Revealing The Costly Mistake Montanans Make With AC Settings

Montana Summers: How High Should You Set Your Thermostat?

I’ll admit that I’ve been fortunate throughout my life, as I’ve never lived anywhere without air conditioning.

It's one of those conveniences that, once you've experienced it, makes you question how you ever managed without it.

While Montana might not get as much use out of an AC unit as, say, someone in Arizona, we still get temps high enough to utilize them.

But this raises a very important question that everyone needs to ask themselves: what temperature should you set your household AC unit to?

With everyone looking to save more money these days, setting your thermostat too low in the summer might just be costing your bank account more than you think.

What’s The “Right” AC Setting For A Montana Summer?

I came across a Facebook post from, KMVT, a news station out of Idaho that talked to Alabama Power (I know what a convoluted mess), who suggested people set their thermostat to 80° when temperatures reach 100° outside.

Now there is a reason for this arbitrary number: it turns out that your AC unit really can't cool your house more than 20° lower than the temperature outside, so by going lower than that, you're just wasting energy, which means wasting money.

I don't know about you, but 80° indoors sounds miserable, and this is coming from a dad who constantly is changing the temp higher or lower to save money.

While I won't set my thermostat to 80°, Montana State University released information that states if you want to save money, for every degree you adjust your thermostat, you'll save 1% on your energy costs.