Why is my electric bill so high in winter in Florida?

Most Florida homes heat with electricity: 77% are all-electric, the highest share of any state, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Many use a heat pump, which is efficient in mild weather. On cold mornings, or when the thermostat is raised a lot at once, the system switches on backup electric resistance heat, often called heat strips or auxiliary heat.

FPL says strip heating takes two to three times more energy than air conditioning. In January 2026 it estimated that auxiliary heat running more than 12 hours can add up to $15 a day. The U.S. Department of Energy says heat pumps can cut electricity use for heating by about half compared with resistance heat.

• Raise the thermostat slowly. FPL and Tampa Electric both advise changing a heat pump's setting no more than about 2 degrees at a time, so the backup heat doesn't kick in.
• Set it to 68 or lower. FPL says each degree below 68 can save up to 5% on heating.
• Skip big overnight setbacks with a heat pump. Recovering from a deep setback is what often triggers auxiliary heat.
• Watch space heaters. A 1,500-watt heater uses 1.5 kWh an hour, about $1.64 for 8 hours at our FPL estimate.

Yes. Duke's base energy charge is higher from December through February than the rest of the year, so the same kWh cost more in winter. During the February 2026 cold snap, the coldest air in Florida since 2018, Duke asked customers to cut use from 5 to 9 a.m. as heating demand surged. See why your Duke Energy bill is so high.

Pool heat pumps work efficiently only above about 45 to 50 degrees, according to the Department of Energy, so a cold snap makes them work harder for less. Electric water heaters and space heaters add more. See solar for pool homes and solar water heaters.

More than the base rate alone suggests. A 2026 Duke Energy Florida rate filing lists a winter base energy charge of about 8.7¢ per kWh for the first 1,000 kWh and about 10.2¢ above 1,000 kWh, against about 7.6¢ for the first 1,000 kWh the rest of the year. Fuel and other charges come on top of these.

That makes heat strips doubly costly on Duke: they burn more kWh, and the kWh that push a home past 1,000 in a month are billed at the highest winter rate. Keeping the heat pump in charge, rather than the strips, matters most in December through February.

Because it moves heat instead of making it. The U.S. Department of Energy notes that a heat pump rated 10.3 HSPF delivers about 10,300 Btu of heat per kWh, while an electric resistance element delivers only about 3,400 Btu per kWh, roughly a third as much. Heat strips are resistance heat, so every hour they run costs about three times as much per unit of warmth.

If your system leans on strips often, a service visit may help, and if it's near the end of its life, see replace the AC or go solar first.

Usually, because incoming water is colder, so the heater runs longer. FPL lists lowering the water heater from 140° to 120° among its top tips for cutting a bill. A heat pump water heater saves more: in a Florida Solar Energy Center study of eight Central Florida homes, switching from electric resistance cut water heating electricity by 68.5%, about 5.3 kWh a day, though an indoor unit can add some winter space heating because it pulls heat from the house.

See solar water heaters in Florida.

Some. Panels make less in winter's shorter days, but Florida net metering lets credits from sunnier months carry forward for up to 12 months within the year, with any balance settled at year end. A system sized to your full year of use, including winter heating, covers more of those bills. See Florida net metering and how many solar panels you need.