What is a kWh and how much does a Florida home use (2026)

A kWh (kilowatt-hour) is the energy a 1,000-watt appliance uses running for one hour, and it is the unit your utility bills you in. The average Florida home used 1,104 kWh a month in 2024 according to EIA, against 863 nationwide. The gap is almost entirely air conditioning.

What exactly is a kWh?

Two words get mixed up. The watt (W) or kilowatt (kW = 1,000 W) measures power: how hard an appliance “pulls” while it is on. The kilowatt-hour (kWh) measures energy: power multiplied by time. The formula the Department of Energy uses is simple:

(watts × hours used per day) ÷ 1,000 = kWh per day

A 10 W bulb on for 5 hours uses 0.05 kWh. A 2,400 W central AC on for 8 hours uses 19.2 kWh. That second number, times 30 days, is 576 kWh: more than half of Florida’s average bill. Short definition at /en/glossary/kwh; where to find your kWh on the bill, at /en/learn/how-to-read-your-fpl-bill.

How much does a typical Florida home use?

Source: EIA, Table 5a, 2024 data. Florida pays less per kWh than the national average and still pays more per month, because it uses 28% more. The reason is the climate: in the United States air conditioning is about 19% of residential electricity (EIA, 2020); in a Florida home, the University of Florida (IFAS) estimates HVAC exceeds 40% of usage. An average home at 1,104 kWh may be spending over 440 kWh a month just on cooling.

What does each appliance draw?

The watts below are published ranges; yours depend on model, age and use.

An example with the formula: a 2,000 W pump running 10 hours a day is 20 kWh daily, 600 kWh a month. At Florida’s 14.14 ¢/kWh average, about $85 a month just to move water. Cutting it to 6 hours or switching to variable speed is, in many pool homes, the single best-return measure of all.

Heads up: the industry sells equipment by the wattage label, but the bill is made of hours. An “efficient” AC that runs 14 hours because the ducts leak or the house is uninsulated uses more than an old one that is well installed. That is why the University of Florida hammers on the thermostat: every degree below 78 °F costs up to 8% more in cooling. Before buying, measure.

How do I split my bill among appliances?

Without instruments, use the three-pillar method we explain at /en/learn/the-3-consumption-pillars: air conditioning, hot water and “everything else”. With the bill in hand:

1. Take the lowest month of the year (usually January or February). That is your base usage without AC: water heater, fridge, lights, electronics, pool.
2. Subtract that base from the highest month (July or August). The difference is, almost entirely, air conditioning.
3. If you have a pool, calculate its kWh with the formula and subtract them from the base.

That tells you where the money is before anyone sells you a solution. The lowest month’s kWh are also the minimum a solar system has to cover in winter; how that translates into system size is at /en/learn/how-much-solar-really-saves.

When NOT to go into detail

• If your total usage is under 500 kWh a month: you are already far below average and the room for improvement does not justify new equipment.
• If the problem is one isolated month: first check the days in the billing period and whether you had guests or a failing appliance.
• If the lowest and highest months are nearly equal: your problem is not the AC, it is the base (hot water, pool, something on 24 hours).

What to check before deciding

• Your kWh for each month across the last 12 statements, not the dollars.
• The gap between the highest and lowest month: that is your “AC bill”.
• Daily hours of the pool pump and its type (single-speed or variable).
• Water heater temperature (120 °F is the DOE recommendation).
• Your AC’s SEER and age (/en/learn/what-is-seer). With those five data points, the home audit takes an afternoon.