badgolferman wrote:

Yesterday in SE VA the heat was so oppressive my home AC was
overwhelmed. At 4 PM when I came home the temperature outside was 102.
My AC is set to 78 and the inside of the house was 84. By the time I
went to bed at 11 PM it had come down to 81 inside the house. This
morning it is at 78 again.

Is this a function of the poor insulation of my house or is it likely
my system needs to be serviced?

It could be both!

My house is 1650 sq ft "with 'vaulted'
ceilings and one ceiling fan in the great room and ceiling fans in the
bedrooms." I also have two skylights (BAD) in the great room that I hate
which contribute to heat in there too. I believe the system is 2 or
2.5 tons; the original barely adequate system installed by the builder.



SE VA Norfolk summer design: 91-DB, 76-WB 48% Relative Humidity; near a
lot of water.
Don't use the ceiling fans in a vaulted room; hot air rises, don't bring
it down or mix it with the cooler lower level air!
Leave the hot air stratified a few feet above the occupant space level.

Where are the Return Air inlets and Supply Air outlets located; high or
low, ceiling or walls?
I don't like vaulted ceilings for cooling or heating!

Can you close off or cover the skylights?

Also, the A/C system may not be working properly!
Provide us with the make and model number of the condenser!

Check the air discharge temp rise off the condenser!
http://www.udarrell.com/ac-trouble-shooting-chart.html
- udarrell

--
Factors in the Correct Sizing of Residential Air Conditioning Systems -
Recommended Procedures for Proper Duct Sizing of Residential Air Conditioning Systems
http://www.udarrell.com/proper_cfm_b...syste ms.html