What air conditioning costs to run in Florida
Florida homes use 4,380 kWh a year on air conditioning. Priced on top of the rest of the bill, that costs $533.28 to $700.83 a year across 5 published Florida plans — a $167.55 gap. Checked September 2, 2026.
Every priced plan, average
| Plan | Per year | vs cheapest | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| RSD Residential Smartsavings Experimentaltiered · demand charge · experimental | $221.67 | −$311.61 | 5.5¢ |
| RS Residential Electric✓ cheapesttiered | $533.28 | — | 13.3¢ |
| GS-1 (General Service Non Demand and Non Metered)flat rate · a general-service class | $554.52 | +$21.24 | 13.3¢ |
| RS-1 Residential Servicetiered | $576.60 | +$43.32 | 13.4¢ |
| RTR-1 Residential Service TOUtime-of-use · tiered | $700.83 | +$167.55 | 16.9¢ |
Cost across usage levels
The cheapest plan at each consumption level, showing whether the ranking holds as usage changes.
- Lighter use — cheapest $267.84 (RS Residential Electric), dearest $376.54, a $108.70 spread
- Average — cheapest $533.28 (RS Residential Electric), dearest $700.83, a $167.55 spread
- Heavier use — cheapest $690.36 (RS Residential Electric), dearest $892.27, a $201.91 spread
What air conditioning costs here
Across 5 plans priced in Florida, air conditioning adds $533.28 to $700.83 a year — $44.44 to $58.40 a month. The median plan puts air conditioning at $576.60 a year.
Cheapest for air conditioning: RS Residential Electric, Jacksonville Electric Authority. Dearest: RTR-1 Residential Service TOU, Florida Power & Light Co..
Those 4,380 kWh are billed at 12.2¢–16.0¢, against a 13.4¢ whole-bill average on the median plan: they land in the last tier the household reaches, so the average rate understates them by up to 2.6¢ per kWh.
What Florida homes use
EIA's 2020 residential survey found 4,380 kWh a year across 628 sampled homes that run one, 1.89× the national 2,318 kWh. The middle half spans 2,353 kWh to 5,576 kWh, so air conditioning varies by 3,223 kWh between one household and another.
All electricity used for cooling — central systems, heat pumps in cooling mode, and window or wall units — plus the air handler that runs with them. That average covers homes with air conditioning — 96% of homes here.
That makes air conditioning about 31% of the electricity a Florida home uses. The remaining 9,610 kWh is what air conditioning is billed on top of, and on a tiered or time-of-use plan that is what sets the rate it meets.
By provider
On each Florida provider's cheapest plan: Jacksonville Electric Authority, $533.28; Florida Power & Light Co., $576.60.
Florida Power & Light Co. charges $43.32 a year more than Jacksonville Electric Authority on RS Residential Electric for the same 4,380 kWh.
Light and heavy use of air conditioning
A household in the lighter quarter runs air conditioning for 2,353 kWh a year and pays $267.84 on the cheapest plan. One in the heavier quarter runs it for 5,576 kWh and pays $690.36 — $422.52 more for air conditioning on the same tariff.
Limits
A 2020 survey average for Florida, not a measurement of any one home, priced against the 5 Florida tariffs WattClear has ingested — not every plan sold there.
New to these terms? The methodology page explains tiered bands, time-of-use periods and fixed charges, and sets out exactly what the rate engine assumes.
Estimate — your actual bill may differ.
Tariff structures from NREL/OpenEI Utility Rate Database (CC0 1.0), retrieved September 2, 2026.
Location resolved through the US Census Bureau Geocoder (Public domain) at 30.3322, -81.6557.