Calculate number of hours between 2 dates in PHP

Question

The newer PHP-Versions provide some new classes called DateTime, DateInterval, DateTimeZone and DatePeriod. The cool thing about this classes is, that it considers different timezones, leap years, leap seconds, summertime, etc. And on top of that it's very easy to use. Here's what you want with the help of this objects:

// Create two new DateTime-objects...
$date1 = new DateTime('2006-04-12T12:30:00');
$date2 = new DateTime('2006-04-14T11:30:00');

// The diff-methods returns a new DateInterval-object...
$diff = $date2->diff($date1);

// Call the format method on the DateInterval-object
echo $diff->format('%a Day and %h hours');

The DateInterval-object, which is returned also provides other methods than format. If you want the result in hours only, you could to something like this:

$date1 = new DateTime('2006-04-12T12:30:00');
$date2 = new DateTime('2006-04-14T11:30:00');

$diff = $date2->diff($date1);

$hours = $diff->h;
$hours = $hours + ($diff->days*24);

echo $hours;

And here are the links for documentation:

• DateTime-Class
• DateTimeZone-Class
• DateInterval-Class
• DatePeriod-Class

All these classes also offer a procedural/functional way to operate with dates. Therefore take a look at the overview: http://php.net/manual/book.datetime.php

$t1 = strtotime( '2006-04-14 11:30:00' );
$t2 = strtotime( '2006-04-12 12:30:00' );
$diff = $t1 - $t2;
$hours = $diff / ( 60 * 60 );

To provide another method for DatePeriod when using the UTC or GMT timezone.

Count Hours https://3v4l.org/Mu3HD

$start = new \DateTime('2006-04-12T12:30:00');
$end = new \DateTime('2006-04-14T11:30:00');

//determine what interval should be used - can change to weeks, months, etc
$interval = new \DateInterval('PT1H');

//create periods every hour between the two dates
$periods = new \DatePeriod($start, $interval, $end);

//count the number of objects within the periods
$hours = iterator_count($periods);
echo $hours . ' hours'; 

//difference between Unix Epoch
$diff = $end->getTimestamp() - $start->getTimestamp();
$hours = $diff / ( 60 * 60 );
echo $hours . ' hours (60 * 60)';

//difference between days
$diff = $end->diff($start);
$hours = $diff->h + ($diff->days * 24);
echo $hours . ' hours (days * 24)';

Result

47 hours (iterator_count)
47 hours (60 * 60)
47 hours (days * 24)

---

Count Hours with Daylight Savings https://3v4l.org/QBQUB

Please be advised that DatePeriod excludes an hour for DST but does not add another hour when DST ends. So its usage is subjective to your desired outcome and date range.

See the current bug report

//set timezone to UTC to disregard daylight savings
date_default_timezone_set('America/New_York');

$interval = new \DateInterval('PT1H');

//DST starts Apr. 2nd 02:00 and moves to 03:00
$start = new \DateTime('2006-04-01T12:00:00');  
$end = new \DateTime('2006-04-02T12:00:00');

$periods = new \DatePeriod($start, $interval, $end);
$hours = iterator_count($periods);
echo $hours . ' hours';

//DST ends Oct. 29th 02:00 and moves to 01:00
$start = new \DateTime('2006-10-28T12:00:00');
$end = new \DateTime('2006-10-29T12:00:00'); 

$periods = new \DatePeriod($start, $interval, $end);
$hours = iterator_count($periods);
echo $hours . ' hours';

Result

#2006-04-01 12:00 EST to 2006-04-02 12:00 EDT
23 hours (iterator_count)
//23 hours (60 * 60)
//24 hours (days * 24)

#2006-10-28 12:00 EDT to 2006-10-29 12:00 EST
24 hours (iterator_count)
//25 hours (60 * 60)
//24 hours (days * 24)

#2006-01-01 12:00 EST to 2007-01-01 12:00 EST
8759 hours (iterator_count)
//8760 hours (60 * 60)
//8760 hours (days * 24)

//------

#2006-04-01 12:00 UTC to 2006-04-02 12:00 UTC
24 hours (iterator_count)
//24 hours (60 * 60)
//24 hours (days * 24)

#2006-10-28 12:00 UTC to 2006-10-29 12:00 UTC
24 hours (iterator_count)
//24 hours (60 * 60)
//24 hours (days * 24)

#2006-01-01 12:00 UTC to 2007-01-01 12:00 UTC
8760 hours (iterator_count)
//8760 hours (60 * 60)
//8760 hours (days * 24)

your answer is:

round((strtotime($day2) - strtotime($day1))/(60*60))