On daylight savings

David Beins' reply to my letter (The Jakarta Post, Aug. 4) made some useful points. True, we know that the number of daylight hours are not affected by clock changes, but the times we switch lights on and off are altered. It still seems to me that we use much more electricity at 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. than at 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., as all the lights are on in the evenings and not nearly so many in the early morning hours.

At home, peak hour electricity use is in the evenings, from dusk to bed-time. So if we switch on all the lights at 7 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. (and go to bed at the same time as usual), there is significantly less use of electricity in the evenings. This applies to commercial and public places even more so, and it would be interesting if someone could calculate what the total electricity savings might be.

The other big benefit of daylight savings is the longer daylight hours in the early evening for leisure activities, as stated by David. Imagine arriving home from work in the daylight instead of the dark, imagine the increased opportunities to enjoy outdoor sports and family activities in the longer evening hours. Life would change for the better!

HELEN LOK Bandung