Don’t Forget! Turn Back Your Clocks, Change Your Batteries Sunday, Nov. 3
With all the hubbub of the World Series Game 7 and Halloween and the early snowfall that was dumped on us this week, it’s easy to forget that we’ve got another event coming up that merits our attention.
That’s right, it’s once again time to “fall back,” get an extra hour of sleep and lose some light at the end of the day.
Nov 3, 2019 — Daylight Saving Time Ends
When local daylight time is about to reach 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019, clocks are turned backward one hour to
1 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019, Central Standard Time.
Sunrise and sunset will be about one hour earlier on Nov 3, 2019, than the day before. There will be more light in the morning.
Also called Fall Back and Winter Time, this is also a good reminder to change the batteries in your smoke alarms.
Fire Marshal: ‘Change Your Clock, Change Your Batteries’
The Office of the State Fire Marshal reminds Illinoisans to test and replace the batteries in their smoke alarms as daylight saving time ends this weekend and they turn their clocks back.
“The time change serves as a great reminder to test your smoke alarms and change the batteries in them,” said state Fire Marshal Matt Perez. “Parents can use this time to teach kids how to recognize the sound of smoke alarms and to practice their home fire safety plan.”
The National Fire Protection Association reports that, between 2012 and 2016, almost three out of every five home fire deaths in the U.S. resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or non-working smoke alarms.
In fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate, more than two of every five of the smoke alarms had missing or disconnected batteries. Dead batteries accounted for 25% of smoke alarm failures.
In Illinois, 79% of smoke alarms being replaced aren’t working.
A 2017 Illinois law required ten-year sealed smoke alarms be installed in all homes built before 1988 or that do not have hardwired smoke detectors by Jan. 1, 2023.
“The ‘Be Alarmed!’ program is designed to help residents in Illinois comply with the new law, but it’s really aimed at creating fire-safe communities,” Perez said. “By replacing alarms that have missing batteries or ones that are either expired or broken with new 10-year sealed detectors, this will help to reduce residential fire deaths across the state.”
“Be Alarmed!” is a fire safety education and smoke alarm installation program administered cooperatively between the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance and the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal. This program provides ten-year, concealed battery smoke alarms to Illinois residents through their local fire departments and can aid with obtaining and installing these required alarms. Smoke alarms are required on every floor of the house and within 15 feet of every bedroom.
For more information on the “Be Alarmed!” program visit https://www.ifsa.org/programs/
‘Fun Facts’ About Winter Time
It’s become a tradition for Kane County Connects to complain annually and vehemently about the end of Daylight Saving Time, so we’re sharing these fun facts once again.
There’s a whole backstory that goes with the time change, with frequent references to Benjamin Franklin and energy saving and farming. The hard truth is that it no longer really saves energy, according to National Geographic.
In Canada, where winter must sometimes seem perpetual, they do a lot of thinking about the time change. So we’re presenting five fun facts, most of which are courtesy of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, for your reading pleasure.
Fun Fact #1: A lot of U.S. states are still talking about getting rid of Daylight Saving Time. Illinois is not mentioned.
Fun Fact #2: A time change can give you a heart attack. OK, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but only a bit. “Falling back” is generally thought to be less physically stressful than the clock springing forward, but “research indicates that even a relatively small 60-minute time change can have effects on the body, health and even traffic safety,” the CBC says in the article How Daylight Changes Affect Your Health.
Fun Fact #3: The fall time change makes you fat. Again, that’s not actually true. But it is true that reduced daylight hours can lead to obesity and chronic illnesses through a lack of exercise, according to Mayer Hillman, a fellow from the U.K.-based Policy Studies Institute.
Fun Fact #4: There are some places on Earth that don’t do the time change thing. Quoth the CBC: “Saskatchewan and some parts of B.C. don’t use it, for example, nor do Arizona and Hawaii in the U.S.”
Fun Fact #5: If it seems like we’re doing this time change thing later than in the past, you are right. “Legislation in the United States in 2007 moved the start of daylight time three weeks earlier in the spring and the return to standard time a week later in the fall,” the CBC says.
How to Adjust to The Time Change
SOURCE: www.cbc.ca
- Take advantage of the opportunity to get an extra hour of sleep. Don’t stay up later in anticipation of the time change.
- Eat healthy and keep hydrated. Avoid caffeinated beverages, since too much caffeine can further disrupt your natural sleep rhythm.
- Increase your exposure to bright light and physical activity during the day until late afternoon/early evening to help compensate for the overall reduction of daylight hours.
- Get your daily dose of Vitamin D. The two best ways to get the Vitamin D you need are to get adequate sun exposure (15 to 30 minutes per day in summer/southern regions — it’s very difficult to get enough exposure in winter in northern regions because of reduced UV levels), or to take vitamin D supplements.
- Drivers should be extra alert — pull over if you’re driving and feel drowsy. The only cure for sleepiness is sleep. Opening the window or turning up the radio are not effective ways to stay awake.
- Use this clock-change weekend as an opportunity to make home safety checks. Check and replace batteries in home smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
Check Carbon Monoxide Detectors!
As temperatures continue to drop and Daylight Savings Time comes to an end this weekend, the Kane County Healthy Places Coalition and the Kane County Health Department want to remind residents to take action to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. We “fall back” an hour on Nov. 3.
When you turn back your clocks, it’s a good time to put new batteries in your carbon monoxide detectors.
This is the time of year where we start seeing more carbon monoxide poisonings. So, now is the time for Kane residents to make sure their heating sources and carbon monoxide detectors are in good working order.
On average, carbon monoxide poisoning causes about 200 deaths per year in the U.S, according to data from the Illinois Poison Center. Many people make trips to the ER for non-lethal carbon monoxide poisonings, too. These deaths and injuries are preventable when people are prepared.
To protect yourself and your family from carbon monoxide, follow these safety tips:
- Make sure you have working carbon monoxide detectors. Homes and duplexes are required by Illinois to have detectors 15 feet from every sleeping room. Detectors can be purchased at most hardware stores for $20-50. Daylight Savings Time is a good time each year to replace the batteries in your detector and push the “Test” button to be sure it’s working properly. Replace your detector every five years or according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- Have your furnace or wood-burning stove inspected annually. Hire a professional to make sure it is functionally sound and vents properly outside the home.
- Never run a gasoline or propane heater or a grill (gas or charcoal) inside your home or garage. Any heating system that burns fuel produces carbon monoxide. Use a battery-powered detector where you have fuel burning devices but no electric outlets, such as in tents, cabins, and RVs.
- Generators should be run at a safe distance (at least 20 feet) from the home. Never run a generator in the home or garage, or right next to windows or doors.
- Never run a car in an enclosed space. Even with a door or window open, carbon monoxide levels can still build up to an unsafe level.
At high levels, carbon monoxide can cause death within minutes. Symptoms of overexposure to carbon monoxide include headache, fatigue, dizziness, shortness of breath, nausea, and confusion. If you think you may be experiencing carbon monoxide poisoning, or your detector sounds an alarm, head outside immediately for fresh air and call 911.
Visit the Kane County Health Department website for more information about carbon monoxide poisoning: KaneHealth.com/Pages/Carbon-Monoxide.aspx.
SOURCE: Kane County Health Department news release
