A 24-hour wall clock that shows how much daylight you get

An analog wall clock designed by a hobbyist shows the day's daylight hours at a glance. According to the report, the clock face runs on a 24-hour cycle, with midnight at the bottom and noon at the top. A ring of lights around the circumference illuminates the span of daylight based on the clock's home latitude and longitude.

The knob at the bottom moves time forward in weekly increments. As described in the article, the abrupt jumps when daylight saving time begins and ends cause the lights to shift suddenly. A switch on the side disables the time and space overrides; with it off, the time knob instead controls the brightness of the edge lighting.

The control box also includes a vertical latitude slider and a three-way toggle for relative longitude, which sets the clock's position within its time zone. The clock runs on an off-the-shelf 24-hour movement, while the body and controller box were cut on a laser cutter. The 48 lights around the face were chosen deliberately so the ring divides evenly into the hours of the day.

The project grew out of a long-held time zone grudge. The maker grew up in Michigan on the western edge of the Eastern Time Zone and later moved to the eastern side of the same zone, where the sun rises and sets a full hour earlier. According to the article, this means the sun sets just after 4pm on the winter solstice. The clock is meant to make that difference visible: an ambient reminder that isn't tied to a computer or phone.