WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — When it is as hot as it has been recently in South Florida, it's easy to kick on the air conditioner and also wonder what it will do to your electric bill.
"Your personal setting for your air conditioner is a very personal decision," Brian Pippin, a conservation and efficiency specialist at JEA utility in northeast Florida, said. "First of all, you want to be around 78 — 78 is a little hot."
He also advises using fans to cool down you and your family.
"Fans cool people," he said. "They don't cool rooms."
Generally, if the home is empty, such as during the work day, Pippin said it's also a good idea to kick the thermostat up a little and then adjust when you get home.
"You'll spend a little more energy to cool the house back down, but the whole time you were gone you didn’t use as much energy," Pippin said.
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In the summertime in Florida, Pippin said lowering the thermostat one degree can mean adding 3-5% of the cooling portion of the bill, which can be as much as 50-60% of the overall monthly bill.
During intense heat waves when it's really hot, Pippin said air conditioning units have their limits.
"You cannot reasonably expect your A/C to cool your home more than a 20-degree differential than the outside temperature," he said. "If it's 96 outside, 76 is about all your getting."