EasternTime

Let's start with the basics: a time zone is a standard time used in a geographic area. It's a human-made, set of guidelines we've all agreed to follow so everyone is on the same page when traveling, communicating, and coordinating with others in different states and around the world. This page is dedicated to the Eastern time zone within the US for quick reference, planning, and scheduling.

These lines aren't straight and neat, many are negotiated and agreed based on the country's needs. If you're connecting with others in different time zones, it can get tricky so consider this a handy guide to navigating Eastern Time.

What's the difference between EST, EDT, and ET?

These all refer to the Eastern Time zone. The converter above uses the initials for standard time because it's the most commonly used reference but really, ET should be used when referring to Eastern Time in general, because it includes both standard and daylight time. Here's a quick breakdown:

EST = Eastern Standard Time (UTC - 5:00)

EDT = Eastern Daylight Time (UTC - 4:00)

ET = Eastern Time (can refer to either EST or EDT)

Eastern Standard Time or EST for short is 5 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC - 5:00). During the months when daylight savings is observed, Eastern time zone changes to Eastern Daylight Time or EDT which is 4 hours behind Universal Time (UTC -04:00).

This means that the time zones leveraged in eastern time zone regions are 5 places behind the starting line of Greenwich.

Here are a couple of examples to illustrate the difference between EST and other time zones.

EST to CST