Daylight Savings: Did You Spring Forward?

DETROIT, MI – It's here again: Daylight Saving Time began at 2 a.m. Sunday. And, yes, it comes with some challenges.

When you go to bed on that Saturday night, you'll have to manually change your old grandfather clock. The change is automatic for most smartphones, computers, tablets and other digital devices. And, the clock in your car? Don't forget that clock.

Daylight saving time is the practice of setting clocks forward one hour from standard time in the spring, and back again in the fall, in order to make better use of natural daylight. Sunrise will be about an hour later and there will be more light in the evenings.

Thus, you will lose an hour of sleep Saturday night and Sunday morning with the switch to Daylight Saving Time. It will mostly likely be dark outside when you get up, but you'll also get an extra hour of daylight in Michigan.

And, don't forget...

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says Daylight Saving Time presents a great opportunity to check the proper installation, operation, and maintenance of smoke alarms to reduce the risk of property damage, injuries, and death. You can also install a smoke alarm that has a sealed-in battery that will last 10 years.

In addition to smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detector should also be checked this weekend. CO is the invisible killer—it's a colorless, odorless gas and it can kill within minutes.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, just 42 percent of households report having a working carbon monoxide alarm. Changing the batteries in your smoke and CO alarms is the easiest way to ensure protection of your loved ones and your home in the event of a fire.

Interesting fact: Arizona, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa do not observe daylight saving time.