• 6.1 million homes have air conditioning in Florida
• Though it’s the fourth most populous state, Florida accounts for more electricity consumption per household — 4,855 kilowatts — than the top three most populous states (California, Texas, New York)
• Floridians as a whole use 29 billion kilowatts of electricity to air-condition their homes, spending $2.64 billion a year.
• The average Florida household spends $436 a year on air conditioning, compared to the U.S. average of $197.
• 92.5 million homes — 80 percent of all homes in the country — have air conditioning. In Florida, the number is more than 95 percent.
• In the South, 99 percent of all new homes are built with central air.
• The average Tampa Bay family of four, with a central air system set at 78 degrees, can expect 18-23 percent of their electric bill to go toward air conditioning between the months of June and August.
—Statistics compiled by Alex Pickett from TECO (2007), U.S. Energy Information Administration reports (2001) and a U.S. Census Bureau report (1999).
This article appears in Jun 20-26, 2007.
