America’s preferred AC temperature isn’t the recommended 78 degrees
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/08/04/america-preferred-ac-temperature-study/91169671007/
Posted by GimmeFunkyButtLoving
America’s preferred AC temperature isn’t the recommended 78 degrees
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/08/04/america-preferred-ac-temperature-study/91169671007/
Posted by GimmeFunkyButtLoving
16 Comments
It’s all about the dewpoint.
If you set the temp to 78 your life would be in danger.
68
74
69 is a nice temp
>the average temperature Americans set their thermostats to is about 71 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and night… Americans living in the South reporting that they set their thermostats to 72 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, while those living in the Northeast set theirs to 70 degrees.
>Not a single respondent with central air conditioning indicated that they would set the temperature above 76 degrees Fahrenheit during summer.
Ours is set to 73 most of the time. If the humidity is high we turn it down to 72 or even 71.
We don’t have central AC so most of the time our main floor stays around 67-75, on extremely hot days it can reach 84F. We do have window AC’s in the upstairs bedrooms. Those are set for 73 during the day and 67 at night. I can’t sleep if it’s hot.
Could never sleep at 78 degrees unless I had no sheets, that’s crazy
75 F during the day in summer, 69F in winter.
The mythical 78F recommendation from power companies is to protect their load capacity during hot days in summer and has barely anything to do with people’s preference.
If everyone were to run their AC at 68F in their crappily insulated homes in mid-summer, the power cos would be forced to run at high-capacity, which is not efficient and costs them more in fuel per kWh generated. As electricity costs for consumers are usually decided by elected officials, not by the market, the power cos cannot recoup those extra costs.
My local power co even has program where they can turn off your AC at peak hours to save power. Customers who sign up get some measly one-time compensation for it.
Hey there checking in from Florida at a wet and sloppy 93° in the shade with 75% humidity. I am not saying this to be like I do not need AC but no one needs the AC lower than 78. After 30 plus years of living in this oppressive state if you want AC to reduce the temperature more than 20° you are being unreasonable.
I am 100% on this, i have my ac set high (79 during the day) it still never turns off in an actually hot place dropping 100 to 80 is the best you’ll get reasonably.
We have cold drinks, fans, public swimming, etc. People spend their entire lives in climate control. Its hot and caution is advised but needing your house to be frigid is some bullshit. Grow up.
What American’s don’t seem to understand is comfort comes at a cost. Our consumption of energy to be comfortable is making our world hotter. Going without AC in your car or setting your home to 78 makes being outside feel less intense. We aren’t connecting dots of energy use and comfort consequences and it’s catastrophic.
73 for sleeping 75 for during the day
Down here in Georgia, i have a dehumidifier set at 45% and the air set at 73f during the day and 71f at night. Humidity is the worst
Of course, depends on where you live.
In SoCal coast for me 78 with ceiling fans and windows open is about my limit for a “relaxing” temp. Close them up and set 73-75 for sleeping.
That would be torture in Florida.
We have a programmable thermostat and have it set to 73 if no one is home, drop it to 70 before we get home and drop it to 66 at night and we both sleep much better since we started doing that several years ago. Before we got the programmable one I used to just keep it at 70 all the time.
I have to keep it lower than 78 because the sun faces my bedroom wall after after 1 PM and it heats up the room a lot. The thermostat is in the living room unaffected by the heat in my bedroom. I work from home with my computer set up in my bedroom so I have to keep the AC temperature at 75.5 just to keep my bedroom below 80 degrees in the summer. The joys of summer in Phoenix.