{"id":611802,"date":"2026-09-25T22:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T22:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/611802\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T22:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T22:34:11","slug":"dont-forget-to-change-your-clocks-for-daylight-saving-tonight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/611802\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t forget to change your clocks for daylight saving tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s that time of year again, with New Zealanders set to lose an hour of sleep tonight as daylight saving begins<\/a> for another year.<\/p>\n

Clocks will move forward by one hour at 2am on Sunday, September 27, becoming 3am.<\/p>\n

While that means one less hour in bed, the change brings more daylight into the evenings as the country heads towards summer.<\/p>\n

A handy way to remember which direction the clocks move is \u201cspring forward, fall back\u201d.<\/p>\n

We’re about to lose an hour of sleep and the twice-yearly ritual of changing our clocks has a surprisingly strange history, reports Mava Moayyed. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

What happens on daylight saving, and why?<\/p>\n

Daylight saving begins at 2am on the last Sunday of September each year, when the clocks move forward by an hour to give us more evening light. <\/p>\n

It ends each year at 3am on the first Sunday of April when the clocks move back an hour, giving New Zealand 27 weeks of daylight saving. <\/p>\n

The annual event was first formally observed<\/a> in New Zealand in 1927, when entomologist George Hudson proposed shifting the clocks forward by an hour to have more daylight. <\/p>\n

Daylight saving was later stopped before being reintroduced in the 1970s amid the global energy crisis, when longer summer evenings were seen as a way of reducing electricity use.<\/p>\n

The daylight saving period has been extended several times since, with the current dates in place since 2007.<\/p>\n

Changing the clocks has long been the subject of debate<\/a> around the world, including over the potential impacts on sleep and human health.<\/a><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s daylight saving period will run until Sunday, April 4, when clocks will move back by one hour at 3am \u2014 meaning an extra hour of sleep. <\/p>\n

\"Clocks<\/p>\n

Clocks go back at the end of daylight saving time in autumn. (Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n

Do I need to change my clocks?<\/p>\n

Most smartphones, computers and and other connected devices should update the time automatically, although it is worth checking their settings to make sure. <\/p>\n

For Android users: Go to Settings, System, Date & Time, then make sure it has Set Automatically switched on.<\/p>\n

For iPhone users: Go to Settings, General, Date & Time, then make sure Set Automatically is toggled on.<\/p>\n

Clocks on appliances, watches, in cars and other areas will likely need to be manually changed. <\/p>\n

\"Replace<\/p>\n

Replace smoke alarms after 10 years (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

A reminder for smoke alarm safety<\/p>\n

Fire and Emergency NZ is encouraging people to use the clock change as a reminder to check their smoke alarms – particularly ones belonging to older relatives, friends and neighbours. <\/p>\n

FENZ community education manager Tom Ronaldson said every second person who died in a fire is aged over 60, with the number of fatal fires involving people in that age group increasing over the past five years. <\/p>\n

“People only have around three minutes to get out before a house fire becomes unsurvivable,” Ronaldson said. <\/p>\n

“To give yourself and your older family and friends the earliest possible warning, you need working smoke alarms installed in every bedroom, hallway and living area.<\/p>\n

Ronaldson said people should also check the age of their smoke alarms, which should be replaced after 10 years. <\/p>\n

“We often see homes which have smoke alarms installed but they are well past their use by date so won\u2019t be at their best,” he said. <\/p>\n

“Checking alarms is easy – remove them from the base plate and check their manufacture and\/or expiration on the bottom of the alarm.”<\/p>\n

FENZ recommended installing long-life photoelectric smoke alarms in every bedroom, living room and hallway.<\/p>\n

Donaldson said checking smoke alarms was also a good opportunity for households to ensure they have two clear escape routes and an agreed safe meeting place. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s that time of year again, with New Zealanders set to lose an hour of sleep tonight as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611803,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[134,111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-611802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-health","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}