[FloridaKash]

Obviously it depends on where you live in Florida. Here in Tampa, I quit running my A/C in mid October. If it gets warm, I open the windows. Our high are in the low 80's right now and that is only for a couple of hours. During the summer my thermostat is set at 79 - 80. Right now my house is 74 degrees inside, with windows closed and A/C off.

In fact DW is already complaining about being cold at night. I laughed. I turned on the heat to see how well it works in our new home. To my sadness I discovered that our heat is not produced by a heat pump. This sucks since heat pumps are so much more efficient than an electric furnace. Good news is that we will likely need a new A/C unit in the next couple of years, at which time I will be purchasing a heat pump.

[Jo48]

As another poster said, if the AC setting is higher than the outside temp it won't go on, , so you don't have to shut it off, especially with a 20 degree difference in day and night. My husband has the AC set at 75, but in Naples the nights have been in the 60s, so I open windows and just leave the AC alone. He sleeps in another room (shivers at 70 degrees), and I open all the windows where I sleep when the outside temps are in the 60s.

[Crane's Rooster]

Just paid for last month's electric bill. Dropped over a hundred dollars since we didn't use the AC last month.

[Kevin from Tampa]

I live in Tampa, and I wouldn't say that I ever stop running it...I'll turn it off for a few days, maybe a week or two, but even in the dead of winter/January, there will be many/most days when it's is the 80s and it just gets a little too warm to keep it off.

So...turn it off for whole seasons, or months, or from X date to Y date....I've never been able to do that. And then there are the nights where I have to turn on the heat as well.

[Jo48]

Originally Posted by Kevin from Tampa

I live in Tampa, and I wouldn't say that I ever stop running it...I'll turn it off for a few days, maybe a week or two, but even in the dead of winter/January, there will be many/most days when it's is the 80s and it just gets a little too warm to keep it off.

So...turn it off for whole seasons, or months, or from X date to Y date....I've never been able to do that. And then there are the nights where I have to turn on the heat as well.

That is because the farther south you go, the hotter it is. Plus, as I have often said, the GULF is very humid.

I lived in Gainesvile for 6 months until mid December. We had the heat on at night constantly (30s and 40s) in November and December. In November, I hardly ever wore shorts, when I was in my early 20s, since the daytime temps were in the 60s, or at most low 70s. If you were going to be outside after dark, you better have had a jacket with you because it got COLD. Global warming? Maybe, since this was in the early 70s.

[Spring Hillian]

Ive had times where I had the heat on one day and switched to a/c the next.

Originally Posted by Kevin from Tampa

I live in Tampa, and I wouldn't say that I ever stop running it...I'll turn it off for a few days, maybe a week or two, but even in the dead of winter/January, there will be many/most days when it's is the 80s and it just gets a little too warm to keep it off.

So...turn it off for whole seasons, or months, or from X date to Y date....I've never been able to do that. And then there are the nights where I have to turn on the heat as well.

[Crane's Rooster]

Originally Posted by Jo48

That is because the farther south you go, the hotter it is. Plus, as I have often said, the GULF is very humid.

I lived in Gainesvile for 6 months until mid December. We had the heat on at night constantly (30s and 40s) in November and December. In November, I hardly ever wore shorts, when I was in my early 20s, since the daytime temps were in the 60s, or at most low 70s. If you were going to be outside after dark, you better have had a jacket with you because it got COLD. Global warming? Maybe, since this was in the early 70s.

This past weekend the play by play reporters for the UF v. Vandy game were commenting on the cold in the Gainesville. One stated "this is Florida and I had to break out my jacket...where'd the sunshine go?" Apparently he hasn't visited FL north of Orlando much in the Fall/Winter. I also lived in Gainesville for college, pretty much after the middle of fall semester there no more shorts on campus. It's get warm for about 2 hours, but it's consistently cool to cold from Oct-Mar if I remember right.

[tilli]

Originally Posted by Kevin from Tampa

I live in Tampa, and I wouldn't say that I ever stop running it...I'll turn it off for a few days, maybe a week or two, but even in the dead of winter/January, there will be many/most days when it's is the 80s and it just gets a little too warm to keep it off.

So...turn it off for whole seasons, or months, or from X date to Y date....I've never been able to do that. And then there are the nights where I have to turn on the heat as well.

Same here, in Tampa. I've never been able to turn it off for a season or on a certain date. We've always lived in apartments and they are difficult to cool naturally when all the windows are on the same side of the building - no crossbreeze. When I do open the windows, even in nice weather I can only leave them open for an hour or two before it starts feeling too damp inside. Basically the AC is always on unless the heat is. The electric bill is still much lower during cool times of year even if you don't turn it off, because the AC doesn't have to work so hard like it does in summer with nearly saturated humidity and steady heat.

[woodworkingmenace]

When the snow comes, I switch it off, but, until then, I keep the breakers on... If I forget to turn it off, then, in the Spring, I have to fill the silly thing up, cause it leaks out during the Winter..sheesh

I wish you well...

Jesse

[Granny Sue]

lol I'm cracking up at the posters that are getting bent out of shape over a simple question.

It's like "I'm on the internet so I have to argue!" Or "I'm on the internet so I have to make someone feel stupid for asking a question!"

To answer the question ON AVERAGE my a/c goes off mid October and hopefully doen't get turned back on until April or May.

Your milage may very depending on your own comfort levels. You'll find some that need to make it a one upmanship contest of some sort.