Eastern Standard Time (EST), generally known as the Eastern time, is the eastern most timezone in the United States of America and the second eastern most timezone in Canada.

Covering 23 states of the USA and three provinces and territories of Canada, including Mexico and the Caribbean, almost half the population of these countries are living in the Eastern time zone. 

EST vs EDT 

Eastern time is a generic term that does not clearly differentiate between the two time zones, EST and EDT. EST, known as the Eastern standard timezone starts from the first Sunday of November till the second Sunday of March.

This is the time period in which Daylight saving time is not into play. However, The remaining year is a part of the Eastern Daylight Time, abbreviated as EDT. 

What happens is that on the second Sunday in March, at 2:00 a.m. EST, clocks are moved forward to 3:00 a.m. EDT leaving a gap of approximately one hour.

Similarly, on the first Sunday in November, at 2:00 a.m. EDT, clocks are moved backward to 1:00 a.m. EST, thus filling or duplicating for that one-hour gap. 

How do you convert Eastern time to other time zones of the United States? 

1. EST & CST:

Eastern Standard Time is 1 hour ahead of the Central Standard Time, so to convert EST to CST, simply subtract one hour. 

2. EST & MST:

Eastern Standard Time is 2 hours ahead of the Mountain Standard Time. As done in the case of EST and CST, simply subtract 2 hours from EST to convert EST into MST. 

3. EST & PST:

Eastern Standard Time is 3 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time. So in order to convert EST into PST, just minus 3 hours from the current time. 

4. EST/EDT & UTC:

Eastern Standard Time during winters is five hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), whereas Eastern Daylight Time during Summers is four hours behind Coordinated Universal Time. 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Does New York use Eastern Time? 

Yes, the New York city uses the Eastern Time Zone (UTC-05:00 during Winters) and (UTC-04:00 during Summers). 

What actually does 2 pm ET mean? 

Eastern Time, abbreviated as ET, is a generic term generally used for the local time in certain areas. It includes both Eastern Standard Time (EST) and Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). 

Is Toronto in the eastern time zone? 

Yes, like most Ontario Canada officially uses Eastern Time Zone, in the same way, Toronto lies in the Eastern Time Zone. However, there are some communities situated in the Central Time Zone. 

What do ET and BST mean, and how do you convert EST into BST? 

EST is an abbreviation used for Eastern Standard Time, whereas BST is commonly known as British Summer Time. Moreover, BST is approximately 5 hours ahead of EST. 

Where are the time zones located? 

If we start locating from east to west, there is Atlantic Standard Time (AST), Eastern Standard time (EST), Central Standard Time (CST), Mountain Standard Time (MST), Pacific Standard Time (PST), Alaskan Standard Time (AKST), Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time (HST), Samoa standard time (UTC-11) and Chamorro Standard Time (UTC+10). 

Which city is 3 hours ahead of EST? 

San Francisco is a city that is 3 hours ahead of EST as it uses Pacific Standard Time. 

What are PST and EST, and how can we link them? 

PST stands for Pacific Standard Time, and EST is an abbreviation for Eastern Standard Time as EST is 3 hours ahead of PST. 

Where is the borderline located between Eastern and Central time? 

The locations on the borderline of the Eastern and Central time zones are Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Tennessee. Five other states in both the central and mountain time zones are Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Texas. 

What is the Border of the Eastern timezone? 

In North America, Eastern time shares a border with AST, Atlantic Standard Time in the east, and CST Central Standard Time in the west. 

Which parts of the EST do not observe Daylight Saving Time? 

The southern parts of the zone, Panama and the Caribbean, do not follow the daylight saving time. 

If you want to know the local time of any other country in the World, then click here and find out the local time of the country of your choice.