It's that time of year again ~ Daylight Savings Time
in Scarsdale, NY 10583
Spring forward on your clocks and devices this Saturday
night before bedtime, or Sunday over coffee. Also, it's a good
time to check that fire alarms are working!
So, this is my favorite time of year in many ways, with a March birthday, warm weather on the way and flowers and trees thinking about blooming. On the other hand, we lose this hour and "Spring Forward," every March. I really miss this hour...until fall.
Spring forward or Fall Back?
The term “spring forward – fall back” is meant to trigger your memory to set your clocks forward one hour in the spring at the start of DST, and one hour back in the fall when DST ends.
“Spring Ahead” and “Spring Up”
A different way to remember which direction to set your clock for Daylight Savings is that, in the spring, you bring out (or forward) the garden furniture (clocks are set 1 hour ahead), and in the fall you put them back inside (clocks are set 1 hour back). This is what a European friend tells me is common in some of the 79 countries that participate in Daylight Savings Time.
One of our founding Fathers, Ben Franklin. suggested waking up earlier because it would help early Americans save on the cost of so many candles.
“March Forward”
“March forward” is another term used to remind people about the DST start dates in the Northern hemisphere, like the USA, Canada and Europe, where it starts in March.
Records have shown that the phrase “spring forward, fall back” has been in use at least as far back as the early 20th century. For example, the Heppner Gazette-Times (on October 28, 1928), printed a notice stating “Daylight Saving Time ends this Sunday, October 31.
Remember to set your clocks back one hour before midnight this Sunday, March 13, 2016.
Other Daylight Savings factoids: On January 4, 1974, President Nixon signed into law the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973. Then, beginning on January 6, 1974, implementing the Daylight Saving Time Energy Act, clocks were set ahead. On October 5, 1974, Congress amended the Act, and Standard Time returned on October 27, 1974. Daylight Saving Time resumed on February 23, 1975 and ended on October 26, 1975.
This is also a GREAT time to check your Fire Alarms
in the house:
...even if they are on an electric hookup vs. the battery style ceiling versions. Change your clocks and test your battery and here are some tips on how to do both:
How to test a smoke detector:
"Deaths from fires and burns are the fifth most common cause of unintentional injury deaths in the United States (this is not so, the CDC has very poor records for 2005) and the third leading cause of fatal home injury (Runyan 2004)".[1]
The widespread use of smoke detectors in home has resulted in significant reductions of injuries and deaths from house fires. You can cut the chance that you or someone that you love will die in a house fire simply by installing these inexpensive devices in your home.
However, the only smoke detector that can help you survive is the one that works...correctly! Like all electronic devices, they can fail. The only way to be sure that your smoke alarm will work when you need it is to test it periodically.
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1Alert all members of your household that you are testing the alarm first, unless you would like to use the opportunity for a fire drill.
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2Have someone go to a part of the house or apartment that is as far from the smoke detector as possible when conducting a function test, to determine whether the alarm can be clearly heard at that distance. Remember, it has to be loud enough to awaken the deepest sleeper in the household. -
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To test whether the unit will actually work in a fire, you will need a small spray can of smoke detector test aerosol. You might find this in a well-stocked hardware or home improvement store. If not, you can find it by searching the Internet. They cost only a few dollars, and one small can will last for years.
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