Did your AC struggle during the record heat yesterday? (Gila Bend: house, cost)

[Bungle]

I have a single AC unit and a 1750 sq ft. two story home. Two bedrooms are above the garage which faces west. My AC struggled hard to keep the house at 79/80 and wouldn't drop below until later that night. I'm schedule a checkup for next week but figured it was just due to the blistering heat we were experiencing.

[magnum0417]

This concrete jungle is toxic. Even low altitude desert areas like Maricopa and Gila Bend still benefit from far cooler nights.

[Bondurant]

The AC alone didn't keep me comfortable as normal. I had to utilize a fan as well to stay asleep.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Bungle

I have a single AC unit and a 1750 sq ft. two story home. Two bedrooms are above the garage which faces west. My AC struggled hard to keep the house at 79/80 and wouldn't drop below until later that night. I'm schedule a checkup for next week but figured it was just due to the blistering heat we were experiencing.

No. We do 77 daytime and 71 night and it all went quite well. I was set at 75 IIRC in the last wave a couple weeks ago and it struggled with that (and cost me a king's ransom in demand charge). It sounds like you have bad situation with a two story and exposure, though. I put some blackout drapes on the west facing windows last week. Why did I wait so long? Even if they do nothing for heat gain, the darkening makes it feel cooler.

[JGMotorsport64]

House didn't get below 78 until almost 230am.

AC did alright but not great.

I usually do 81 day 74 night.

[Bungle]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

No. We do 77 daytime and 71 night and it all went quite well. I was set at 75 IIRC in the last wave a couple weeks ago and it struggled with that (and cost me a king's ransom in demand charge). It sounds like you have bad situation with a two story and exposure, though. I put some blackout drapes on the west facing windows last week. Why did I wait so long? Even if they do nothing for heat gain, the darkening makes it feel cooler.

This is my first summer without my giant sissoo tree shading the west(front) side of my house. I had it cut down last fall for destructive purposes. I do have blackout shades with help but yeah my exposure is brutal.

[ElleTea]

No. I had it set at 80 while I was out in the pool and turned it up to 83 when I came is as it was too cold in the house. A hour or so before bed as the sun was setting, turned it down to 77 and slept fine. It was plenty cool.

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

House didn't get below 78 until almost 230am.

AC did alright but not great.

I usually do 81 day 74 night.

Same here. It did ok, but not stellar. We do 80 day, 74 night.

[maverick974]

I haven't turned on my A/C at all so far this year. My house is almost 2900 sf and I ran my swamp cooler yesterday. The hottest my house got yesterday was 78 degrees. The swampy kept it very comfortable and it did it for just pennies per hour. Unfortunately the humidity is supposed to be rising so we will see how the swampy does in the next few days.
So far, so good.

[elcajones]

Mine struggled a bit. Kept it bearable I guess but not comfy. I hung out in my bedroom quite a bit where I supplement the central a/c with a portable unit.