Should Las Vegas switch to Mountain Time and drop DST?

[02 Park Ave]

It's really quite simple.  I get up at different times on different days.  Each night I know what time I have to get up in the next morning, so I go to bed 8 hours earlier than that.

Everyone can do that.

[NE2]

It's really quite simple.  I get up at different times on different days.  Each night I know what time I have to get up in the next morning, so I go to bed 8 hours earlier than that.

Everyone can do that.

Unless you have a good sheep, you might end up not falling asleep until 2 hours before you get up.

[Duke87]

Basically, if you get home at 6 and go to bed at 11, the A/C runs more if it gets dark at 9 than if it gets dark at 7. Shifting more of the hottest part of the day to the hours when people are at work and have their programmable thermostats set to warmer temperatures.

This doesn't really save energy, though, since even if it means less A/C usage at home you have to consider that the A/C is running where people work as well. Much more energy is used overall in the afternoon than in the evening.

[silverback1065]

There's been studies saying it actually costs us more money.  If I find them, I'll post the link. 

[oscar]

It's really quite simple.  I get up at different times on different days.  Each night I know what time I have to get up in the next morning, so I go to bed 8 hours earlier than that.

Everyone can do that.

I used to be able to do that, back in college in the 1970s when I was chasing after early-morning low load factors on the campus computer system.  Those days are long gone for me.  I can get up early (before my usual 7:30am, now that I'm retired) when necessary, such as to take maximum advantage of available daylight on road trips, but it's a strain and I try to not do that very often.

[1995hoo]

It's really quite simple.  I get up at different times on different days.  Each night I know what time I have to get up in the next morning, so I go to bed 8 hours earlier than that.

Everyone can do that.

I used to be able to do that, back in college in the 1970s when I was chasing after early-morning low load factors on the campus computer system.  Those days are long gone for me.  I can get up early (before my usual 7:30am, now that I'm retired) when necessary, such as to take maximum advantage of available daylight on road trips, but it's a strain and I try to not do that very often.

Funny, for me it's usually harder to go to bed earlier. I don't like getting up extra-early, but when I know I need to do it, I manage it without too much trouble. I think part of it is that my subconscious awareness knows I need to get up and so my body is often somehow ready when the alarm clock sounds. I have no idea why that is. Perhaps it's because often when I get up extra-early it's to hit the road early in the morning to maximize the travel distance that day, or to get to the airport for an early flight somewhere, and so I'm a little keyed-up for the trip or nervous about the flight. But going to bed earlier than usual is difficult for me. I can doze off on the couch or in the recliner very easily (did so last night during the Duke—Miami game), but then when I go upstairs to go to bed it's almost like I get a second wind between going up the stairs, brushing my teeth, and washing my face.

To me it seems awfully glib to say "everyone can just go to bed eight hours before the time you know you need to get up." Heck, I remember the time we had a 6:00 AM flight out of Vancouver and they told us to be at the airport two hours early to preclear US Customs, so we left the hotel at 3:30 AM. Eight hours before that is 7:30 PM. How many grown adults are likely to have an easy time going to bed (and falling asleep) at 7:30 PM?

[vdeane]

Good luck with getting elementary school kids to school by 7:15am or so!

7:15?!?  The earliest my school district had was 7:45!

It's really quite simple.  I get up at different times on different days.  Each night I know what time I have to get up in the next morning, so I go to bed 8 hours earlier than that.

Everyone can do that.

I used to be able to do that, back in college in the 1970s when I was chasing after early-morning low load factors on the campus computer system.  Those days are long gone for me.  I can get up early (before my usual 7:30am, now that I'm retired) when necessary, such as to take maximum advantage of available daylight on road trips, but it's a strain and I try to not do that very often.

Funny, for me it's usually harder to go to bed earlier. I don't like getting up extra-early, but when I know I need to do it, I manage it without too much trouble. I think part of it is that my subconscious awareness knows I need to get up and so my body is often somehow ready when the alarm clock sounds. I have no idea why that is. Perhaps it's because often when I get up extra-early it's to hit the road early in the morning to maximize the travel distance that day, or to get to the airport for an early flight somewhere, and so I'm a little keyed-up for the trip or nervous about the flight. But going to bed earlier than usual is difficult for me. I can doze off on the couch or in the recliner very easily (did so last night during the Duke—Miami game), but then when I go upstairs to go to bed it's almost like I get a second wind between going up the stairs, brushing my teeth, and washing my face.

To me it seems awfully glib to say "everyone can just go to bed eight hours before the time you know you need to get up." Heck, I remember the time we had a 6:00 AM flight out of Vancouver and they told us to be at the airport two hours early to preclear US Customs, so we left the hotel at 3:30 AM. Eight hours before that is 7:30 PM. How many grown adults are likely to have an easy time going to bed (and falling asleep) at 7:30 PM?

Ditto.  I can't fall asleep earlier to save my life, but for all the drowsiness I have waking up for work, I have no issues waking up two hours earlier to go to a roadmeet.

[Thing 342]

Good luck with getting elementary school kids to school by 7:15am or so!

7:15?!?  The earliest my school district had was 7:45!

The high schools in my district start at 6:55 AM, leading to some particularly unlucky students (as is the case with the ones that live in my neighborhood) having to be out at the bus stop at 6:05 AM.

[Zmapper]

6:55 am high school start times are absurd. Las Vegas has your district beat with a 6:50(!) AM start time (there's the topical connection to Las Vegas I need )

For two reasons, the first being the lack of A/C in many elementary schools, and the second being the numerous quantifiable benefits of implementing the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation that general-education secondary schools start no earlier than 8:30 am, I'm looking into a flipping the order of school start times. For my local district, I've been sketching out an idea to shift elementary schools to either 7:50-2:28 or 8:20-2:58 (from their current 8:20 to 9:10 starts), which allows high schools to move to 8:50-3:10 (from 7:30), and middle schools to 9:05-3:55 (from 7:25-:50). It should be possible to push the middle and high schools onto the same wave through a combination of double busing MS and HS together and city bus replacement service where practical.

[kkt]

Our school district used to have two tiers of buses, so both early start schools and late start schools had fairly reasonable start times, 8:00 and 9:00.  Then, to reduce the number of runs, they switched to three start times:  one reasonable start time (8:30), and two unreasonable start times (7:30 and 9:30).  High school students here almost all use Metro buses, so you wouldn't think it would matter for saving bus runs, but they're mostly in the "too early" group.

Oh, Las Vegas time zone content!  Las Vegas is at 115 degrees west.  The Pacific Time Zone meridian is 120 degrees west, the Mountain Time Zone meridian is 105 degrees west.  So even from a purely geographic point of view and ignoring the travel connections to SoCal, Las Vegas belongs in the Pacific Time Zone.

[formulanone]

Frequent flier laughs at notion that masses of people can't deal with a one-hour time difference a piddling two times a year.

[swbrotha100]

I think Las Vegas should stay on Pacific Time. That being said, if Las Vegas chose to adopt similar time rules to Arizona, both areas would still be on the same time as California and the rest of the Pacific Time Zone for 8 months out of the year (March to November).

[kkt]

I think Las Vegas should stay on Pacific Time. That being said, if Las Vegas chose to adopt similar time rules to Arizona, both areas would still be on the same time as California and the rest of the Pacific Time Zone for 8 months out of the year (March to November).

Unless Congress comes to their senses and makes DST April-October again.  But then, Congress.

[Pink Jazz]

Oh, Las Vegas time zone content!  Las Vegas is at 115 degrees west.  The Pacific Time Zone meridian is 120 degrees west, the Mountain Time Zone meridian is 105 degrees west.  So even from a purely geographic point of view and ignoring the travel connections to SoCal, Las Vegas belongs in the Pacific Time Zone.

I guess the same is probably true for Yuma, since Yuma is fairly close to Vegas in longitude.  Note that Yuma did in the past observe Pacific Time many years ago.

[Billy F 1988]

DST should be dropped in the entire US, it's pointless, costs everyone money, and gives us no extra daylight.

Um............okay? Good...luck...in trying to remove DST? Ah scratch that! You have no way of making it happen on your own. You obviously don't grasp how important DST is to some people. If you are one of these ANTI-DAYLIGHT-SAVINGS-TIME people, let's face it. You've just joined their club 'cause waaaah waaaah it's too expensive! Waaaah waaaah it's pointless to me. Waaaah waaaah it gives no extra daylight...SHUT YOUR YAP and get used to it. I've been used to DST since I was born in Wyoming and have lived in Montana since.

[silverback1065]

There are plenty of people against daylight savings time and there are plenty of good reasons to be against it. "Just get used to it" is a stupid reason to be for it. There's no real benefit to it. Hell the real reason for it wasn't even a valid one to begin with.

[silverback1065]

DST should be dropped in the entire US, it's pointless, costs everyone money, and gives us no extra daylight.

Um............okay? Good...luck...in trying to remove DST? Ah scratch that! You have no way of making it happen on your own. You obviously don't grasp how important DST is to some people. If you are one of these ANTI-DAYLIGHT-SAVINGS-TIME people, let's face it. You've just joined their club 'cause waaaah waaaah it's too expensive! Waaaah waaaah it's pointless to me. Waaaah waaaah it gives no extra daylight...SHUT YOUR YAP and get used to it. I've been used to DST since I was born in Wyoming and have lived in Montana since.

There are plenty of people against daylight savings time and there are plenty of good reasons to be against it. "Just get used to it" isn't a valid reason for anything if we used that attitude nothing would change. There's no real benefit to it. Hell the real reason for it wasn't even a valid one to begin with. Just because its widespread doesn't mean its the right thing or everyone loves it like you

[formulanone]

Daylight savings helps schoolchildren and folks with typical 8-hour work schedules. It doesn't matter at all to those with atypical night/third-shift days or rather long working hours (ten or more). Given that the folks that lose the most by keeping the time shift are those who are stubbornly unprepared and thus, probably ill-equipped to programming their VCRs, I'd rather lean towards DST to help the added daylight at times for whom it's needed most.

Again, I deal with 1-2 hours of time zone variation a minimum of two times a month (sometimes up to 8 times a month), and it makes no difference to my well-being and health, and the ten seconds it takes to adjust my laptop is the only productivity loss. The rest is bullshit - we've dealt with much harder changes - helping a couple of kids out isn't too much of a responsibility for an adult to handle.

[kkt]

Hell the real reason for it wasn't even a valid one to begin with.

So city folks who had day jobs would have an extra hour to tend their home gardens in the evening in the spring and summer, and thus reduce Britain's food imports that had to get past the U-boats during the Great War?

[kkt]

Daylight savings helps schoolchildren and folks with typical 8-hour work schedules. It doesn't matter at all to those with atypical night/third-shift days or rather long working hours (ten or more). Given that the folks that lose the most by keeping the time shift are those who are stubbornly unprepared and thus, probably ill-equipped to programming their VCRs, I'd rather lean towards DST to help the added daylight at times for whom it's needed most.

Again, I deal with 1-2 hours of time zone variation a minimum of two times a month (sometimes up to 8 times a month), and it makes no difference to my well-being and health, and the ten seconds it takes to adjust my laptop is the only productivity loss. The rest is bullshit - we've dealt with much harder changes - helping a couple of kids out isn't too much of a responsibility for an adult to handle.

The 1990s called.  They want their VCR and Windows 95 laptop back.   

[formulanone]

My laptop doesn't know if I'm in LA or L.A., and VCR Plus was mathmagical for its time.

With the exception of DSLRs and an iPhone, I'm quite stuck in the nineties.

[silverback1065]

Daylight savings helps schoolchildren and folks with typical 8-hour work schedules. It doesn't matter at all to those with atypical night/third-shift days or rather long working hours (ten or more). Given that the folks that lose the most by keeping the time shift are those who are stubbornly unprepared and thus, probably ill-equipped to programming their VCRs, I'd rather lean towards DST to help the added daylight at times for whom it's needed most.

Again, I deal with 1-2 hours of time zone variation a minimum of two times a month (sometimes up to 8 times a month), and it makes no difference to my well-being and health, and the ten seconds it takes to adjust my laptop is the only productivity loss. The rest is bullshit - we've dealt with much harder changes - helping a couple of kids out isn't too much of a responsibility for an adult to handle.

How exactly does an arbitrary time shift help kids or people with typical work schedules? I mean the whole "kids won't be standing in the dark" idea doesn't really seem like a reason to change time for everyone. Why not just start school later in the morning? Let the kids sleep

[silverback1065]

DST isn't the end of the world to me I can live with it I just see no real point in it all.

[jeffandnicole]

Edited for content...

DST should be dropped in the entire US, it's pointless, costs everyone money, and gives us no extra daylight.

You obviously don't grasp how important DST is to some people. If you are one of these ANTI-DAYLIGHT-SAVINGS-TIME people...Waaaah waaaah it gives no extra daylight...

Vampires hate DST too. 

[silverback1065]

Prove to me just how important DST is and not just another antiquated thing that we all still do. Then I'll change my stance