The numbers came fast and furious.
Mary Jones said she liked the low 70s. Her friend, Becky Howell, said 75 was her magic number.
Jackie Williams shook her head.
"Too high," she said as the three women prepared to continue their walk around Ogden Park in Wilmington on a hot and sticky late July morning. "It has to be 70 or lower."
When it comes to a temperature to set your thermostat at when it feels like a hot, soupy furnace outside, personal preference is a major factor.
But as dangerously warm temperatures have enveloped the Wilmington area and the country as a whole for weeks, staying cool also has become a significant health concern − even if places like the Tar Heel State are used to weathering brutal summer heat.
Staying cool and hydrating often are the two most important things people can do to avoid feeling sick and discomfort when it’s extremely hot. But factors from income levels to where and how people live can also play an important role in determining how we deal with the heat.
UNFAIR BURDEN: Why Wilmington's neighborhoods aren't created equally when it comes to handling the heat
Adding to the need to help people stay cool, both indoors and outdoors, is the growing threat of climate change. Federal researchers said that 2023 represented the hottest year recorded on Earth since record-keeping started, and 2024 is already on pace to smash that. Climatologists said July 22 was the Earth's hottest day on record .
And the scorching weather is likely to get worse in the coming years. According to the 2020 N.C. Climate Science Report , most parts of the Tar Heel State are projected to see at least two to three additional weeks of very hot days − maximum temperature of 95 degrees or higher − by 2040. Equally as worrying is the lack of cool-down times at night for buildings and humans, periods historically when lower temperatures allow heat to dissipate from structures and bodies to recover. In Wilmington through July 24, for example, minimum temperatures only fell below 70 degrees on one day - July 3, when the mercury dipped to 69.
Things are just as toasty inland, with the National Weather Service reporting on July 5 the Raleigh-Durham International Airport reached 106 degrees, besting the previous record of 105 for the hottest day set most recently in 2012. Factor in the humidity, and the heat index in the Triangle felt like 118 degrees − another record. And Lumberton in Robeson County experienced 11 days greater than 95 degrees in July.
More: 3 ways to beat the heat in the Wilmington area this summer
Dangerous, dry conditions
As North Carolina bakes, heat-related emergency room visits are surging. For the week of July 7-13, there were 4.5 heat-related illness (HRI) emergency department visits per 100,000 population, according to data from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The weekly average HRI visits this season is 2.1 per 100,000 people.
According to the National Weather Service's Wilmington office, the Cape Fear region has sweated under six heat advisories and one heat warning, when heat index goes above 110 degrees, in July. Through July 24, the mercury has pushed into the 90s on 16 of the month's first 24 days, reaching a high of 97 on July 14.
The intense heat has come as the region has been stuck in a cycle of extended dry weather. While recent rains have helped ease some of the drought pressures, all of the Wilmington area remains classified as "abnormally dry" by the U.S. Drought Monitor , with portions of Columbus County under "severe drought" conditions as of Thursday.
That combination of hot weather and limited natural cooling has seen people desperate to stop sweating, and that often means turning to air conditioning. On July 15, when the high in Wilmington was a scorching 96 and the low was only 80 degrees, Duke Energy Progress, the entity which includes most of Eastern N.C., hit its 2024 peak summer power demand − a level that was last exceeded on Aug. 9, 2007.
"It's just been ridiculous," Williams said. "Our AC has been going seemingly all the time and well into the night, and the house doesn't even feel that cool."
Energy-saving tips
But using AC also costs money, and that is sometimes a challenge for seniors and those on fixed incomes.
While monthly electricity bills depend on a host of factors, including how much energy you use and whether you have access to or opted in to utilize clean energy sources, North Carolina is generally accepted to be somewhere in the middle nationally when it comes to rates.
But Duke, which is the power provider for the vast majority of the state, has said bills will rise in the coming years, although there is some disagreement by how much among the utility and clean energy advocates, as the company makes the transition to more clean energy sources to meet North Carolina's legal requirement to significantly reduce carbon emissions from its energy sector.
THE COST OF CLEANER POWER: More natural gas, offshore wind, and higher customer bills in Duke's revised energy plan
Duke and the U.S. Energy Department offer tips to residents looking to stay cool while also watching the bottom line. They include:
- Setting the thermostat as high as you can comfortably tolerate, which generally means closer to what the outside temperature is, to reduce the amount of cooling your AC unit has to do.
- Installing a programmable/smart thermostat, which will allow you to adjust your AC to a higher temperature when you're not at home and readjust to a lower setting before you arrive back home. "You can save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling by simply turning your thermostat back 7°-10°F for 8 hours a day from its normal setting," states the Energy Department.
- Run heat-producing appliances, like the oven and laundry machines, during cooler times of the day.
- Take advantage of ceiling fans to make a room feel cooler, which also might allow you to increase the temperature on your thermostat. "A ceiling fan can make a room feel up to 4 degrees cooler than it actually is," the Energy Department states. But, "remember that fans cool people not rooms, so turn it off when you leave the room."
- Have your HVAC system inspected and serviced every few years to make sure it is operating as efficiently as possible. Also use caulk and weather stripping to seal cracks and leaks around windows and doors to keep cool air and hot air out.
Helping hand
But even a few nips and tucks here and there can only go so far, especially if its scorching outside and a structure struggles to retain cool air.
Duke Energy offers several customer-assistance programs to help folks deal with the soaring summer temperatures. They include financial help offers and links to other agencies and groups providing other financial and home upgrade options, like free fans and insulation improvements.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services also has several online resources to help struggling individuals and families looking to stay cool:
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also offers tips on surviving and treating heat-related issues to help individuals and health care professionals.
Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at GMcGrath@Gannett.com or @GarethMcGrathSN on X/Twitter. This story was produced with financial support from the Green South Foundation and the Prentice Foundation. The USA TODAY Network maintains full editorial control of the work.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: As summer temperatures rise in NC, should your thermostat setting also? Well, it depends.
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