When Do Clocks Change For 2017 Daylight Saving Time? Or Is It Savings Time?

When do the clocks change or “spring ahead an hour” for 2017? This is the time of year when people take to Google with the search, “When do the clocks change for Daylight Saving Time?” Others search for Daylight Savings Time with an “s.” Believe it or not, that added “s” at the end of savings has started quite a few hot debates around the water coolers nationwide. Is this time change event called Daylight Savings Time or Daylight Saving Time? It is confusing because it is used both ways. So which is it, is it savings with the “s” or without the “s”? You can always use DST, which will do the trick, as it’s quick and a lot less confusing.

When do clocks change for 2017? That was decided 12 years ago, in 2005, when the new DST was signed by President Bush and a start date of 2007 was put into place. The new dates were to go in effect in 2007 and it has changed on the same two Sundays each year since 2007. This year marks the 10th year that Daylight Saving Time causes an hour change on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 changed the original dates of Daylight Saving Time. Up until 2007, when the new DST dates took effect, the “spring ahead” time change actually occurred in spring on the first Sunday in April. Now “spring ahead” actually happens in the winter, a few weeks earlier than yesteryear. It takes place on the second Sunday in March. In the fall, the Daylight Saving Time change happens on the first Sunday in November. Before 2007, Daylight Saving Time had the time change on the last Sunday in October, according to MassLive.

This means the next 2017 Daylight Saving Time change happens next week on Sunday March 12, at 2 a.m. for each time zone. Now that you know when, what about that Daylight Savings Time with the “s”? Or should it be without the “s”?

According to the website Time and Date, you will often see Daylight Savings Time, even though the correct term is Daylight Saving Time without that “s” on the word “saving.” It is not uncommon for folks in Canada, Australia, and the United States to put that “s” on the end of saving, and that is due to the terminology in use daily with the English language. With people saying common words like “savings account” or “savings bond” it’s ingrained in the terms used today. It just seems to roll off the tongue easier too.

According to Dictionary.com, because “Daylight Savings Time is used so frequently, the term is also considered acceptable.” The baby boomers out there are probably thinking, “try telling that to my high school English teacher.” Old school probably wouldn’t allow for that, but today, things are much different.

While the Daylight Saving Time concept is used around the globe by various countries, the rules and names are different. Daylight Saving Time is the one term used in the U.S. that refers to the both days during the year that the clocks change, in the U.K. they call it something else.

Folks in the U.K. refer to their time change as Summer Time. In the United States, DST for Daylight Saving Time is often used. The British have BST for British Summer Time. If Daylight Saving Time has ended, which it does in the fall on the first Sunday in November, in the U.S., the time is then called Standard Time. This is the time when Daylight Saving Time is no longer in effect because it has ended for the year. The U.S. will be in Standard Time until the Daylight Saving Time kicks in next week on March 12.

In Britain, when their Summer Time changes, they call it Winter Time, which is basically their standard time when comparing these concepts to the U.S. Daylight Saving Time change. If you happen to be visiting France, their Daylight Saving Time goes by the name “Legal Time,” once it is translated. Germany uses “Summer Time,” once it is translated, just like the U.K. does.

[Featured Image by Rogelio V. Solis/AP Images]