What Is ET Time?

ET, or Eastern Time, is a time zone that covers a portion of the eastern United States and parts of parts of Canada. ET is five hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the main time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. ET is used by all the states in the eastern U.S, the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut, as well as parts of Mexico and the northern Caribbean. For people residing in the ET time zone, noon is when the sun is at its highest point in the sky, or 12 pm ET.

The History Of ET

The Eastern Time zone was established in 1883 by the railway companies who placed the eastern border at the 75th meridian west, beginning in Michigan. This extended in a southwestward line along the course of the Great Lakes, the Ohio River and the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, forming the eastern boundary of the Eastern Time Zone. This meridian still remains the basis of the ET time zone.

How To Convert To ET

Since the Eastern Time zone takes up a portion of the United States, it’s important to know how to convert to it if you are located in a different time zone. Different regions and states use different offsets, or the amount of time the clock is pushed ahead or turned back relative to the time that would have corresponded to the 75th meridian. The following offsets are applicable to the US and parts of Canada in the ET time zone:

• Eastern Standard Time: UTC-5
• Eastern Daylight Time: UTC-4

To convert from Eastern to your local time, subtract the offset from the local time: for example, to convert from Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5) to local time in Miami (UTC-4), subtract 5 from 4, which will give you -1, or 1 hour ahead of the Eastern Standard Time.

Conclusion

ET is an important time zone to be aware of, especially if you are in the US or other parts of North America. Knowing how to convert to the ET time zone and which offset to use is crucial in making sure you don’t miss a meeting or an event. It’s also important to know that ET is five hours behind UTC, the main time standard used to regulate clocks and other timekeeping devices across the world.