EST vs EDT

I live on the East Coast of the United States, in the Eastern Time Zone. Because I often work with people in other time zones, I’ve become very conscious of the impact of timezones on scheduling. In fact, it is likely I’ve sent you this link in regards to scheduling.

Previously, when sending a scheduling request I always listed my local time as EST. It turns out that EST is the appropriate timezone for only half the year, the other half of the year is actually EDT.

Eastern Standard Time (EST)

Eastern Standard Time (UTC−05:00) applies from the 1st Sunday in November to the 2nd Sunday in March (essentially fall and winter). While rare, some places do stay on EST all year round, e.g. Jamaica and Panama.

Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)

Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−04:00) applies the rest of the year (essentially spring and summer).

EST/EDT Solution

Instead of EST or EDT, I’ve learned to use ET. Additionally, this applies to PT (instead of PST).

Sal Ferrarello (@salcode)

Sal is a PHP developer with a focus on the WordPress platform. He is a conference speaker with a background including Piano Player, Radio DJ, Magician/Juggler, Beach Photographer, and High School Math Teacher. Sal can be found professionally at WebDevStudios, where he works as a senior backend engineer.