This year's change from Standard Time (ST) to Daylight Saving Time (DST) could create a little havoc around homes laden with older electronic and other devices that recognize the old DST.

Just a little.

This year, DST will start three weeks earlier than it has since 1987 -- on the second Sunday in March, March 11, 2 a.m.

DST will end this year, a week later than it has since 1987 -- on the first Sunday in November, that's November 4, 2 a.m.

Ironically, April Fool's Day, April 1, the first Sunday in April would have been the start of DST this year under the old schedule, but don't be fooled.

Also, DST would have ended the last Sunday in October, October 28, under the old schedule.

Confused?

Fine, just don't panic.

You won't have to cower at home until the coast is clear like many did during the Great Y2K Fear. At the first stroke of midnight in the year 2000 the double aughts were supposed to cause date-related processing in computers to freak out, shut down and plunge the world into darkness and chaos.

Never happened.

It's not clear if the world didn't end because of the extensive mitigation efforts to forestall the double-zero whammy or if the problem was simply overstated and over reported by a rabid media, but the planet survived.

Problems stemming from the latest event horizon -- an earlier, longer DST -- will likely be much easier to mitigate.

"No one is talking a replay of the worst fears in the lead up to Y2K -- no widespread computer outages, no scare talk of a global IT meltdown. This issue primarily is confined to date and time processing functions," says Phil Bond, CEO and president of the Information Technology Association of America.

The "Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT)" established the nation's energy policy for the foreseeable future and it also comes with the mandate for a month-long extension of DST beginning this year.

It's designed as an energy-saving measure to lop an estimated 1 percent off household energy bills, and not a moment too soon.

Global warming is heating up the planet.

But the event could be somewhat of a hair-puller for those who schedule their lives with electronics that have built-in clocks designed to automatically change back and forth from DST to ST based on the old schedule.

Worst case scenarios? Because clocks are supposed to be set an hour ahead ("Spring ahead. Fall back") at the onset of DST, if your clocks aren't on DST, you could show up an hour late for a house-warming party (fashionably so), miss your final walk-through on your new home by an hour or blow your closing (not so fashionable).

While some newer electronics have already been manufactured to tell new DST and others use television and radio broadcast or broadband signals to keep accurate time, older units may be, well, lost in time.

Generally, however, older gadgets, including televisions, VHS/DVD player/recorders, clock radios, etc. didn't come with DST locked in, but allowed you to elect DST automation or to manually set the time.

Manually setting the time is what will likely be necessary for the host of clocks and timers around most homes that don't have automatic DST features.

Otherwise dust off those old manuals or otherwise figure out how to turn off DST automation and manually configure your electronic clocks.

Don't forget programmable thermostats, security systems, guest room and vacation home clocks and all those other out of the way time keepers.

Safety experts say because you are likely going from room to room to change clocks, DST is also a good time to pull a safety check on your home.

That includes changing batteries in smoke alarms, CO2 detectors and flash lights, taking stock of or restock your emergency/survival kit and recharging your fire extinguisher, among other tasks.

"There is one similarity with Y2K. Proper preparation will likely head off most of the adverse consequences of the time change," said Bond.

Published: February 19, 2007

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the Web site, DeadlineNews.Com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for "Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home" (Nolo $24.99) and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.