Saw some on YouTube. Pretty simple systems to use sparingly. Seems to keep air cooler around the unit.

Seems like it may be worth a shot on these extremely hot days. I would love to install a mini split system upstairs. But think it would be difficult.

Thoughts on misting the condenser unit. Sparingly. To reduce buildup.

If you're talking about helping the unit not to overwork itself, then I would just turn up the air. I have mine set on 83 and it comes on enough to still feel comfortable, but yet still allow it to cycle on and off.

Only thing that I would worry about is the calcium buildup on the coil fins.
It seems like that would be hard to get off.

If a misting system was required or recommended by the manufacturers they would provide them and sell them and they don’t.

83?!?!? I’ve heard even hell is kept at 78

I guess to some folks that's pretty hot. Our home is early 80's built. Probably not the best insulated. But most importantly we have A LOT of windows that face west so we get the best of the sun and summer heat. Even in winter it can get up to 80 or more on a sunny day. That's with no heat running. If I could have it colder, I would!

You would get more mileage out of shading it provided it doesn’t interfere with air flow.

Last summer, I put the sprinkler on my outside AC unit for a couple hours every afternoon. This was after I cleaned off the fins. I had no negative effects. I have no idea if it helps the unit stay cool in such high Texas heat.

83 in the house!!!!!

Man I would suffocate. Mine stays on 68 farthest points in my house get to 71.

Before I replaced my two old units and it got really hot, I would often spray the coils with the water hose when the unit was running until the exhaust air felt cool. It gives the system a nice boost in removing heat from the refrigerant. Sometimes I would even do it twice during a single run cycle. A technician who did an annual checkup once said I had the cleanest coils of any system he had ever seen. And both units were still running after about 20 years when I finally replaced them with something larger.

It's really no different than rain giving your car or truck's AC a little boost for the same reason.

The YouTube tech explains it cools the air around the unit. Bringing it from
107 to 85. Making unit work less.

Right now I can’t get my house under 76.

Based on my understanding of AC systems, it helps cool or absorb heat from the refrigerant that would otherwise depend strictly on air passing through the coils. And when the outside air is over 100 degrees, that could take a lot more time to happen. But it should be done while the unit is running so that cool water is pulled through the coils. That's the key in creating a misting system. It works best when it only wets the coils when the unit is running.

The wife and I battle on the thermostat. I go for 71 and she goes for 75. I have it connected to an app on my phone so I always turn it down in bed and she's none the wiser until we wake up.

It Will help, but Ca buildup will be an issue as will residual Chlorine and its corrosive effects. Will deff drop Head pressure on a compressor making it more efficient.'
A friend of mines dad actually a patent for this with a solenoid back in the early sixties. Had a patent for a thing called the Passmaster too. It shut off Auto AC compressor at full throttle. Took GM and Toyota less than a year to get around it

Lakota, 1980 was a record year. I experimented with misting/ watering systems on a some roof top units. What was intresting, it was easy to drop the head pressure and subcooling too much. The refrigerant would begin to perk in the liquid drier and efficiency would fall off just as much high head conditions.

I have had some package units that I have had to use water on to help them one was a Carrier that is a bad design and is known recirculate the air back into the condenser coil and then this unit the coil was 2’ from the wall so that just made it that much worse I think that was in 2011.

Then I had a high end restaurant that had some 15 or 20 year old Aaon’s that the coils were bad so we removed some of the charge and used water in them until we could get the units replaced.

I know a 7.5 ton Carrier split with double condenser coils, out coils flattened with a pressure washer, with a sprinkler running on it. Not my customer.

71-72 during day. 68 at night.

I enjoy comfort. Come on Fall!

Question for you men that keep your home at refrigerator temps. Do you start your temps that you want it on in the mornings or do you run it down when it starts getting hot?

I ask because I have started my desired temp at, say, 80 and by 4:00 it can't keep up and the house starts getting hotter so I have to turn it up to keep it from running non stop. I'm thinking keeping it colder allows it to keep that desired temperature.

In the mornings we set ours to about 72°, at night we set it at 62°. We go to bed around midnight, during the hotter months i'll start turning it down a few degress at a time around 8:30 - 9:30. Give it time to cycle a few times between each drop so it isn't a 10° swing.

Big difference in mineral content between rain water and tap water.
It is the corrosion on the aluminum fins from the minerals that is the issue.

There has to be an issue with your system it’s either not sized correctly for the square footage or not charged properly as just about any system should have no issues maintaining 80°. How is the installation in the house?

Sounds like you need solar screens on those windows ( outside), and plant some fast-growing deciduous trees on west side of house.

It could be undersized, but I don't think that to be the case. It's a 3 ton Payne for 1400 sq home. I believe the vents are sized properly. It is a winged house, but the thermostat sits in the middle and is not in any of the winged areas of the home. The two largest vents are where the thermostat is.

I really think it's all the windows we have. We have solar screens on all of them, but we have a lot of them. We have 14 windows that face south/south west. Most are true west facing. During the hottest part of the day, every one of them are getting sun.

Note, we normally don't have issues like this when the temps are like below 92 or so. And we're not ones to really keep our home cold anyway so have never really tried to run it down into the lows 70s. And night we set it at 76 and I'm quite comfortable at that setting.

We have solar screens, but could use some good trees.

Have you had a AC company out to figure out the problem?

Maybe time to get a new unit