Is it cheaper to keep your AC on or turn it off and on?

Is it cheaper to keep your AC on or turn it off and on depends on duration away and type of AC, but generally it is cheaper to keep AC on but raise temperature 7 to 10 degrees when away, rather than turning off completely or keeping at same low temperature all day when away, and it is cheaper to keep on versus frequent on-off cycling every hour. Keeping AC at same 72 degrees all day when away at work for 8 hours wastes energy cooling empty home, costing extra 10 to 15 dollars per day in hot climate. Turning AC completely off causes home to heat up to 85 to 90 degrees, walls and furniture store heat, so when you return, AC must run continuously for 3 to 5 hours at high power to remove stored heat, using more energy than if you had left it at 78 to 80 degrees, plus humidity rises to 70 percent encouraging mold that requires extra dehumidification. Best practice for savings is programmable thermostat that sets AC 7 to 10 degrees higher when away, for example 78 to 80 degrees when away and 74 to 75 degrees when home, saving 10 percent per DOE study. For variable speed AC like Trane XV20i or Lennox XC20, keeping on at constant low speed is more efficient than on-off cycling because variable runs at 30 to 40 percent capacity most efficiently. Frequent manual on-off cycling every hour causes more wear on compressor and uses more startup current.