For places that are typically hot year round, what should the thermostat be set at?

78. 85 when you’re not home. (If you are balancing comfort and effecency. )

Someplace like Arizona? 82 during the day. Off at night.

It’s going to depend on how well the home is insulated. The A/C is pretty much going to run all the time anyway when it’s on so it depends on just how uncomfortable you are willing to be. Take advantage of fans at night and in the morning. If you shut the thing down completely it will run on endlessly to catch back up and the savings won’t materialize the way you hope. If you can have a lawn around the house instead of river rock that will help absorb some of the daytime heat but the rocks will store it and let it off in the evenings. Some places are too expensive to keep green lawns because of the high cost of watering.

I know what I should tell you, but this is what I am going to tell you: If you can afford the bill and don’t care about your “carbon footprint” then set your AC to whatever the f’k you want to set it to; whatever temperature you feel comfortable at. That’s what I do and I can’t be a hypocrite and tell you to do one thing when I do another. I am so good about so many other things, when it comes to my “carbon footprint,” but I really have trouble with the heat. Do what your conscience allows; that’s all I can say.

75 sounds comfortable to me.

@lillycoyote That’s about my take on it. When you work outside a good part of the day it’s easy to say fuck it and all the tree huggers. I’m not stepping into a hot house at the end of the day after sweating since morning. It’s gonna hurt paying that light bill regardless.

@woodcutter We don’t always agree but I am always happy when we do. :-) My AC is one of my few indulgences. I am grateful to own a home, and a home that is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I don’t take that for granted, but I don’t make any apologies for it either.

We all only live once and if you can’t do much else but be as comfortable in this life as you can be ,then you win…even if you don’t have tons of money. I hate that so many people live in crappy places but I’m lucky and glad I’m doing ok.

We try to set ours at 80 but sometimes we knock it down to 77 at night. It’s hot year round here.

I have several family members that live in semi-tropical climates. They set the T-stat at 80 degrees year round.

It depends on single versus double versus triple glass window panes which are separated by an air or other gas filled space to reduce heat transfer and improve one’s carbon footprint.

Single glass: 85 F
Double glass: 80 F
Triple glass: 75 F

The insulation of the roof and the walls also plays an important role.