[beachmouse]

We meet most of that and still run a lot of AC in the summer to control the humidity when the dew point goes over 70f

[MrJester]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

We meet most of that and still run a lot of AC in the summer to control the humidity when the dew point goes over 70f

I hardly notice a 70 F dew point with temps in the mid 90s. Nothing below a 75 F dew point even registers as humidity.

[djsuperfly]

Originally Posted by MrJester

I hardly notice a 70 F dew point with temps in the mid 90s. Nothing below a 75 F dew point even registers as humidity.

Yes, but outside humidity and inside humidity are much different.

[LKJ1988]

I have no shade at all and live on the gulf and it is pure hell mel from May till Nov with lows around 75 to 82f when we are in a reverse west windflow. Very little rain in the summer and solid sunshine in a older house.

My bedroom is 82f at nite while the rest of the house is 78f. I use a portable A/C to get my room down to 78 just before i go to bed and turn it off.

[beach43ofus]

We can check off most of the items on your list except trees. I dont want any trees that could possibly fall on or near our home in a storm. We have lots of trees to look at out all of our windows, but they are not shading our home, and could never fall onto our home. A couple could fall onto our property. Plantation shutters on every window, and we use them wisely.

We set our temp to 76 in the Summer, and leave it alone. If we leave for an overnight trip, or longer, I elevate it to 78. We are comfortable and our electric bills are small (<$100/month) for 3,000 sq ft home (no pool). We have natural gas, so that helps to reduce the electric bill.

In the Winter, we set it to 72, and are fine.

We leave doors/sliders open some mornings when its cool to let any radon that might be around escape. Otherwise, we're closed up.

Only use ceiling fans on the lanai, and sometimes at night in master. The other ceiling fans were a waste of money.

Our energy bills here are <1/2 than they were in Atlanta, so we're happy. We went from 6,000 sqft in ATL to 3,000 here, so they should be at least 1/2, but they are less than 1/2, so its cheaper here. We had 2 new units in ATL too so not so much the age of the system. We had gas there too.

[logybogy]

If you live direct oceanfront in a home or condo especially on a high floor and had a good ocean breeze, you can get away with using less AC.

But you need the ocean breeze to cool you and this only works on the East coast when there is good wind. West coast and gulf is a fernace in the summer.

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by logybogy

If you live direct oceanfront in a home or condo especially on a high floor and had a good ocean breeze, you can get away with using less AC.

But you need the ocean breeze to cool you and this only works on the East coast when there is good wind. West coast and gulf is a fernace in the summer.

Gulf water temps are a steam bath from hell in the summer and makes things much worse.

[Fredesch]

What will make the most difference in how much you pay for AC is your power provider. Florida has several different power companies. If you are unfortunate enough to have Duke supply your electricity then your rate will be about 25% more than my FPL rate (Duke has all those nuke plants that will never come on line to pay for).

The next biggest factor will be who controls the thermostat. My wife likes it cooler than I do. I could probably go without AC most of the summer but not my wife...

We don't have shade but we have most of the items you mention. Our house is made from cement brick which has thermal mass and we have overhangs. Our house is white with a green-blue aluminum roof, cieling fans, tile and hardwood floors. But again, my wife and having FPL are the biggest influence on the AC bill. If minimizing cost is your goal, make sure you have the lowest electric rate.

[Veniceman]

The humidity here in Florida is the big issue. Mold will form without use of AC or a dehumidifier of some sort. Our AC waa out for 10 days during Irma and we were miserable without the AC. I'm not sure why anyone would live in Florida without it. I know I'd move out of florida in a heartbeat if AC were not available. I had a house such as you mentioned but still needed AC. Again, the high humidity is the big factor.

[Florida2014]

Our house fits your criteria with some well-positioned oak trees for shading the setting sun. In addition, I have installed plantation shutters in all windows which helps keep the sun's rays out. Having said that, the A/C still cranks out pretty regularly from April through October, with few (see: no) breaks. Even if the temps did lower a bit, you're still looking at likely lows in the upper 60s with very high humidity, not an environment I could sleep in.