My house is not cooling when its hot outside!?

Question

My house is hott when its hott outside. My a/c blows cold and all but i have the same problem in the winter getting heat. I believe its a insulation issue. My house is 50 years old and obviously no insulation in the walls but also i have NO insulation in my attack. My windows are the original 1 pane wood windows "i have tried my best to seal them with caulking". I was thinking about going to home depot and getting the blow in insulation and all and putting it in my attack to insulate it. Its 100 degrees outside and my thermostat is set at 72 and it wont go lower then 80 degrees untill late at night and then it might drop to 76. It constantly runs never shutting off

Answer 1

Air conditioners should run no lower than 20 degrees the temp outside, so that could be one problem... also have you cleaned your filters lately?  They could be dirty and arent allowing adequate air flow through.  I'd try to run it 20 degrees lower than the temp outside and see if that makes any difference.

Answer 2

You answered your own question, you need insulation, your HVAC system cannot over come the load do to the lack of insulation.  

Start with the attic first, that's were you'll get the most return.

Call and EPA approved Energy Star company for an evaluation, they'll do it for free and make you aware of all of the gov sponsered rebates for energy saving work

Answer 3

Have you tried buying insulation curtains?  By blocking all of the windows in the house, it will get better.

Out house has the same issue.  I close everything up (blinds, curtains, etc) at about 10am, and let it ride until 10pm.  Then I open up everything and bring in the cool air.

Blocking all light from outside is the best thing to do to avoid excessive heat.  Since you have AC (I don't), try running fans in the house to keep the cool air circulating when you close up all of the windows.

Good Luck

Answer 4

Buy heavy curtains to cover windows, and before spraying insulation, do yourself a favor and call your store before going out to rent a insulation blower.  My home depot will often do a deal like free rental on the purchase of 12 bales of insulation etc, but unfortunately they only have two machines which often get rented out before people get their.  -save yourself a hassle.

Answer 5

Julez is right. You will be lucky to get more than a 20 degree difference between inside and outside especially considering all the things you pointed out (single pane windows and no insulation).