It’ll feel like more than 110 outside. How cold should you keep your air conditioner?

Jeff Kleinman
·2 min read
Recommendations on thermostat settings.

Another day, another extreme weather alert.

Heat advisories. Extreme heat warnings. Day after day in South Florida.

It makes us want to just stay inside in the A/C.

Which leads us to ask: What temperature should we set our thermostat while it feels like more than 110 outside?

Major power companies have a recommendation for their customers.

But is it cool enough to blow the sweat off our brow when it’s so hot outside?

Here is what the utilities say:

MORE: How hot is South Florida? Beach sand was 137 degrees and playground floor reached 177

Recommended thermostat setting

▪ TECO Energy, which serves the Tampa area, suggests setting your air- conditioner’s thermostat at 78. “This weather is not easy on our customers,” President and Chief Executive Archie Collins said in a statement. “Air conditioners are working harder, and bills are higher as a result.”

▪ Florida Power & Light, which serves South Florida and other parts of the state, recommends a setting of 74 to 78 degrees. The company says A/C can total 60 to 70% of a customer’s monthly electricity bill so this range is the most efficient given the heat outside.

Saving money on cooling costs

The recommended ranges are based on efficiency, cost and strain on an A/C system. Utilities do their own research, but also have followed the recommendations of a federal program run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, which recommends that thermostats should be set at 78 degrees for comfort and savings.

“When it’s really hot outside, your AC feels it too. Your AC is turning on a lot more now when it’s hotter than ever outside than it was perhaps in January, February, March, when it’s a lot cooler,” FPL spokesperson Bianca Soriano told WUSF Public Media.

She said every degree set higher than the recommended range can save you about 5% on cooling costs.

What about keeping it cool when you’re away from home?

FPL recommends keeping on the AC when no one is home because it takes more juice to cool your apartment or house from scratch than it does to keep the system running. Just turn up the thermostat a few notches to 82 if you’ll be away for a stretch.

The good news about 82? It’s way cooler than outside.