[jean_ji]

Originally Posted by OptimusPrime69

wow, that's great! Considering the square footage you're air conditioning, that's not bad at all.
I too live in a high place with high ceilings and I feel like it's just a lot of volume to air condition, but so worth it.... My place is not as large as yours however, so Winter months average about $90 to $100 FPL, but Summer are more like $150 to $170...

High ceilings are one reason you can keep the temp higher for AC and feel comfortable. The hot air raises and is further away from you with higher ceilings which makes it easier to feel cooler at a higher temp. Of course this works the opposite in the winter, but this wasn't a problem since the heat was turned on three times this season for us. Reversing ceiling fans supposedly helps with the heat, pushing the heat down from the ceiling, but I don't like a fan on when it's cool and I want heat.

We keep it at 78-80 during the day and 78 at night with a ceiling fan on in the rooms we're in and are comfortable. For heat we keep it at 68 when we have the system turned on. We lived in the Northeast without AC for years during hot summers and developed a high tolerance for heat and low tolerance for cold AC temps.

[gardenpearl]

In a townhome with 12-foot ceilings, I keep mine at 77-78 during the day and 76 at night with a ceiling fan on (on the first floor.) I think my 2nd floor blocks some of the heat from getting to the main level downstairs, where I spend most of my time.

My A/C settings are much higher on the main level here than anywhere else I've lived. (I usually average around 74 degrees.) The house is new construction and energy efficient. My FPL bill averages about $60 per month for 2000 square feet.

[LKJ1988]

78 nate...

[BlueIt]

72 during the day - 71 at night. Anything higher just feels too warm for me inside.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by oeabel

I'm just curious about where people keep their thermostats set here in FL. Up north, we would set the thermostat at 73 day/68 night in the summer. But now, after being here a while, I find that cold and set it at 76 day/73 night every day of the year we run the air. But even this is feeling a little cold at times. I'm just curious where other people set their thermostats!

We also have had mold issues, especially when we leave town for a couple weeks and set the thermostat at 80. Last time we tried 78 and it was a little better. Is there an ideal temperature for keeping mold at bay?

I have 77 during the day and 75 at night

In areas with separate a/c units, I keep them around 80-83 if nobody is there

[gardenpearl]

Originally Posted by oeabel

I'm just curious about where people keep their thermostats set here in FL. Up north, we would set the thermostat at 73 day/68 night in the summer. But now, after being here a while, I find that cold and set it at 76 day/73 night every day of the year we run the air. But even this is feeling a little cold at times. I'm just curious where other people set their thermostats!

We also have had mold issues, especially when we leave town for a couple weeks and set the thermostat at 80. Last time we tried 78 and it was a little better. Is there an ideal temperature for keeping mold at bay?

FPL has an article you can read on their website. You would need a programmable thermostat.

For mold prevention while you are away in the summer, they recommend setting your thermostat at 72 degrees early in the morning for two hours when the relative humidity is highest. After that, they say you can program it to stay at 88 degrees the rest of the time. That's a bit higher than I would want - I would probably program it to go no higher than 82 -- but FPL appears to have studied the issue.

[FLHfan]

I set mine for 82 and run ceiling fans in the rooms we're in. Humidity stays around 37pct even with all the rain we've had.