When clocks change for daylight saving time, you may notice a one-hour gap or a repeated hour in your AlertAQ™ timestamps. This is expected. Your sensor data has not been lost or duplicated.
Why does this happen?
AlertAQ™ records every sensor reading on a global clock that never changes for daylight saving time. It then shows those readings in your building’s local time. When local clocks move forward or back, the times you see shift with them.
What happens in the spring?
When clocks move forward, local time skips from 1:59 AM straight to 3:00 AM. Because of this, you won’t see any timestamps in the 2:00 AM hour.
Your sensors keep recording normally during this time. The gap only affects how times are displayed.
What happens in the fall?
When clocks move back, the 1:00 AM hour happens twice. Because of this, you may see two sets of readings between 1:00 AM and 1:59 AM.
These are separate readings taken an hour apart. They are not duplicates.
Why do my water use totals look different on those days?
The day clocks move forward has 23 hours, and the day clocks move back has 25. Your water use for those days may look slightly lower in the spring and slightly higher in the fall. This reflects the shorter or longer day, not a change in your building’s water use.
Are leak detection and alerts affected?
No. Leak detection and alerts continue to work normally through the time change.
Do I need to do anything?
No action is needed.
If your timestamps look incorrect at other times of the year, your building’s time zone setting may need to be updated. Please contact Alert Labs Support and we’ll check it for you.
What if my building doesn’t observe daylight saving time?
If your building is in an area that doesn’t change its clocks, such as most of Saskatchewan or Arizona, you won’t see any of these changes.
Need more help? Contact Alert Labs Support at hello@alertlabs.com or through chat support.