2024 time change dates for Texas
At 2:00 AM the clocks jump straight to 3:00 AM in Texas. That hour never happens, and everyone loses an hour of sleep.
At 2:00 AM the clocks return to 1:00 AM, so that hour is lived through twice and the night is an hour longer.
Texas keeps CST in winter and shifts one hour forward for the summer.
Countdown to the next change
Economic Impact of DST in Texas
The economic effects of Daylight Saving Time in Texas are real but modest, and studies disagree on their size. Retailers and hospitality businesses generally favour DST, arguing that lighter evenings encourage shopping, dining out and other after-work spending — the US retail lobby was one of the main forces behind the 2005 extension of the DST period.
The transitions themselves carry a cost. Research from Chmura Economics has put the one-off economic cost of the spring change in the United States at roughly $430 million a year, driven by lost productivity, workplace injuries and the health effects of a disrupted night's sleep.
Does DST Actually Save Energy?
This was the original justification, and it is the claim that has held up worst. A US Department of Energy report to Congress in 2008 measured the four weeks added to DST in 2007 and found a saving of about 0.5% of daily national electricity use — real, but small.
Other work has found no saving at all. A well-known study of Indiana, which adopted DST statewide in 2006, found residential electricity use actually rose by 1–4%: households used less lighting but more air conditioning on hot summer evenings. Any lighting savings are also partly offset by extra petrol use as people travel more in the lighter evenings.
Background
- Roughly 70 countries use some form of DST, but they are concentrated in Europe and North America. Most of Africa and Asia do not.
- Germany and Austria-Hungary were the first countries to adopt DST nationally, in April 1916, as a wartime fuel-saving measure.
- The Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended US DST by four weeks starting in 2007, moving the start to the second Sunday in March and the end to the first Sunday in November.
Tips for Texas
Check and replace smoke detector batteries when changing clocks - it's a good reminder!
Gradually adjust your sleep schedule a few days before the time change to minimize disruption.
Remember that not all countries change on the same date - check international meeting times carefully.
Be extra cautious driving the Monday after the spring time change - accident rates increase.
Frequently asked questions
When do the clocks change in Texas in 2024?
Clocks go forward on Sunday, March 10, 2024 and back on Sunday, November 3, 2024.
Which way do the clocks go?
"Spring forward, fall back" is the usual mnemonic: forward one hour in spring, back one hour in autumn.
Do I have to change anything myself?
Phones, computers and anything that syncs over the internet update on their own. Car clocks, ovens, microwaves and older wall clocks generally do not.
Is Daylight Saving Time being scrapped?
It has been proposed in many places and adopted in few. The European Parliament voted in 2019 to end mandatory clock changes and the change has stalled; in the United States the Sunshine Protection Act has repeatedly passed the Senate without becoming law. Most of the world that changes its clocks is still changing them.