Proposal for a finer adjustment of summer time (daylight saving time)

Introduction

When you live 56 degrees of latitude away from the equator, the observance of summer time (daylight saving time) is really wonderful. It gives you longer evenings with daylight in the summer, and its absence in the winter makes it easier to get up in the morning.

Still, one must admit it seems a bit arbitrary to adjust the clocks by plus 1 hour once in the spring, and then by minus 1 hour in the autumn. Why don't we make the transition more smooth, and the adjustment more continuous?

A simple example

Consider a person living in Copenhagen (55.7 degrees North). Every workday he has to get up at, say, 6 a.m. Now, getting up before sunrise is neither comfotable nor healthy. On the other hand, getting up after sunrise means some hours of light get "wasted". Wouldn't it be ideal to adjust the clocks to ensure that sunrise was always at 6 a.m.?

Proposed solution

Every weekend, on the night between Saturday and Sunday, simply adjust the time so the sunrise will still be at 6 a.m.

For Copenhagen, we get the following table:

Improved summer time (daylight saving time) rule
On the night between Saturday and Sundayadvance clocks byTime zone is then
02 January 2011,+2 minutes.UTC-01:37.
09 January 2011,+4 minutes.UTC-01:33.
16 January 2011,+8 minutes.UTC-01:25.
23 January 2011,+11 minutes.UTC-01:14.
30 January 2011,+12 minutes.UTC-01:02.
06 February 2011,+14 minutes.UTC-00:48.
13 February 2011,+15 minutes.UTC-00:33.
20 February 2011,+17 minutes.UTC-00:16.
27 February 2011,+17 minutes.UTC+00:01.
06 March 2011,+17 minutes.UTC+00:18.
13 March 2011,+18 minutes.UTC+00:36.
20 March 2011,+19 minutes.UTC+00:55.
27 March 2011,+18 minutes.UTC+01:13.
03 April 2011,+18 minutes.UTC+01:31.
10 April 2011,+18 minutes.UTC+01:49.
17 April 2011,+17 minutes.UTC+02:06.
24 April 2011,+17 minutes.UTC+02:23.
01 May 2011,+15 minutes.UTC+02:38.
08 May 2011,+15 minutes.UTC+02:53.
15 May 2011,+13 minutes.UTC+03:06.
22 May 2011,+11 minutes.UTC+03:17.
29 May 2011,+9 minutes.UTC+03:26.
05 June 2011,+6 minutes.UTC+03:32.
12 June 2011,+3 minutes.UTC+03:35.
19 June 2011,0 minutes.UTC+03:35.
26 June 2011,-4 minutes.UTC+03:31.
03 July 2011,-6 minutes.UTC+03:25.
10 July 2011,-8 minutes.UTC+03:17.
17 July 2011,-11 minutes.UTC+03:06.
24 July 2011,-11 minutes.UTC+02:55.
31 July 2011,-13 minutes.UTC+02:42.
07 August 2011,-13 minutes.UTC+02:29.
14 August 2011,-14 minutes.UTC+02:15.
21 August 2011,-13 minutes.UTC+02:02.
28 August 2011,-14 minutes.UTC+01:48.
04 September 2011,-13 minutes.UTC+01:35.
11 September 2011,-14 minutes.UTC+01:21.
18 September 2011,-13 minutes.UTC+01:08.
25 September 2011,-14 minutes.UTC+00:54.
02 October 2011,-13 minutes.UTC+00:41.
09 October 2011,-14 minutes.UTC+00:27.
16 October 2011,-15 minutes.UTC+00:12.
23 October 2011,-14 minutes.UTC-00:02.
30 October 2011,-15 minutes.UTC-00:17.
06 November 2011,-14 minutes.UTC-00:31.
13 November 2011,-15 minutes.UTC-00:46.
20 November 2011,-14 minutes.UTC-01:00.
27 November 2011,-12 minutes.UTC-01:12.
04 December 2011,-11 minutes.UTC-01:23.
11 December 2011,-8 minutes.UTC-01:31.
18 December 2011,-6 minutes.UTC-01:37.
25 December 2011,-2 minutes.UTC-01:39.
01 January 2012,+1 minute.UTC-01:38.

Note: Copenhagen, under the current system, uses UTC+01:00 in winter and UTC+02:00 in summer.

Advantages

Problems

Questions and answers


/JeppeSN