Do you think switching to daylight saving time in summer in Japan will help ease the power shortage?

lights getting switched on later must be a way of reducing power consumption.

I say No.

Most of our consumption is no longer from lights(used to be like that a few decades ago).

But more power is needed now for servers to power the Net, Coolers, Cel-phone network, etc we rely on and take for granted + way more we can no longer do without.

Maybe I am an old foggy but I do recall a time without the Net, Cel-Phones, 24hr banking/News/etc, Air-Cons, Microwaves, etc.

But more power is needed now for servers to power the Net, Coolers, Cel-phone network, etc we rely on and take for granted + way more we can no longer do without.

and daylight saving has no impact on these. In fact getting to work when it's cooler may actually save electricity by having the coolers turned on later

I voted no because I don't think daylight saving time will make any difference to working people's lifestyle. Workers will not finish any earlier. In fact, I suspect that many workers do not like to leave the office and go home while it is still light outside.

Also, Japanese cities come alive at night with all their lights. The cities take on an entirely new life of their own. That's what workers like to see when they leave their offices and go for drinks or eating out with their colleagues. And for those for whom wining and dining is important for business, they'll wait until it is dark to do so.

Daylight saving time is a lifestyle choice rather than an energy conservation means. I'll still turn on my bedroom lights when I get up in the morning, even though it is light outside. It won't make any difference to my power consumption or electricity bill.

spudman.

As I posted before go to work earlier = cooler, but that also means you go home during the hotter/earlier part of the day.

One of the things that annoys me most about Japan is the absence of daylight savings! Of course it's going to save electricity!!! Do it already!!!!

It is pointless symbolism. Daylight savings time comes from an era when the main electricity consumption was light bulbs. That is not the case any more today. We are used to wasting tremendous amounts of electricity at all times of day or night now.

Some bigger cuts have to be made than opening businesses an hour early. Besides, at this latitude the difference between summer and winter time is not that big anyway.

Not worth the confusion and interruption.

Of course it will help. True, lights are not the main source of electricity usage, but they are still a big one. Also, being up during a cooler time of the day will save on air conditioning, which is a massive user of power. Cars will also use less gas if they do not have their headlights on.

Aside from just power usage, it is more natural and better for our body rhythms to be awake when it is light and sleep when it is dark. At present, the Japanese lie asleep for hours when it is broad daylight outside and then stay up for hours into the night. Daylight saving could help reduce this bizarre behaviour.

Yes, but only if the workers go home before dark and shutdown all those huge buildings in Tokyo.

Cars will also use less gas if they do not have their headlights on.

Someone needs to go to car school.

Spudman.

Guess air-cons also don't have an impact on fuel usage?

Cars will also use less gas if they do not have their headlights on.

Someone needs to go to car school.

That's not entirely untrue. Alternator of a car will turn easier if current is not being pulled, aka lights. But the difference is so small, don't know if it worth mentioning.

Damien15.

Really depends on engine size. On smaller engines lets say less than 2.0ltr it does have an effect.

As a Biker the lights can cause a serious drain especially when the battery is not well maintained(ie levels kept up).

Less now as many vehicles swapped Halogen Lights for Led's.

Most of our consumption is no longer from lights(used to be like that a few decades ago).

Lights are still a huge source of energy consumption. Streetlights, highway lights, lights for advertising, lights on vending machines are drawing lots of energy. Saving just one hour of all that will matter a lot. daylight saving time is a proven method of energy saving. It used to be hard to change the time manually on all those computers, but today they are all linked to time servers and changing the time on a server will change times in all client PC's. So if Japan wants to conserve energy, they should seriously consider switching to daylight saving just like other countries.

Damien15.

So advertising, vending machine, etc lights are not on 24/7? Not in my area till the blackouts started happening Local vending machines across Kanto already cut the lights days ago.

Again, pls, show me a recent study that shows DST preserved significant energy(like lets say within the last 5yrs).

Tepco site has a good chart that shows current usage vs yesterday and a year ago. Split into hours of the day.

So advertising, vending machine, etc lights are not on 24/7?

Vending machines can be, but most of the advertising lights are on only at night no? anyway, don't have time to go and search for that data. I know though, saving one hour on streetlights will matter a lot. Especially freeway lights which is 1000W HID lights for each one. There are hundreds of thousands of them all over Japan. saving just one hour on those will be significant saving.

Last I recall most street-lights are activated by light-sensors. ie when the light level falls beyond a certain point.

Or are programmed for that so that they will automatically switch on when cloud-coveror similar causes darkness.

Changing the time of day won't make a difference to the light-levels when they need to be on.

The summer is so hot here, most people use the A/C even before the sun comes up. I can't sleep if it's not on all night, at least to a certain level. So I don't think that it will make a big difference. Actually, wouldn't pulling people together into buildings during the hottest parts of the day reduce energy usage better? Only having to cool one place instead of 100 individual homes. This assumes that there is nobody at home like little kids or a housewife of course.

Plus, daylight savings is a pain to remember and adjust to.

Really, Japan should just invest in insulation. That would help save energy more than anything else, both in the winter and the summer. Put out some kind of compensation program for building owners who upgrade their buildings. It would also create more jobs in construction.

I say NO it will not help.It does not even help in the US anymore, back almost 50 years ago then it did. But now many people use it past and during those hours when it is said no electricity is being used! It does not help one bit. Now if they have an hour with no electricity that is different.

other points to take into account :

Springing forward may both end and save lives. Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and their colleagues looked at myocardial infarction rates in Sweden since 1987 and found that the number of heart attacks rose about 5 percent during the first week of daylight saving time (called summer time in Europe). In the October 30, 2008, New England Journal of Medicine, they suggest that this rise may result from the disruption of sleep patterns and biological rhythms.

On the other hand, the clock shift could help prevent traffic accidents by enabling more people to drive home in sunlight. By analyzing 28 years of U.S. automobile crash data, RAND Corporation economists and their colleagues suggest that a 1986 change in federal daylight saving time law—which moved the start of daylight time from the last Sunday in April to the first—produced an 8 to 11 percent drop in crashes involving pedestrians and a 6 to 10 percent dip in crashes for vehicular occupants. They reported the findings in a 2007 B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy study.

The sun sets really late, so saying to be home before dark, means you intend to work longer, starting earlier, and heading home about 8pm. Daylight saving has little meaning what so ever--there's just a lot of people who dont want lifestyles to get a taste of life without an air-conditioner. The makeup industry will take a hit unless they can invent makeup that doesnt run when you sweat! I am sooooo looking forward to summer-bring it on; HOT HUMID and SWEATING!

Wikipedia's article goes into many pros and cons, including points not mentioned in this thread. Looking at previous cases, it seems that whether it's a benefit depends on the power consumption patterns of the region being affected. Just because it's a positive effect in Britain, for example, doesn't guarantee it'll be a positive effect in Japan.

The "Sun" my friends. An hour extra of light. Great...offices, streetlights won't need to be on. And we can stay at the beach until almost 9:00PM instead of 7:30.

It'll make a difference for sure, especially with lighting. True, LEDs make a HUGE difference than the old types of lighting, but nonetheless it still makes up a large part of consumption, particularly with large office buildings. For those who say it won't matter because of air-conditioners, do you think in the dead of summer people shut the air-con off when dusk rolls around? Nope. But they turn the lights on.

Why would companies like Morinaga change their work schedule in order to save electricity if it didn't matter? I'm assuming others will or are already planning to follow suit.

It's also nice to be able to hang out at a BBQ or the beach after 6 o'clock without it getting dark. I remember being amazed last time I went home (after three years) by the fact people were still out swimming on the lake and the sun was just getting ready to set around nine p.m. (and that I wasn't woken up at 4:30 a.m. by it).

Until shorts are allowed and ties are banned in the office and schools during the summer, there is no need to discuss anything further.

it will make it far worse, everyone will stay at work 1 extra hour as standard for the love of over time

oh, and the use of energy to get everything in sync, with everyone working overtime to make sure everything is running and on standby 24hours in case the ATM goes haywire.

4AM East Coast of Japan it's soooooo bright Tokyo Edogawa Ku

The sun is so bright I have to get double layer dark curtains. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and wonder why is it soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo bright 430 in the morning. Yes they need daylight savings time because it will save lighting offices in the day.

Sometimes i thought I overslept and I check the clock it's only 415 in the morning. W Da F ?!

Tokyo does not have much open land but in any open area, such as on top of the building, everybody should plant more shade trees on a container so that summers will be cooler.

The sun is so bright I have to get double layer dark curtains. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and wonder why is it soooooooooo bright 430 in the morning.

Basically, Japan is in the wrong time zone. It gets light a couple of hours before people wake up, and gets dark hours before they go to bed.

Few other countries in the world have problems with changing the clocks twice a year. But as this relatively simple task is too taxing for Japan, may I suggest a one-off changing of JST to GMT +10 from GMT +9?

Japan should switch the incandescent traffic signal lights to LED. This would save over 1 billion kilo watts per year in energy.

Nothing will be done. just watch. The reason given will be "Japanese people would find it confusing".

I'd be profoundly insulted if somebody tried to tell me I was too stupid to understand I have to reset my watch for a few months. But then again I didn't have my critical thinking thrashed out of me at school. I was taught to think, not to bow and say "Shoganai".

I am still waiting for people here to show proof that DST will safe any energy, so far no-one has shown anything.

Everybody I know sez that DST saves nothing, zilch, nada. Other measures, yes, but DST implementation no. Those include people that pay the electricity bill at companies and know what the major expenses are.

For the DST lovers, of course going to work earlier will be cooler but also hotter going home as you are doing it now mid-afternoon vs early evening. Now lets consider hitting a train with NO air-con at 15:30(real time) vs 17:30(clock-time) for about an hour(normal commute here).

Now I can see people doing a bit of over-work to avoid the nearly hottest time of day for the return commute. And if the early returnees get home all sweaty and tired and there is an air-con remote handy ....

Shoganai. ;)

and therefore it's an anachronistic concept.

Hontooni Shoganai :)

I have been in Japan now for more than 10 years, and every summer I still think, WHAT A WASTE! Middle of summer here, and the sun is out at 3am! but no, we want to protect our WA, harmony?? What a bunch of crap! Get on with it and make Day Lights saving time mandatory here in Japan too!! Then in the winter you wake up maybe almost 8 am, and still dark outside?? WTF?? Time to stop wasting so much energy! Now!

elbuda, DST saves no energy. It is an out of date idea that was created to save on candles. If you want to go to work an hour early and leave work an hour early to do 20 laps at a swimming pool - no problem. You can certainly do that without DST.

elbuda.

An extra hour of daylight would be nice, I 100% agree but it won't save any energy.

There is a reason why tropical countries never adopted it, why many others stopped using it. Granted some did a permanent time-zone shift, but are often falsely cited as still using DST.

In asia neither Korea nor China adopted it, japan rejected it in 1952. Look at the map on Wiki who currently uses DST.

The same link will tell you that then DST was conceived they expected a saving of max 3% and that was nearly a century before we had Fridges, Tv's, Coolers, Pc's, etc.

DST does have an economic benefit once cultures adopt to it, etc.

I can just imagine a morning rushhour train, jam-packed and without aircon.

I think the switching will help. But regardless, I hope they do it by two hours. Having the sun rise so early is mottainai! I would very much like to go too work in the morning while its still cool, and return home before sunset.

Plus, daylight savings is a pain to remember and adjust to.

They could always make long term or permanent change of time zone.

Really, Japan should just invest in insulation. That would help save energy more than anything else, both in the winter and the summer.

Excellent point. Every placed I have lived in had crappy insulation. The moment the heater (in winter) or air con (in summer) is turned off, the temperature immediately approached the outdoor temps.

Lights are still a huge source of energy consumption.

Indeed. That is why the trains I take every morning now have their lights off.

Just because it's a positive effect in Britain, for example, doesn't guarantee it'll be a positive effect in Japan.

Are British summers hot?

Regardless, I hope the do it. They should have done it long before this crisis.