An Irish expert has said that households could save on their energy bills if clocks do not go back at the end of the month.
Over €450 could be saved a year amid the ongoing “energy war”.
Professor Aoife Foley of the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast has calculated that households could save on their energy bills if the October clock change was scrapped.
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Professor Foley, who specialises in clean energy research, said that this “administrative solution would dramatically reduce demand peak times” amid the ongoing “energy war”.
Despite the European Union looking to scrap Daylight Savings Time for years, many countries still put the clock forward and back twice a year.
However, Foley said that there are “definite” savings to be made by getting rid of this system.
She said: “By simply foregoing the winter Daylight Savings Time (DST) in October, we save energy because it is brighter in the evening during winter, so we reduce commercial and residential electrical demand as people leave work earlier, and go home earlier, meaning less lighting and heating is needed.
“We are no longer in an energy crisis in Europe but an energy war and, dependent on weather conditions this winter, it is very likely we may need to start rationing energy very seriously to avoid bigger energy issues in December and January when gas reserves start to run low.
“There is no doubt that by foregoing the daylight savings in winter we would save a lot of energy, reduce our bills and carbon emissions during this energy war, and especially during a cost of living crisis.”
Removing the October clock change, when they go backward, would flatten the evening peak curves on energy demand by up to 10 per cent, Foley said, if commercial demand is included.
Households could save £1.20 or €1.40 a day if clocks are not pushed back at the end of October. This amounts to £400 or €450 a year off their energy bills.
Professor Foley’s calculations do not include gas savings or electricity and gas in the commercial or industrial sector, but she said that there would be “even more significant energy, cost and emissions reductions for hard-strapped businesses and the public” if they were.
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