Obviously 1% total savings is not that much. The levelling effect of 3.5% is much more significant and deserving attention IMO. But in essence we can achieve the same with building several more pumped storage stations (which would also help with wind power).

It is all economics - which costs less. I have not seen a study indicating significant economic costs from DST, so in this context it is probably worthed to stay. Every little thing helps.

Putting your suggestions in contrast with DST is raising again the problem with individual conservation - how to rely on it? How can you rely in demand reduction caused by the voluntary efforts of consumers? You can stimulate some measures but the results will be fuzzy - and probably much less effective than you hope for. Therefore utilities/government prefer centralised measures that do not require efforts from the consumers and finally turn have much lower costs.

The most effective alternative to this of course is raising prices which can make the people do the necessary efforts anyway. But this has also the drawback of hitting heavily the lower income people and generaly will be avoided.

I don't use candles...

From the California study:

We supposed that the way people and buildings respond to light and weather conditions at 5 p.m., for example, comes from it being 5 p.m. (as people are beginning to leave work), and that there may be a different response at 6 p.m.  This supposition holds for each hour of the day.  At the same time, the modeling approach makes use of the fact that the estimation errors are highly correlated over the day.  We discuss specific details of the model’s structure and estimation in Appendix A.

You can call it midnite, if you want, but it's the outside temperature that drives the climate control, not the clock.  In Texas (where I live) that is the largest part of energy usage, not lights and computers and phones.

And if you turn the air off at 7:00 PM just because everyone goes home, you'll have to turn it back on at 3:00 AM and have it work twice as hard to cool the building enough before workers start arriving at 6:00.  Incurring, naturally, a peak electric charge from the utility company when you do it.

Interesting.  To really get a feel for energy savings (or not), let's skip DSL one year and see if it costs any more.  My thought is it won't make much of a difference, but that some regions will benefit more than others.

lobby for return to 55 from 75 mph.

http://www.prosefights.org/msd/wildhorsemesa/wildhorsemesa.htm#75

later ... senior hopes
http://www.prosefights.org/msd/msd.htm

When I lived in Switzerland (most expensive electricity in the world apparently), they had an interesting scheme to reduce power consumption without negatively affecting poorer people. If a household used significantly less electricity than the average, you got a bonus at the end of the year for being a green user. I put in an energy efficient, small refrigerator, and used "the big fridge" outside in winter. At the end of the year I got a bonus from the power company. The bonus paid about a quarter of my electricity for the year. Its interesting to note that Swiss elecricity is close to carbon neutral, being 60% hydro and 40% nuclear.

It's a great time to be a computer consultant.  Every computer in the US and Canada now has to have its timezone rules updated.

Fiddling with Daylight Savings Time: what an inspiring idea!

I wonder how many hundreds of thousands of dollars the federal government paid some consultant to come up with this little gem.

With Great Ideas like this, I don't think we need to worry about Peak Oil anymore.  Geez, why didn't I think of this one?

Along the same lines, how about a law that will define a barrel of oil to be 65 gallons?  We'd then have to import many fewer barrels.  Plus, the barrels we do import will go a lot farther!

from video:  So that's how you say your last name...  heh heh.  Good stuff!

I don't have as much time to post and read as I would like to. But I move in less than 2 months and Want the House to be as spotless as possible.  7 to 10 cats can trash a house in placse you don't go as often.  As well as having had to storemy first wive's junk by legal decree for the last 5 years.  But my post is thus.

I don't care what time it is.   I only use my clock to tell me what is going on in SOMEONE else's life.   I wake and no matter the time I do things,  If it is light out I also do somethimgs outside.  If it is dark out I do things that I can do in the dark, Like look at stars and write stories in my head, or with a battery driven hand held mini tape recorded for when I have been up to long and figure I will forget things.   IT never matters to me what time they rest of the world thinks it is unless I am dealing with them.

I have Operated this way since Forever.  I was up I was active,  I was asleep I was not.  If I had school then I had school and Kept track of the time on my watch.  When I came home from school both grade and up to college,  I did what I needed to do with light or without light.

In my own home if it is dark outside in is primarily dark in my house.  Sure some of the black dumber cats get stepped on a bit more.  But why do I need lights?  I have lights in the Computer room, I leave they go off, My computer is on 24 hours a day for as long as windows does not get bogged down and then I reboot.  Reboot time is to slow, I waste to much time waiting for.   I write at the oddest times and Just turn the screen back on and start typing and when I am done save and turn the screen off, leave the room and out the lights.

All my lights are compact low wattage bulbs.  Except the front and back outside lights.  I never have them on unless Quests need them.  I hardly ever use a light out of doors even at night,  I have hiked at night using start light or moonlight. I have very good night vision mostly through use.  

I got up what the clock said was 4 am this morning.  Yesterday it was 3 am,  Who knows what it will be tomorrow, I usually don't care except for days that I have to interact with others, or have appointments and On Sundays with Church.  I repect my nieghbors by not doing loud things outside before they start stirring, usaually 5:30am on,  And at night from about 10 pm on till morning.

My neighbors know I walk everywhere, unless I am trash harvesting.  6 Tires, One prefectly good wheel chair, 2 vans loads of wood for friend who collects all her own fire wood from city wide tree trimming. If she had a computer she'd be posting and yelling at the world and their waste.

So I don't care what the clock says and I have never muched cared,  I wear a watch because I still Have to interact with others and Time things that I am doing,  Cooking, etc etc.

My e.mail is ceojr1963@yahoo.com and that will not change, As I moving I will not post so much for awhile,  I would just walk there, but I need all my tools too,  Restoring a house fromt he ground up and I have Carte Blanc On landscaping it, as It will likely be our one and Only home. It being totally debt free. Any good hints on things I can do to survive please let me Know, Even if I know them we can discuss methods.  Thank you all for letting me ramble a bit off topic,   Dan ur AkA  Charles E. Owens Jr.

A good, albeit expensive, means of reducing usage is to use TOU (time of use) electrical metering.  We've had a TOU meter for a long time, it may be close to 20 years.  We have Pacific Gas & Electric and their peak hours are from noon to 6 PM (other companies use different times).  Off peak it's about 10 cents a kW while on peak is about 33 cents in the summer.  Further, there is an increasing scale of costs as you pass certain usage levels.

We make out quite well since I switch to our PV system about 9-10AM and often stay on it until 7-8PM at night.  This is also the time when I turn on the hot water heater (electric) so it is done off the grid.

As a sometimes bicycle commuter who works the usual day "business hours" I'm looking forward to having reliable daylight for the trip home when DST starts.  I keep thinking this should save a lot of car fuel as people shift from car to bike with the daylight, but there probably aren't enough cyclists to matter.

I love it in the summer time when it gets dark at 10pm.  I hate it when it gets dark at ~5pm in the winter time.

  The extension of daylight time will kick in next year, 2007.  It will be exactly 20 years since the last extension was enacted, in 1987.   Interestingly, the same co-sponser of the legislation, Rep. Markey (D) from Massachusettts was responsible for BOTH the 1986 law and 2005 law.  
  It should be pointed out that a new, updated study is being conducted on how much energy will be saved.  The 1974-75 study, in which daylight time was observed from Jan. 6-Oct.27, 1974 and Feb. 23-Oct. 26 1975...estimated that
100,000 barrels of oil per day were saved.   I believe the focus was the period
that DST was observed during the winter months, January-March.  But this was an estimate, and no direct measurement could be arrived at.  
  Some critics of the study claim that no real savings could be measured.  Dark
mornings meant electricity use was shifted to that time of day.  And this was at a time when not as many people were up as early.   With greater population today and earlier wake up times, dark mornings mean more lights, appliances, and yes, the television is on.  That's why the new study will attempt to measure energy usage.  And if it is found that it doesn't make a real difference, the law will revert back to pre 2007 dates.
  It should also be pointed out that this isn't all about saving of energy.  In 1985-86, when hearings were held...it turned out that retail business had an interest in extending DST by 3 weeks in the spring to help boost sales.  The candy lobby wanted DST to be extended by an extra week so that Halloween would fall within it, thus encouraging trick or treaters to stay out longer.  Some parents cited "safety" issues.  The candy lobby lost out in 1986, but this time won in 2005...with the help of Rep. Markey.
  Meanwhile, the airline industry is up in arms over this.   Their concerns were heard, but ultimately ignored.  Europe starts DST the last Sunday in March.  And they ended originally the last Sunday in September.   Eventually they extended DST to end the last Sunday in October.   What was a one week inconvenience has now turned into a three week problem for airlines.  To accomodate them, the law was delayed by one year so that the airlines could figure out a fix for this.  Perhaps the European Union would follow the US lead and change their times?  Or Canada will?
  And for those localities on the western side of the time zones...like Michigan, Ohio, Indiana..they perhaps can adjust school schedules to start later in the morning...since sunrise by early November will be later than it is
in early January...post 8am sunrises.    In some places, 8.30am...like in western Michigan.  
   Let's wait and see how long the new experiment will last when the new times go into effect next year.  If the energy savings aren't there, its a good bet that the business and candy lobby will lose this one, and the airlines wil win back the better times they want.  
   Certainly the golf and recreation crowd will bask in the extra spring dayight.  That is, if the weather will cooperate...something that is difficult to achieve in this part of the world.