As the summer approaches and temperatures continue to climb, you may be tempted to drop the temperature on your thermostat, but Florida Power & Light says not so fast.
If you want to conserve energy and get the most for your money, the power company recommends setting the temperature in your home to 78° F.
Laura Blair, the Lead Energy Solutions Specialist with Florida Power & Light joined Tom Sorrells on Talk to Tom to talk more about your energy usage.
“Seventy-eight degrees F or higher is the most energy-efficient setting in the cooling mode, and we do recommend 78° F in the summertime,” Blair said.
Sorrells said he keeps his thermostat at 77° F, pretty close to the temperature recommended by FPL.
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However, Sorrells added the same cannot be said for some of his coworkers. He said during commercial breaks they discuss how cold they keep their homes.
“Matt Austin is somewhere in that 74 to 75 range or maybe 72. Ginger Gadsden, I’m going to throw her under the bus right now. Ginger sets that house that she lives in way down low in the 60s at night. She keeps it arctic cold,” Sorrells said.
Blair says that is outside of FPL’s energy efficient recommendation and that they recommend you keep your house even hotter when you are away.
“When you leave your house, you need to bump it up a couple of degrees. I would say no more than 82° F because you want it to run enough to take the humidity out of the home, but if you are not there to enjoy the comfort of it you need to bump it up a couple of degrees,” Blair said.
Blair also said you should turn the fan off when you leave the house.
“The ceiling fan is air blowing across your skin, so it makes you feel better, so if you are not there, turn the fans off, if you are not in the room, turn them off. It is only air blowing across your skin. It will save you about $7 a month if you turn those fans off when you are not at home or you are not in the room.”
Blair also recommends making sure you seal off cracks in your home to keep cool air from escaping or hot air from coming in. To learn more cost-saving tips this summer check out Talk to Tom. You can watch it every Thursday on News 6 at 5:30 p.m. or anytime on News 6+.
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