Where in michigan are you? I am near detroit and have yet to run my AC this year.
You are a better man than I.
Better than me too. I have a wife who stays at home all day so the AC is on during peak times. We have the t stat set to 76 I am thinking of bumping it up to 78.
What does being home have to do with anything aside from a bit of heat generation? My house using the above strategy stays nice and cool all day. At night the house is cooled to well below the 76 you have your t stat set to. It slowly warms throughout the day but it rarely even gets to the 76 you are talking about.
If your wife is home she can manage this natural "AC" even better than I can. I leave the house at 5am so I often miss out on ~2 hours of cooling in the morning.
Seriously try this for a few days and be amazed at how well it works.
1. Open windows at night when temps drop below your current indoor temp.
2. Position box fans, or better yet buy a window fan or two, to create a cross breeze. Blowing in from one side and out the other. Cross breeze is key!
3. In the morning when temps outside rise above current indoor temps, close all windows.
4. Roll around in the pile of money you save.
There is nothing wrong with turning on the AC if it ever does go above your desired temp. That's what I do. If it ever gets too hot I run the AC for just my bedroom to make sleeping nice and comfy. Like I said though. I've only had to do that a few times this year.
I picked up a window fan at Home Depot a couple weeks ago for $35, FYI.