When does daylight saving time end? Your questions answered about the time change

The end of daylight saving time will occur 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 3, when many Americans will gain an hour of sleep.

Since most of our computers, smartphones and DVRs automatically change the time for us, it's not as much of a chore as it used to be. But unless you have smart appliances, microwaves and ovens are among the household items that will need a manual adjustment. (And while you're changing your clocks, that would be a good time to check the batteries in your smoke detector as well as test that and your carbon monoxide detector.)

Why do we have change our clocks, anyway?

Daylight saving time became a national standard in 1966 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act, which was established as a way to continue to conserve energy. The thinking was if it's light out longer, that's less time you'll need to use the lights in your house.

In 2005, Congress amended the act to expand daylight saving time to the period in effect today: Starting on the second Sunday in March and ending on the first Sunday in November. This move was also for energy saving purposes.

When will we next have to change our clocks?

Next year, daylight saving time will begin again on Sunday, March 9, 2025, when we "spring ahead" and lose an hour of sleep.

Who doesn't have to change their clocks?

Because of its desert climate, Arizona doesn't follow daylight saving time (with the exception of the Navajo Nation, which is located in parts of Utah and New Mexico as well as Arizona). After most of the U.S. adopted the Uniform Time Act, Arizona figured that there wasn't a good reason to adjust clocks to make sunset occur an hour later during the hottest months of the year.

There are also five other U.S. territories that do not participate:

• American Samoa

• Guam

• Northern Mariana Islands

• Puerto Rico

• U.S. Virgin Islands

Hawaii is the other state that does not observe daylight saving time. Because of its proximity to the equator, there is not much variance between hours of daylight during the year.

Will we stop having to change our clocks?

Maybe.

In New York, there is pending legislation to make daylight saving time permanent in the Empire State. 19 states have enacted legislation or passed resolutions for year-round daylight saving time, if Congress approves, and in some cases, if surrounding states enact the same legislation. New York's proposal is currently in Senate committee.

Under the Uniform Time Act, states can exempt themselves from observing daylight saving time; however, if a state chooses to observe DST, it must begin and end on federally mandated dates.

Permanent daylight saving time has been attempted once before, however.

President Richard Nixon signed a bill that went into effect in January 1974 making daylight saving time permanent for two years. The public was initially in favor of it, buoyed by not having to change clocks twice a year. But sunrises as late as 9:30 a.m. quickly dissuaded the public, and daylight saving time was reintroduced in October 1974.

The proposed Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent, was unanimously approved by the Senate in 2022 but not in the House and also was not signed into law by President Joe Biden.

The 2023 version, introduced in the House, remains in committee there.

Previous Gannett stories were used in this reporting.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Daylight saving time 2024: When is it ending and what you need to know