It might be (it is) anecdotal, but as someone from Europe it struck me odd how much Americans love their A/C. Too much, in fact. Almost everywhere I went it was too cold. Somewhat like in SE Asia. That might be the answer to high energy use.
Another anecdote: I live in Belize and my girlfriend runs a hostel, and we can always tell which rooms have guests from the southern US because the AC will be set to 18C (~64F). For some reason northerners don't tend to do this, I assume because they don't use AC as often at home. The Texans I know are the worst. They make their apartments so cold I need a blanket if I'm going to stay for a movie, and they sleep under massive down comforters. In the tropics! It's so maddeningly wasteful. I rarely use my AC and sleep under a single top sheet with no discomfort.
I live where it tends to get hot and humid (not tropics humid though), but turn on A/C only if it's really unbearable at night. Even then, at most 5C difference. Usually, single top sheet, as you've said, a cool drink and maybe a fan is enough. I understand that humidity is tough though, but one can get dehumidifying alone from A/C or a standalone dehumidifier.
For Americans, mostly read Texans or maybe Southerners more broadly. A lot of us joke that the hotter the climate in a US state, the colder they tend to crank the AC.
That can't be good for health! SE Asia like to do that too. I joked that tropics there were a sham since I had to wear a jacket all the time because of the polar-like A/C.
It's worth noting that temperature control is only half the equation. In places like Houston, A/C plays a big part in controlling indoor humidity as well(for both comfort purposes and to prevent mildew from growing all over everything).
There's other (read: more efficient) ways to control humidity than using an A/C. Including making buildings more "airtight" so the dampness doesn't leak into the house (as long as you don't open doors/windows too much, of couse).
I have the same experience in both US (mostly Raleigh, NC) and China; but China has got better over the last twenty years, possibly because air conditioning is no longer an unusual thing in the big cities so it being cold indoors is not such a status symbol, perhaps.
