What’s happening with Daylight Savings (DST)?

This weekend on November 5th, the clocks will fall back one hour. The daylight savings time change will occur at 2 AM, and clocks will roll back to 1 AM at this time. This may result in an extended schedule on November 5th unless action is taken..

Starting today (November 2nd, 2023), GrowFlux’s controls will no longer observe Daylight Savings Time. This means that your control schedules will follow standard time going forward. This may affect businesses that adjust other aspects of their operations around DST.

Prior to November 2nd, GrowFlux controls incorporated DST changes automatically, meaning that light schedules shifted with DST changes in each time zone.

Will my lighting schedules be affected?

Lights that are set to time zones affected by DST will see an additional hour in the evening in the schedule at 2 AM on November 5th unless DST is turned off.

For example, if a schedule is set to turn lights on at 8 AM, then turn lights off at 8 PM, the schedule on all normal days will have lights on for 12 hours and lights off for 12 hours at night. Under DST, this schedule will have lights off for an additional hour at night (at 2 AM) on November 5th only.

When DST is turned off, schedules will be adjusted to remove the additional hour in the schedule on November 5th.

Can I turn off Daylight Savings Time on my schedules?

Yes, we provided a quick easy button to turn it off and adjust the schedules. In the GrowFlux App, tap Menu, then navigate to the Lighting Zones list to begin.

When the ‘BEGIN DST ADJUSTMENT’ button is pressed, schedules on devices are automatically adjusted to remove the additional hour in the schedule on November 5th. These schedules are stored in your devices, so it is important that you review this guide carefully to avoid any disruption to your crop.

If you are growing a light sensitive or photoperiodic flowering crop and are currently in a dark period, make sure to clear the lighting schedule on your devices before beginning the DST adjustment. Follow these steps:

Open a lighting zone that is currently in a dark period
Tap ‘CLEAR SETTINGS AND TURN OFF’ to remove lighting schedules from devices and ensure that lights are turned off, then tap ‘TURN OFF LIGHTS IN ZONE’ to complete this action.
Navigate to the Lighting Zones page, and repeat this process for each zone that is currently in a dark period
When complete, navigate to the Lighting Zones page and visually confirm that all zones that must be dark are off
Tap BEGIN DST ADJUSTMENT
When DST adjustment is complete, navigate to each zone that has been turned off and re-apply the appropriate schedule template

If all of your lighting zones are currently illuminated and no risk of crop disruption is present from lights briefly turning on, you may apply the DST adjustment without making any settings modifications to your Lighting Zones.

Will GrowFlux be adjusting this automatically for us, if not when should I do it?

GrowFlux will not perform this change since certain models of lighting controllers may turn on briefly while active schedules are modified. To avoid any potential disruption to crops, GrowFlux is providing the tool to do this at your convenience.

How long does it take to adjust all the lights and zones in my facility?

Active lighting schedules stored on lighting controllers will take about 5 minutes to adjust. Lights may turn on or off briefly during this process.

Can I make changes to the schedules in the zones without having to do the DST adjustment?

Yes, you can continue to operate the zones as expected.

What happens if I do nothing?

The Begin DST Adjustment section will remain at the top of your zones list indefinitely until the button is pressed
Your lights will stay in whichever state they are scheduled to be in on November 5th at 1am for one additional hour
You will continue to receive additional notifications from GrowFlux if the DST adjustment is not performed.

Why did my start time change on Sunday November 5th?

Your start time changed on November 5th because your schedules did not observe Daylight Savings Time. This will be normal operation going forward.

What is DST?

DST stands for "Daylight Saving Time," which is a practice used in some regions to make better use of daylight during certain parts of the year. The main idea behind DST is to adjust the clocks forward by one hour during the warmer months (typically spring or summer) to extend the amount of daylight available in the evening. This is done to reduce energy consumption, promote outdoor activities, and make more efficient use of natural daylight.

During DST, clocks are typically set forward by one hour, and then they are set back by one hour when DST ends, usually in the fall or autumn. This means that during DST, people effectively "gain" an extra hour of daylight in the evening.

What do other timekeeping acronyms mean?

UTC - Coordinated Universal Time: UTC is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is based on atomic time and does not observe Daylight Saving Time.

GMT - Greenwich Mean Time: GMT is a time standard originally referring to mean solar time at the Prime Meridian in Greenwich, London, but it has largely been replaced by UTC.

EST, CST, MST, PST, etc.: These are abbreviations for time zones in North America. For example, EST stands for Eastern Standard Time, CST for Central Standard Time, MST for Mountain Standard Time, and PST for Pacific Standard Time. These time zones may or may not observe Daylight Saving Time depending on the region.

EDT, CDT, MDT, PDT, etc.: These are abbreviations for time zones in North America that specifically indicate whether Daylight Saving Time (DST) is in effect. For instance, EDT stands for Eastern Daylight Time, CDT for Central Daylight Time, etc. When these abbreviations are used, it signifies that the respective time zones have shifted their clocks one hour ahead to make better use of daylight during the warmer months. When DST ends, these abbreviations revert to the standard time zones, such as EST for Eastern Standard Time. Whether a region observes DST or remains on standard time depends on its specific DST rules and regulations.

How can I confirm the time zone setting on my devices?

From the GrowFlux App, open the menu, and at the top of the menu the ACTIVE ACCESS POINT is shown in a dropdown. Below this dropdown is a gear icon for Access Point Settings. Select the appropriate Access Point for your facility, then tap this gear icon. The time zone setting is displayed at the top of the settings panel.