How hot is it?
It is very hot, between a record-breaking heatwavethat even talking about the temperature on your thermostat makes people angry. And, apparently, making pages on the Department of Energy website disappear.
Last week, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani advised the city’s residents to conserve electricity. To keep the electric grid running, he recommends setting home thermostats to 78 degrees Fahrenheit and taking other steps to reduce electricity use.
He wrote in X that local government is doing the same: “Our city is doing its part: keeping the 78 degree rule in our buildings, dimming/turning off our lights during peak electricity demand, asking our private partners to do the same, and reducing non-essential equipment.”
New York: it’s hot out there, and the power grid is working overtime to keep us cool.
Set your AC to 78 degrees, turn off lights/electronics you don’t use, and remove what you can.
Our city is doing its part too: keeping the 78 degree rule in our buildings,…
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) July 1, 2026
The response, especially from political opponents, has been intense, to say the least. Fox News gleefully highlighted those who “mock” the mayor, including politicians and activists who say 78 degrees is useless for vulnerable adults or that Mamdani may not be following his own advice.
“Show us your thermostat, commie,” the publication quoted in an X post by Spencer Pratt, the TV actor and failed mayor of Los Angeles.
Complicating matters, and even more politically charged, are reports that the Department of Energy has deleted web pages, some 6,000 of them, that refer to the same type of heating recommendations and energy-saving tips.
The Department of Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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A list of home cooling tips appeared on the Department of Energy’s website as recently as June 19, 2026. That webpage is now gone.
A review of the Internet Archive website shows a one-page example from as recently as June that says: “The Department of Energy and Energy Star recommends finding a comfortable indoor temperature during the day and increasing it by 7 degrees F when no one is home. Start with an indoor temperature between 75-78 degrees F during the day.”
The agency advised homeowners to set their thermostats “comfortably high” during the summer months and raise the temperature when no one is home.
That page is no longer on the DOE website.
What is with the current GOP anger?
As some news outlets and social media posters were quick to point out, conservative politicians have called on residents to protect the power grid by keeping their homes slightly warmer in the summer.
As early as 1999, then-NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s office made a similar recommendation during that summer heat wave, according to an archived press release.
In Texas, where power grid problems have led to 246 deaths during the 2021 winter, the state’s energy council, ERCOT, has asked residents to save energy by adjusting their thermostats. Before that, even the governor of the state, Greg Abbott, asked the citizens to do their part in reducing the electricity consumption to avoid grid problems.
“To reduce the stress on our state’s electric grid, Texans must take simple steps to save as much energy as possible,” Abbott said in 2015.
Why did you set the thermostat to 78 degrees?
Heat waves like the one currently affecting the US poses a serious health risk.
But the debate over temperature settings is less about human safety than about preventing power grid problems that could lead to blackouts, putting large groups of people and pets at risk of heat-related illness and death.
The 78-degree line is what organizations, including Energy Star (and formerly the Department of Energy), have cited for decades as the setting that balances comfort and energy efficiency. That recommendation dates back to 1979, when President Jimmy Carter mandated the same temperature for public buildings during a severe power shortage.
There are various technologies and home hacks that can help keep homes cool in the summer without spiking energy bills, such as CNET reported.
Read more: Here’s the Right Temperature for Your Thermostat in Summer