When and why did the United States start changing time?

(CNN) — It’s that time of year again. You wake up and see that the clock in your kitchen reads 8 a.m., even though you swear the alarm went off at 7 a.m. You’re sure you’re late for work.

But wait, uh.

You didn’t sleep. It’s summer time.

Twice a year, everyone’s clocks go forward or backward an hour.

But what is the point? And will the schedule changes end in the United States?

There is an old legend that Daylight Saving Time was adopted to give farmers more hours of sunlight to work in the fields. But that’s not really why dozens of countries adopted it.

Daylight Saving Time (DST) is a system to reduce electricity use by taking advantage of daylight hours. For eight months of the year, the US and dozens of other countries follow daylight saving time, and for the remaining four months, they return to standard time to make the most of sunlight.

Clocks go forward one hour on the second Sunday in March at 2 am. Then, at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November, the clocks are turned back one hour. A good way to remember it? Time changes coincide with the seasons: clocks go “forward” one hour in March and “back” in November.

During the summer months, the sun rises longer, so you can rely on daylight to avoid turning on the lights. During the winter months clocks go back to standard time so that the sun rises earlier and the world begins the day with sunlight; Otherwise, some places won’t see sunrise until around 8:30 am.

When did it start?

The current March-November system that the United States follows began in 2007, but the concept of “saving electricity” is much older. It is debated who originally came up with the idea, but Benjamin Franklin appears to have first mentioned it in 1784, when he wrote a letter to the editor of the Journal of Paris.

However, daylight saving time was not widely used for more than a century. Some countries, including Great Britain and Germany, implemented daylight saving time during World War I. The purpose of the practice was to reduce the use of artificial light so that soldiers could conserve fuel for battle. But the United States did not standardize the system until 1966, when it passed the Unified Time Act.

Over the years, the United States observes daylight saving time from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. In 2005, President George W. Bush extended daylight saving time by four more weeks and it officially went into effect in 2007.

But not everyone chose to follow daylight saving time. Only 70 countries around the world extend “daylight” each year. In the US, states are not required by law to observe daylight saving time; Most people in Hawaii and Arizona don’t respect that. Other states, such as Florida and California, are working to adopt daylight saving time throughout the year (not just between March and November).

There is an initiative in Congress to make Daylight Saving Time permanent. The Sun Protection Act was unanimously approved by the Senate on March 15, 2022. The bill will still need to be approved by the House and signed by President Joe Biden to become law. If approved, the change would not take effect until November 2023.

Proponents of the measure say it will end disruptions caused by time changes.

Does Daylight Saving Time Really Work?

Well… that is up for debate.

While the practice may help reduce some energy consumption, critics have raised concerns about whether the amount of energy saved is worth the difficulty of deploying the system worldwide.

In 2008, the US Department of Energy found that extending daylight saving time for four weeks from April to October through March and November saved about 0.5 percent of total electricity per day. While that sounds like almost nothing, it totals 1.3 billion kilowatt-hours, and the department says it’s equivalent to “the amount of electricity used by more than 100,000 homes for an entire year.”

But a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research that same year concluded that daylight saving time increased demand for electricity; Although lighting use is reduced, heating and cooling demand increases, so electricity consumption is roughly the same.

Other studies have found that the benefits of daylight saving time may be location-specific. One showed a drop in electricity in Norway and Sweden, while another reported an increase in electricity demand in Indiana.

Whether or not “saving daylight” is the most energy-efficient method is still up for debate. But for now, if you live in any of the countries that follow Daylight Saving Time, remember to turn your clocks back before going to bed on Sunday night. Otherwise, you’ll wake up thinking you’re late for work.