Quick answer
For most Miami homes, 76 to 78 degrees while home and 80 to 82 while away keeps comfort and bills balanced, as long as indoor humidity stays near 50 percent. Keep the fan on Auto, not On, so moisture drains off the coil. Use a humidity or dehumidify setting if your thermostat has one, and avoid shutting the AC off completely in summer.
Written by Sylvia Denton, HVAC Guides Editor. Updated 2026-09-22.
Why humidity changes the number
Your body cools itself by evaporating moisture from your skin. When the air is humid, that evaporation slows and the same temperature feels warmer. At 50 percent indoor humidity, 77 degrees feels comfortable to most people. At 65 percent, the same 77 feels sticky, and people turn the thermostat down to 72 to compensate, which costs far more.
Keeping humidity down is the cheapest comfort upgrade in Miami.
Temperature settings that work here
These are starting points. Adjust a degree at a time and give the house a day to settle.
- While home and awake: 76 to 78 degrees.
- While sleeping: 75 to 77 degrees, or a ceiling fan with 78.
- While away at work: 80 to 82 degrees, not off.
- On vacation in summer: 82 to 85 degrees, with humidity control if available.
- On the few cold winter nights: 68 to 70 degrees in heat mode.
Fan: Auto, not On
This is the setting most Miami homes get wrong. With the fan set to On, the blower runs even when the compressor is off, and water sitting on the cold coil evaporates right back into the house before it drains. Setting the fan to Auto lets the coil drain between cycles, which lowers indoor humidity noticeably.
Use the humidity features
Many modern thermostats measure indoor humidity and can slow the blower or run longer to remove more moisture. Look for settings called dehumidify, overcool to dehumidify, or humidity control, and set a target around 50 percent. If you have a whole-home dehumidifier, its own humidistat handles this.
If your thermostat has no humidity features and your house often sits above 60 percent, a smart thermostat with humidity sensing or a whole-home dehumidifier is worth considering.
Why not turn it off when you leave
Shutting the AC off in a Miami summer lets heat and humidity build up in walls, furniture and flooring. When you come home, the system has to remove all that moisture, which takes far longer than cooling the air, and the house stays clammy. Mold can also start growing in a closed-up house. Setting it higher is better than off.
Placement matters
A thermostat on a wall that gets afternoon sun, near a sliding glass door or right by a supply vent will read wrong and cycle the system badly. If yours is in a bad spot, relocating it can fix comfort problems that look like equipment problems.
Need a technician instead of a guide? Call (786) 434-0401; we answer 24 hours a day across Miami-Dade.