Daylight Saving Time Begins Sunday

Just when you were getting used to the blinding light of the sun on your morning commute to work and squinty drives to school, Daylight Saving Time begins. People will set their clocks ahead an hour 2 a.m. Sunday.

The first two weeks after the change, the sun will rise from 7:10 to 7:30 a.m. in Ames and the sun will set about 7:20 p.m., according to a sunrise, sunset clock.

This is also the time of year that local firefighters ask everyone to check their smoke detectors and replace batteries if that's what powers them.

Daylight Saving Time was extended by four weeks in 2007, before that time Daylight Saving Time began in April and ended in October. The change saved about half a percent of energy consumption each day, according to a 2008 Department of Energy study. That sounds like a small amount but the energy saved is enough to power 122,000 average US households for a year, according to Energy.gov.

Is Daylight Saving Time worth it? Tell us in the comments.

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