The area of the country that is referred to as contiguous United States is divided into 4 time zones of which the time zone that is observed in the eastern most part is referred to as Eastern Time Zone. There are 17 states of the country that fall under this time zone. Interestingly, Eastern Time can be considered the official time of the entire country as this time is observed in the capital of the country, the Washington DC. This is also the time that is observed in NY. Almost half of the population observes Eastern Time. This time zone observes EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) during spring while it observes EST (Eastern Standard Time) during winters. This is what confuses many people, especially outsiders. This article explains the meaning and differences between EDT and EST.
What is EDT and What is EST?
The states of the country that fall on the coast of Atlantic Ocean are the states that observe Eastern Time. Also, many states of Ohio Valley observe this time. The northern part of this time zone observes EDT during spring and EST during winters. In reality, clocks are advanced by 1 hour at 2 AM EST on the 2nd Sunday of March to change the time to EDT, which is referred to as Eastern Daylight Time. The same parts of this time zone turn the clocks behind by 1 hour on the first Sunday of November to make it EST or the Eastern Standard Time.
EDT is daylight saving time and is nearly 4 hours behind the GMT.
EDT = GMT/UTC – 4
EST is the Eastern standard time and is 5 hours behind the GMT.
EST = GMT/UTC -5
EDT vs EST
EDT and EST are parts of the Eastern Time Zone that is observed in 17 states of the country lying in the eastern region. In the northern parts of this time zone, clocks are turned back by an hour during spring to save daylight. The same areas move their clocks ahead by one hour on first Sunday of December to start observing EST or the Eastern Standard Time.
EDT is GMT-4 hours while EST is GMT-5 hours.