This weekend the time changes: at dawn from Saturday 30 to Sunday October 31, the clock is delayed one hour and at 3.00, in the Peninsula, it will be 2.00 again, giving entry to winter time. The most immediate effect will be noticeable in natural light: starting this Sunday, it will dawn and dusk earlier. Seasonal time changes, which occur twice a year in the European Union, in March and October, were designed to save energy. This Sunday comes at the height of the rise in electricity prices, which have been breaking historical records for weeks. But, currently, experts agree that the energy savings produced by the change of time is minimal.
In its beginnings, in the middle of the last century, the clock movement served to take advantage of the hours of natural light and save energy. Now, the economic impact is practically negligible. Ricardo Izurzun, spokesperson for the energy and climate change area of Ecologistas en Acción (EA), explained to Efeverde: “Changing the time could make sense 40 or 50 years ago, when lighting represented a significant energy consumption”. Today, “it is a fairly small use.” In the previous time change, the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) He warned that what is no longer spent may be “insignificant” and depends on factors such as weather or geographic location. But, as he clarifies, there are no recent studies.
“The time change was approved at a very different time from today, with much higher light consumption and lifestyle habits that could affect energy consumption to a greater extent. However, the present time attends to another reality, for example, work, which must be taken into account: working hours have changed and teleworking has been spreading, which means that the routines of citizenship do not coincide as much as before in the same space-time ”, they have stressed from IDAE. In addition, they recalled that there are more relevant mechanisms to achieve energy savings, such as replacing lights and appliances with more efficient alternatives, or ensuring that the contracted power and the contracted electricity tariff is adequate for the needs of each one.
This almost priceless saving, together with the disturbances and alterations of the biorhythms caused by the time change, make most European countries choose to end it. The European Commission carried out a consultation in 2018, in which 84% of the 4.6 million citizens who participated were in favor of stopping changing the time. The body then proposed to abolish the directive that establishes them, and that each country choose whether to keep the winter or summer time. Initially, the Commission recommended that the Member States take the decision in 2019, but it had already been postponed to 2021, a year in which it has not occurred either. The lack of consensus among the countries, and also within them, augurs that the decision will be long. The president of the National Commission for the Rationalization of Spanish Hours, José Luis Casero, has indicated that the October schedule is the one that should be adopted, because it is “the most consistent with factors such as health, rest, productivity and work and school performance.”
Javier Albares, a specialist in Clinical Neurophysiology and an expert in Sleep Medicine, agrees with Casero: “Although the winter time arouses less sympathy among the vast majority of the population, from a medical point of view it is more beneficial.” The change to winter time can cause slight disorders, especially in the most vulnerable population, such as children or the elderly, which can affect eating habits, concentration and mood, but are temporary and remit within three or four days. “The best thing would be not to change the schedule,” acknowledges Albares, who offers a series of tips for a faster adaptation to the change in winter time: try to go to bed with the new schedule, adjust meal times and, above all, expose yourself to natural light. “Sunlight, which is the main guide for our rhythm, is key. It is advisable to receive it at least two hours a day, preferably in the morning ”, he concludes.
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