What Should I Set My AC to in Florida in the Summer?

Most Florida homeowners set their AC somewhere between 70° and 76° in the summer.

That said, you may want to set your thermostat a few degrees higher or lower, depending on your comfort level.

To help keep your home comfortable and your energy bills down this summer, we’ll go over the below tips:

• Setting Your Thermostat to Maximize AC Efficiency
• How a Smart Thermostat Can Help
• Other Energy-Saving Tips to Reduce Electric Bills

Want to speak with a professional about your AC settings? We’re here to answer any questions you have. Call us or schedule an appointment online.

Set Your Thermostat Higher to Maximize AC Efficiency

According to energy.gov, you can save up to 10% a year on your cooling bills by turning your thermostat back 7–10°F higher for 8 hours a day.

However, since Florida summers can be hot and humid, the full 10°F change can be a lot for your AC to handle when you revert to your typical temperature setting. For that reason, our AC technicians recommend increasing your AC by 6–8°F while you’re out of the house.

For example, let’s say you usually set your AC to 70°F in the summer. If you leave for work and nobody else is home, there’s no point in keeping an empty home that cool. Setting your thermostat to 76-78° while you’re away will help significantly reduce your cooling bills.

Don’t want to mess with turning your thermostat down and back up every time you leave and return home? Install a smart thermostat, which we’ll discuss next.

Automate Your Cooling with a Smart Thermostat

A smart thermostat not only allows you to program a temperature schedule but also lets you control your thermostat when you’re away from home.

Any smart thermostat will allow you to set a schedule to manage your home’s temperature. That means you can set the thermostat to change temperatures during various times of day throughout the week.

For example, you can have different cooling schedules for when you’re:

• Home During the Week
• Away During the Week
• Home During the Weekend
• Sleeping at Night

Plus, smart thermostats allow you to remotely control your home’s temperature (from your smartphone, tablet, or another device), so you can quickly adjust your temperature whenever you need to.

In addition to increasing the AC temperature while you’re away, you can reduce energy bills with the following energy-saving tips.

Reduce Energy Bills with Other Energy-Saving Tips

To help keep cooling bills down this summer, we also recommend the following:

• Prepare your AC for summer. Taking steps to prepare your AC unit for the summer in Florida will help reduce energy costs, prevent breakdowns, and improve your overall comfort.

• Use ceiling fans. While ceiling fans don’t reduce the temperature of a room, they help you feel cooler due to the “wind chill effect” (the perceived decrease in temperature your body feels with increased airflow). In fact, the breeze from a ceiling fan will allow you to raise your AC temperature several degrees and still feel comfortable on hot, humid days.

• Close shades in direct sunlight. Direct sunlight beams a lot of heat into your home. Closing shades against direct sunlight will help keep the temperature down, reducing how much your AC runs during the day.

• Switch to LED bulbs. Halogen bulbs emit roughly 80–90% of the energy they consume as heat. On the other hand, LED bulbs only emit 10–20% of the energy they consume as heat, making them much cooler and more energy efficient. Plus, LED bulbs last 40–50 times longer than halogen bulbs, so while they may cost a bit more for each bulb, you’ll save money overall.

Want to Save on Cooling Bills? Call Red Cap Today

Contact us 24/7 online. Our air conditioning technicians at Red Cap have years of experience working with AC units, which means we know how to help you set up your system so you can save on cooling bills all summer long.