Spring Ahead Early with Daylight Savings Time

In just a few days, we will once again be welcoming daylight savings time – but with a twist. This year daylight savings time is early. Why? Experts say that switching from April 1 to March 11 will save approximately 100,000 barrels of oil a day. The sun will provide light later in the evening, therefore saving energy.

But an early daylight savings time will cause a few glitches along the way. Your computer’s time may require manual changing, only to be changed once again on April 1. Some corporations are seeing Outlook calendar dates off by an hour for the last weeks of March. Microsoft has created a patch, yet some will probably still be changing appointment times manually.

If your VCR is an older version, you might have to change the time this weekend and then change it back in a few weeks. Your cell phone or PDA might have a similar issues.

Fortunately, these are only minor inconveniences that many will be facing. For an unfortunate group, however, there will be medical device issues to face with this early time change. The FDA has issued a warning for those who receive medication from medical equipment that is based on time. You can visit the FDA medical safety device website for further information, or call your doctor as soon as possible.

So let’s be prepared and be ready to spring ahead – early!