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POLL: Daylight saving extension – is it really working?

25/03/2009 8:15am

> From the WeatherWatch archives

WeatherWatch.co.nz is running its first ever poll – and we’re keen to hear from you!

So far 70% of you support the extension of daylight savings. 30% of you do not.

Have your say! Post a comment below. It’s easy to do – no need to log on, simply click on the ‘comments‘ section at the bottom of the story.

To read the article by Richard Green, click “Read More” below.

INITIAL STORY

In 2 weeks time we’ll be moving the clocks back which will signal the end of the 2008/09 summer daylight slot.

This will be the second year running that the new extension has been in place and how well has it worked?.

Early April and the end of September is when we adjust our clocks which has lengthened our so called ‘ summertime ‘ by 3 weeks from the original time frame.

The nights are great to come home to and we still have time to do all those leisurely activities plus, sometimes begrudgingly, a few domestic tasks outside too!. However is there a cost with the mornings being so dark and in some parts of the country, it’s almost 8 o’clock before the sun shows itself?!

On the temperature stakes, the mornings are cooler for longer as the warmth of the day takes longer to kick in but then on the reverse side of that, the evenings are a little milder because the sun is still with us for a little more.

I suppose it’s all swings and roundabouts but I’m not a fan of the dark mornings and it’s a bit of a job getting the family going first thing in the morning because when they peer out the window at 7am, it may as well be the middle of July because they can’t see a thing!.

Overseas and already the UK are looking at daylight saving and yet their season is basically only now crawling out of winter. Much of the US has already moved their clocks forward and although that nation tends to see the sun on a regular basis, some nights are still well below freezing.

Are you happy with the timing of daylight saving in NZ or do we just simply accept that we just try and squeeze out every last ray of summer sunshine as much as we can?.

Comments

Before you add a new comment, take note this story was published on 25 Mar 2009.

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Glenys on 30/04/2009 4:27am

We have been half an hour forward in time since the end of WW2. Why not put the time forward another half hour and leave it that way all year round. That way we won’t have the problem of changing back and forth

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Heather on 25/03/2009 11:26pm

Keep the extension. We enjoy the sunlight being around longer in the late afternoons and also in the mornings I can put the washing out later, for longer! lol
Also with the longer afternoons, we can get home from work and school and get outside; – just makes it feel like summer is a bit longer 🙂

Wouldn’t like it permantly though – too dark on winter mornings.

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Guest on 2/04/2009 7:41am

Daylight saving is great for both my business and personal life.
The extra daylight hours make a tremendous difference to my income and play a major role in boosting my cash flow.
I hope to see it stay with us and definitely vote “yes” for keeping it going each year.

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Judith on 25/03/2009 11:20pm

I love it keep it as it is I love the longer evenings & find it easy to adjust too, probably not so good for farmers who rise early but I’m sure they soon adjust.

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Guest on 25/03/2009 9:23pm

I live in the south (Dunedin), having been bought up in the Waikato, and I love DLS down here! The summer evenings are already long, and with DLS we can make the most of them. I know what people mean about the dark mornings, but I for one, would rather have a dark morning and an extended evening. I like daylight savings as it is currently.

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Paul on 25/03/2009 7:48pm

In my view it is ridiculous to have to get up when it is dark in late summer and for my young children to be 1/2 asleep through Dec,Jan,Feb because you can change the time they get up (“hey time to get up” followed by various groans of discontent) but you can’t make them go to sleep an hour earlier! Extending it is prolonging the agony.
It is also worth noting that the management of daylight saving time is one of the single biggest IT costs in this country. In addtion every time it is changed at the whim of some politician trying to garner more votes by selling us something we have already (you can’t create more sunlight hours), it cost 100’s of millions for companies to recheck all there software for compliance.
To be fair I did love it when I was young and single I must say. So I guess it comes down to the fact that if 70% of people like it then in a democracy that is a fair call. But there will always be many people inconvenienced. Personally I won’t be losing any sleep over it – but others will.

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Guest on 25/03/2009 8:59am

It’s great to have in summer…but having mostly darkness at 7am is reminding me of winter a bit…

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John on 25/03/2009 7:45am

Yes it’s great keep it as it is now. Winter is long enough as it is.

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Guest Geoff on 25/03/2009 3:01am

Daylight saving should never end, I love it.

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Liz on 24/03/2009 10:39am

I hate the months when it’s dark before 7.30pm!! And to me 8am is a decent respectable hour at which to wake, by which time it’s always light.

In view of the fact that most children these days don’t seem to go to bed until well after 9pm, however young, I don’t think daylight saving has any impact on their sleeping whatever.

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