Daylight Saving Time in America

[DSYoungEsq]

There have been a few threads lately where considerable confusion existed about start times. Mostly, this seems to occur when people from Europe or from South America try to play with people from America. One reason for the confusion is that people tend to sling around incorrect terminology for American time zones.

America has four time zones: Eastern (-5 GMT), Central (-6 GMT), Mountain (-7 GMT), and Pacific (-8 GMT). Those reference times are good from the last weekend in October through the first weekend in April, when we are on "Standard" time.

During the summer (April through October), we go on "Daylight Saving Time." This is our version of "Summer Time." The time shifts forward one hour, so we are on -4 GMT in Eastern Time, for example.

All of this is pretty mundane. It's the nomenclature that is the killer.

I've seen people, both American and not, talk about games starting at 7 PM EST. Some games starting out now are using that nomenclature. The trouble is, we are not ON EST right now, we are on EDT. EST is "Eastern Standard Time" which is -5 GMT. EDT is "Eastern Daylight Time", which is -4 GMT.

Just so you know, you are probably least likely to creat confusion if you simply say ET, CT, MT or PT.

 

[admiral drake]

the main problem is that summertime in europe started a few weeks before daylight saving time started in the us and thus the confusion

 

[arcorelli]

Well, if everyone simply used GMT then it could be kind of easy. The only thing you need to know is your relation with GMT. If other people change times, it does not affect you (since it does not change your relation with GMT).

But people insist in using local times to coordinate international games

 

[Casluerj]

two reminds:

1) Only North America. South one doesnt have summer time now;

2) Let's all use GMT, for Heaven's sake? :wacko:

It doesnt never change with those (crazy) daylights.

 

[Chaingun]

The world would be a better place without daylight savings...

 

[Stolen Rutters]

They are going to change it in a couple years so daylight time lasts a couple weeks longer. (I hope that statement isn't backward.)

 

[unmerged(27108)]

They are going to change it in a couple years so daylight time lasts a couple weeks longer. (I hope that statement isn't backward.)

I thought Québec was going to adapt his Summer time towards US standard? Does that mean we'll have to change it again in some years?

 

[Stolen Rutters]

Daylight savings time currently starts the first Sunday of April and ends the last Sunday of October. This will change in 2007 (that's just next year... I thought it was going to happen later than that). It will start the second Sunday in March and end the first Sunday of November.

The idea is apparently to save energy by having more daylight after work. With gasoline, heating and electric costs all doubling over the past two years, it made it through Congress fairly easily.

The Department of Energy will then evaluate whether the change actually saves energy. If they find no energy savings, they can move it back to the current schedule.