How many clocks are there in your home/dwelling?

[Astronuc]

Cristo's thread "Clocks go back?" prompts me to ask the question - "How many clocks are there in your home/dwelling/abode?"

I count 5 clocks in our kitchen - microwave, stove, coffee maker, wall clock (battery powered with bird sounds), and over-the-counter clock radio.

One in the living room - VCR.

Three in the master bedroom - the satellite clock, and two radio/alarm clocks.

Then each computer and cell phone

Then there are watches - but I don't wear one.


I'm sure there are more.

 

[Evo]

Working? Three in the kitchen - stove, microwave and coffeemaker, all off by one minute each, hey I can only program one at a time. Computer and cell phone. So 5.

 

[turbo]

I'm sure there are more.

Yep! You can add in each digital camera in the house, too.

 

[rewebster]

digital thermostat

 

[D H]

22 or so in my house (1 wall clock, 5 alarm clocks, plus clocks in the microwave, oven, coffee pot, cable receiver, DVD recorder, and a clock in each of 4 computers, 3 TVs, and 4 cell phones). Do the immediate surroundings count? If so, add the clocks in the 3 vehicles parked just outside the front door.

I don't wear a watch because I am surrounded by clocks.

 

[Evo]

22 or so in my house (1 wall clock, 5 alarm clocks, plus clocks in the microwave, oven, coffee pot, cable receiver, DVD recorder, and a clock in each of 4 computers, 3 TVs, and 4 cell phones). Do the immediate surroundings count? If so, add the clocks in the 3 vehicles parked just outside the front door.

I don't wear a watch because I am surrounded by clocks.

Before my house was hit by lightning and 4 cars totalled by baseball size hail, I would have outnumbered you.

 

[George Jones]

We have four clocks (computer, stove, microwave, portable radio) plus the watches that my wife and I both wear. I only ever use my watch and the computer clock to check the time.

 

[BobG]

At least 19 and most read different times. Probably at least half are within a few minutes of the correct time. Nearly half will be within a few minutes of the correct time in about a week. A few only tell the correct time twice a day.

 

[Astronuc]

I gave up wearing watches back in early years of university - they kept getting destroyed. Not even a Timex could survive attached to me.

 

[cristo]

Ive got a wall clock in my room, a watch, a clock on both my cell phone and computer, and one in the open living area-- so that's 5 in total; although only the automatic ones (computer and phone) tell the correct time at present!

[...]5 alarm clocks, [...]

Wow.. you must be a very heavy sleeper!

 

[BobG]

... 5 alarm clocks...

Wow.. you must be a very heavy sleeper!

You can set them to go off sequentially 30 seconds apart along a path to the coffee pot. What a concept!

 

[D H]

Wow.. you must be a very heavy sleeper!

I only have one alarm clock. My wife and my three sons have one each.

 

[cristo]

I only have one alarm clock. My wife and my three sons have one each.

Yea, I guessed it was something like that. I was only making a joke, really. There are some days when I could do with 5 alarm clocks though! :zzz:

 

[turbo]

Over 30 years ago, my friend inherited a drug-store (the old-fashioned rural drug store that carried lots of dry goods, jewelry, etc) and the 3-story family home next door. His grandfather and his great-grandfather were both jewelers and they repaired clocks, too. There was a clock in about every room of that big place, and one day after Bill and his wife had gotten settled in, he and I set out to start up and regulate every clock. We thought it would be a good idea to wind up or set the counter-weights operating all the sounders, too. Most of the clocks would toll the hour and many would also chime for each quarter-hour. The next day, his wife (a light sleeper, apparently) let us know in no uncertain terms that it had NOT been a good idea to activate all the sounders and that we had to disable them all or face dire consequences.

 

[Moonbear]

I've been gradually reducing clocks, because it was getting to the point where I didn't need to turn on lights at night with all the things with numbers glowing at me.

The kitchen has the microwave, range, and a battery-operated analog clock on the wall (so I have something to set all the other clocks by when the power goes out). I wouldn't bother setting the ones on the microwave and range if either one would operate without the clocks set (I don't use either clock for telling time, and it's a pain to keep resetting them after every power outage).

There's an alarm clock in my bedroom, and one in the guest bedroom (though the one in the guest room is probably blinking 12:00 at this point...I never check it after power failures, only worry about it if I have a guest visiting who needs the alarm, which is rare).

In my office, I use the clock on the computer to keep track of time (usually it's better to not know what time it is when I'm in my office getting work done ). That said, I'm also up to 3 computers now, so that's 3 clocks total there, but they all set themselves, so I don't worry about them.

The cellphone has replaced wearing a watch. Clock in the car too.

I no longer have VCRs or DVD players or coffee makers that display the time, which is great.

 

[Huckleberry]

Before my house was hit by lightning and 4 cars totalled by baseball size hail, I would have outnumbered you.

Did the cars crash into your house to get out of the hail?


I only have 2 working clocks, my computer and my alarm clock. I guess I can count the 2 in the kitchen also, but I haven't reset them since I lost power months ago and they are 20 minutes slow.

If I actually put batteries in everything and set all the timers properly I would have 9 in my apartment and 1 in my car.

 

[Mk]

Counting one in each computer and one in each cell phone, that's six. Then two VCRs, and four clock clocks, and one wallphone that has a clock in it I think. Oh, and the fax machine has a clock. So that's 14! I'm sure there are more hidden somewhere with non necessarily a digital readout.

 

[George Jones]

Can anyone "top" this for clocks at home? Five years ago, during my last year as a bachelor, I had the clock on my portable radio and my watch.

At work, I had the clock on my computer and my watch.

 

[Moonbear]

Over 30 years ago, my friend inherited a drug-store (the old-fashioned rural drug store that carried lots of dry goods, jewelry, etc) and the 3-story family home next door. His grandfather and his great-grandfather were both jewelers and they repaired clocks, too. There was a clock in about every room of that big place, and one day after Bill and his wife had gotten settled in, he and I set out to start up and regulate every clock. We thought it would be a good idea to wind up or set the counter-weights operating all the sounders, too. Most of the clocks would toll the hour and many would also chime for each quarter-hour. The next day, his wife (a light sleeper, apparently) let us know in no uncertain terms that it had NOT been a good idea to activate all the sounders and that we had to disable them all or face dire consequences.

Reminds me of a visit to a friends' house once. I was sleeping on the pull-out sofa in the living room, and woke up EVERY HOUR to the cuckoo clock they had in there. First thing the next day, I made them shut off the cuckoo mechanism in it. They were so used to hearing it, they completely forgot it was there and might keep someone awake at night who wasn't used to it...especially when it was directly over the sofa I was sleeping on! Needless to say, I needed a nap that afternoon to get through the day.

 

[D H]

22 or so in my house

Update: The count is well over 30. Disgusting. Add four watches (none mine), two stopwatches (both mine; I used to be a referee), digital thermostat, 3 telephones, two stereos, a VCR, and a digital television. The clocks in the three cars make the count closer to 40.

 

[Astronuc]

The cellphone has replaced wearing a watch. Clock in the car too.

I'm on my second (company) cell phone, but they do last longer than my watches did. I didn't count the clocks in each car.

I just noticed the digital thermostat in the hallway has a clock. I never look at it. Sneaky clock.

 

[out of whack]

At least fourteen in the house + two for my car (a radio clock plus a second one on the dashboard) + my wife's car + watches. The little biannual ritual is approaching once again. Someone ought to start making receiver clocks that can self-adjust from a radio or wifi signal. At least cell phones and PCs already do that.

 

[turbo]

Man! Even in our primitive little log house, we have LOTS of clocks. Three alarm clocks, 2 in computers, one each in VCR and microwave, one in a phone, one in a FAX, one in a caller ID box, one in an answering machine, 2 wristwatches each for me and my wife (including Swiss-made diver's watch I bought over 40 years ago and still keeps time like a champ when the battery runs low on my Luminox). That diver's watch survived one heck of an impact when I was playing pick-up BB after school and forgot to take it off. The expansion band let it slip over my hand during a half-court pass, and the watch out-distanced the BB and came down hard on the tile floor. Maybe I can pass it on to Astronuc. If I couldn't kill it, maybe it would survive his gentle ministrations.

 

[Hurkyl]

Someone ought to start making receiver clocks that can self-adjust from a radio or wifi signal. At least cell phones and PCs already do that.

They already do. My wall clock automatically synchronizes with the broadcast from the US Naval Observatory.

 

[Moonbear]

I just noticed the digital thermostat in the hallway has a clock. I never look at it. Sneaky clock.

I forgot I had one of those too! I only remember it's there when I switch from a/c to heat or vice versa, and need to check the times it's set for (since my schedule changes from year to year, I usually need to readjust it each season for the times I'm home or not...nothing worse than having a day I have to get up earlier and the thermostat hasn't kicked the heat on yet from the low I set it for overnight while I'm buried under blankets).

 

[Astronuc]

The expansion band let it slip over my hand during a half-court pass, and the watch out-distanced the BB and came down hard on the tile floor. Maybe I can pass it on to Astronuc. If I couldn't kill it, maybe it would survive his gentle ministrations.

I don't know - maybe. I gave up a long time ago. The scars on my arms and hands indicate that I'm probably too physical to wear jewelry and watches.

Back during university, I used to bound up and down stairs, had a job as a plumber and maintenane person working on stuff like machinery, car engines, . . . . , and then had a job as an iron worker. I just remember looking down occasionally and finding the watchcover (glass cover) scratched or broken, and not knowing when it happened. After I destroyed my third watch, I gave up. I had one watch where the minute hand came off - before the watch face came loose and the cover broke.

 

[turbo]

I forgot I had one of those too! I only remember it's there when I switch from a/c to heat or vice versa, and need to check the times it's set for (since my schedule changes from year to year, I usually need to readjust it each season for the times I'm home or not...nothing worse than having a day I have to get up earlier and the thermostat hasn't kicked the heat on yet from the low I set it for overnight while I'm buried under blankets).

Our "thermostat" is me getting up in the middle of the night in the winter to either build or replenish a fire in the wood stove, so the house is comfortable when my wife gets up to go to work. She re-fuels the stove so it will be comfortable when I get up, and we keep our schedules staggered throughout the heating season. I'm a night-person so that works out great.

 

[GTrax]

Clock confessions:

When I was a child, the main clock on the sideboard was a posh affair, with a pendulum inside, and Westminster chimes every quarter-hour. One got used to it, but it relentlessly hurried the day along with those chimes. It left me not caring much for 'when' anything 'had' to happen (a bit like in Jamaica).

When at university, the bedside alarm clock, besides being radioactive, and having a cheesy rotating centre-star graphic, had a defect on the escapement such that it included a "clonk-clonk" every 14.5 ticks. It took weeks of feeling tired and ill before I realized I was not getting properly to sleep, being partly woken in that rhythm. Since flinging it into a wall had no effect, I took a matchstick, and stuck it through the balance wheel spokes.

Replaced with a constantly humming 'digital' thing that changed its white digits by flipping flaps, very like some rail station departure information boards, that got shown the 'off' switch. Finally - LED technology arrived. Then LCD.. ahh bliss. My family are convinced I have a few loose screws, but no tick-tick thing is tolerated long near me. I can get along fine now with my radio-controlled projection clock I got at the Science Museum gift shop. Its locked to the national atomic standard, and is entirely OK for anything scientific - and its quiet!

 

[rewebster]

One I don't bother with is the one on the TV --


or the answering machine

 

[out of whack]

They already do. My wall clock automatically synchronizes with the broadcast from the US Naval Observatory.

Excellent, I didn't know they made those. Now you only have to adjust fifteen clocks instead of sixteen!

We (all of mankind) should get serious about time. Let's all switch to universal time and be done. Who says noon must be during daylight everywhere? It's not even true at the poles...

 

[BobG]

They already do. My wall clock automatically synchronizes with the broadcast from the US Naval Observatory.

Since one of the offices I sometimes work in supports satellite ops, they felt they should really have an accurate wall clock and bought one of those. The problem is, the entire building has RF shielding so they have to carry it outside to let it reset itself. Needless to say, it didn't take long before they decided their clock didn't have to be that accurate after all (they have products that have to be done by the end of the day, they don't have to be delivered at some particular second).

 

[Moonbear]

I don't know - maybe. I gave up a long time ago. The scars on my arms and hands indicate that I'm probably too physical to wear jewelry and watches.

I'm not even that physical, and used to destroy watches all the time. I think my cell phone survives better because it's not anywhere near my hands, so is less prone to collisions with random things, or drowning as I reach into water for something, etc.

Our "thermostat" is me getting up in the middle of the night in the winter to either build or replenish a fire in the wood stove, so the house is comfortable when my wife gets up to go to work. She re-fuels the stove so it will be comfortable when I get up, and we keep our schedules staggered throughout the heating season. I'm a night-person so that works out great.

I don't have a husband to kick out of bed ahead of me to turn up the thermostat, so that's why I have the digital one that adjusts by itself.

Clock confessions:

When I was a child, the main clock on the sideboard was a posh affair, with a pendulum inside, and Westminster chimes every quarter-hour. One got used to it, but it relentlessly hurried the day along with those chimes. It left me not caring much for 'when' anything 'had' to happen (a bit like in Jamaica).

When at university, the bedside alarm clock, besides being radioactive, and having a cheesy rotating centre-star graphic, had a defect on the escapement such that it included a "clonk-clonk" every 14.5 ticks. It took weeks of feeling tired and ill before I realized I was not getting properly to sleep, being partly woken in that rhythm. Since flinging it into a wall had no effect, I took a matchstick, and stuck it through the balance wheel spokes.

Replaced with a constantly humming 'digital' thing that changed its white digits by flipping flaps, very like some rail station departure information boards, that got shown the 'off' switch. Finally - LED technology arrived. Then LCD.. ahh bliss. My family are convinced I have a few loose screws, but no tick-tick thing is tolerated long near me. I can get along fine now with my radio-controlled projection clock I got at the Science Museum gift shop. Its locked to the national atomic standard, and is entirely OK for anything scientific - and its quiet!

We used to have one of those flipping numbers digital clock things...fortunately, it was in the kitchen. But, since I used to have to sit at the kitchen table to do my homework, some days, it would drive me bonkers while everything else was quiet and I could hear the minutes ticking away while I was already feeling like my homework was taking forever to get done!

And, your story reminded me of the LOUDLY ticking wind-up alarm clock my grandparents used to have. When I visited, that's the clock they'd stick in the room I was sleeping in. Kept me up all night long listening to that ticking. When everything else is quiet, those sorts of noises are all it takes to keep me staring at the clock all night instead of sleeping. But, you definitely wouldn't sleep through that alarm either. The kind with a real bell in it...a LOUD one.

 

[moose]

In my dorm room, 2 laptops, 2 cell phones, 1 watch, 1 Ti-89 calculator...

 

[rhuthwaite]

We have 35 devices in our house that show the time
in the kitchen alone there are 5 (one on each oven, one on the microwave, one on the dishwasher, and one on the wall). Then we have 4 computers, 6 cell phones, way too many alarm clocks and some other things that display the time

 

[Astronuc]

I don't have a husband to kick out of bed ahead of me to turn up the thermostat, so that's why I have the digital one that adjusts by itself.

You should get one. Maybe they'll have a digital, self-adjustable one someday.

We analog models have all sorts of compatibility issues - like minds of our own.

 

[Integral]

I think there may be a uncountable number, not real sure and I am not going to take the time to count!

The ones that irk me are the niffty digitals that have a clock chip built in so they set themselves to the internal clock when you plug them in. They also know, or should I say KNEW, when Day light savings turned on and off. Now they think it is time to change, so I will have to manually reset them until DS really turns off.

Whose idea was it to change anyway?

Here's another one for you, why is it that the app that sets my computer clock to NIST standard is NOT the same time as my wall clock that sets itself to WWV? They used to be, but for the last 6 -8 months they have been different by over a minute.

 

[GTrax]

Here's another one for you, why is it that the app that sets my computer clock to NIST standard is NOT the same time as my wall clock that sets itself to WWV? They used to be, but for the last 6 -8 months they have been different by over a minute.

That is something you really should investigate! Your PC has its hardware clock, which will start to drift as the backup battery gets old. Then there is the software clock, which has an offset saved when you reset the time/date. Then you have apps which fetch server times, usually secondary standards. The best of them will fetch the time, adjusted for the server latency delays, and will calculate the PC clock drift. They apply a compensation that tracks the PC clock drift, keeping it correct between NIST-based updates.

Better than 1 second or so is good enough to predict a satellite coming above the horizon. Some internet operations require accuracy better than 200mS. I have seen a application called (Ish-Clock) which gives the time approximately, to within about 5 minutes or so, somewhat variable. Google finds this stuff.