ritual of changing their clocks, but did not make it out of committee in the House, where some lawmakers favored year-round standard time.

A YouGov poll last year showed Americans remain divided on whether to keep DST year-round or chuck it in favor of what is colloquially called “God’s time” or continue to spring forward and fall back.

The public opinion poll conducted in early March after DST began found 62 percent of people want to dispense with the ritual. Of those, 50 percent wanted to adopt permanent daylight saving time, and 31 percent preferred permanent standard time.

Daylight saving time is not universally observed across the globe. In fact, more than 60 countries, including Japan, China, and most nations in Africa, do not change their clocks. The European Union, which currently observes DST, has moved to end the practice, with member nations opting to choose either permanent standard time or daylight saving time.

And while much of the debate around daylight saving time centers on energy consumption, research has shown that shifting clocks twice a year can also affect people's health.

Studies indicate an increase in heart attacks, strokes, and workplace injuries in the days immediately following the spring shift, when people lose an hour of sleep. Such health risks are linked to disruptions to circadian rhythms — the body's internal clock — prompting some public health experts to push for DST's abolition.