I have a 2 1/2 ton unit. If the outside temperature is 95 degrees. What should I expect from my unit in cooling my house.

Doesn't matter how big the unit is, pressures remain the same. On a satisfied temperature, approximately 75 degrees, r22 should be around 65 psi. The hotter the house, the higher the pressure. Head pressure varies on outdoor temperature. 90 degrees outdoor temp, approximately 200 to 225 psi on high side.

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probably a tonnage issue. unless you have 12 inches of insulation in the attic i like to go with 400 sq. ft. per ton in the houston area. our humidity is so high it will not keep a cold enough coil to wring moisture out of air. all a/c systems are designed to operate at 95 degree ambient. when you get to 102 and more the effienecy drops off quick.

how hot is it outside??? 20 degree split is usually the norm ,,,,,outside 95 then inside will be 75,,,,,where is the line sweating ,,, it should sweat near outdoor unit

There are alot of factors when dealing with this problem. Heat Load ( Typical A/C unit is designed with a split of 20 degrees farenheit.) If you measure the temperature leaving the discharge registers, the temperature should be around 20 degrees colder than the air entering the return air grille (Filter Location). Also your unit seems to be a 3 ton; In which this system is designed for roughly 450 sq. ft. per ton and can go as high as 550 sq. ft. on newer homes with more than adequate insulation values. On older homes with minimual insulation the 400- to 450 sq.ft. rule per ton should be observed. Another reason could be that the units needs servicing like a dirty condenser coil or evaporator coil, improper refrigerant charge, etc can all be issues that can result in your problem.
Finally, most typical units or designed to maintain a home 20-25 degrees below outside temperature. Example 95 degrees outside, inside should not be set lower than 70 to 75 degrees, and the 5 degree range depends on the SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating/Ratio ) of your unit. Hope I was helpful in giving you some direction in things to look for to resolve your problem.

It sounds like you are low on charge. I think you have a thermostatic expansion valve and you need to check the subcooling, you should have 12 to 15 degrees at 95. At 95 degrees your head should be about 280# for a 12 or 13 SEER unit or higher depending on the effeciency. At 78 to 80 degrees indoor depending on the humidity, that is normal. The valve will open to try to fully feed your indoor coil and it sounds like your head pressure is to low to force enough refrigerant thru the coil.

As to your question 'will 75 cool the house?' The answer is 'yes' - if the outside temperature is low enough. Typically speaking you can expect your central AC to cool a properly insulated house to a down to a temperature of about 20-25 degrees lower than the outside temperature. For example - if the outside temp is 95 degrees. You could expect to get your house down to 70-75 degrees. If the outside temp is 110 degrees then you could only expect to get the house to 85 or 90 degrees.

So .. as you can see - your 'inside' temp will be directly affected by the 'outside' temperature.

As to the operation of central air; it is very simple.

I would suggest that you not pay 'too much attention' to what you have the thermostat set on. A comfortable temperature - is a personal thing - so - I would set it somewhere - say 72 and see how I (and others in the house) was handling that setting.

If you want it 'cooler' just 'notch' it down a degree or two - if you need it a little warmer - turn it up a degree or two. Do this "fine adjusting" till you have the temperature setting you are comfortable with.

Usually the more you can leave your thermostat alone the better off you will be from a comfort position and an electrical useage standpoint. Obviously, the higher you have your thermostat set the 'less' it will cost you on your electric bill.

How high you set the temperature is a balance you have to come to based on how comfortable you want to be - matched with how much you want to hold down the electric bill.

hope this helps

It's 98 outside ... that says a lot. The gurgling is an indication that you are getting a lot of water out of the air (dehumidifying). If the unit is sized just right, or just a little too small, it may be working perfectly well.

You don't say where you are, geographically, but much to the US has an air conditioning design temperature of 95 degrees F. That means at 95 degrees, the unit will run continuously. With a 50% outside air relative humidity, it should keep the occupied space at about 75 degrees F. The more humid the air, the more the unit works on dehumidifying and less on cooling.

Give it some time, wait unti the weather breaks and see if it doesn't run just like it used to. If you chose to call a technician, have him/her take temperature readings of the condenser entering and leaving air, the suction line temperature, the liquid line temperature, the inside supply and return air temperature (dry bulb and wet bulb) as well as high and low side refrigerant pressures. Before they make ANY changes to the system (refrigerant charge) have them explain what they found wrong and make sure you understand what they are talking about. Adjusting the charge under these conditions, will mess up your operation under normal conditions.

If it's only 92° outside and the unit won't cool the house, then the unit is either to small or it's low on refrigerant. They are designed to cool a house with outdoor temperatures up to 115° to 120°.Usually you need one ton a/c for every 400 square feet of house, but, you have to take into account for average outdoor temperature and humidity, windows, doors, especially sliding glass or patio doors and which side of the house they are on, insulation in walls and attic.
The air leaving your duct work going into the rooms should be about 20° lower than the room temperature, if you have a 80° room then the air leaving the duct should be around 60°. if it is then the unit is probably to small if, everything is working properly.

I hate to use rules of thumb but 500sqft per ton depending on your windows and insulation. you are probably ok with a 2.5 ton however it will not work with a 3 ton outdoor unit as you have figured out. depending on how long that ac has been in you may want to replace it with a 2.5 ton due to the damage to the compressor valves because of the mis match. or if the indoor is newer and the original system may have been a 3 ton then i would replace the A/H. and be prepared to replace the outdoor if the valves are to far gone. If the trane is a new high effiency 2 and the goodman is just a 10 SEER you may be able to have a txv installed on the trane unit and a kickstart device outside. but only if its a high effiency but their again if the A/C fails you couldnt have a high effiency 3 ton you would have to drop down to 2.5,

Square footage is how you determine what size of an AC you need, say two bedroom house with 1500 square feet would require a 3 ton unit but I would go to a 4 or 5 ton depending on brand and what you may do in the future, Like adding a bedroom or bathroom and how many people will be living in the house, a heat pump normally last longer the bigger it is and is more efficient than a smaller size. Just think like this, a 3 ton will run 30 minutes to an hour longer to cool the same space as a 5 ton so if the five ton does it 30 minutes faster it will not run as long. And when it has to pull down the temperature again it will do it much faster. So less run time means faster heat or cooling and less energy is used. I have found that the bigger units are made better and last longer as a general rule. And to understand the 3-ton and 5 ton let me say that it means how long it takes 3 tons of ice to bring the temperature down 10 degrees, the old BTU’s British thermal units. However the bigger the unit the more well built it is normally and the less maintenance required. 5 tons of ice would get it cooler faster. But one thing to keep in mind a heat pump is only good for 20 degrees temperature range, for instance if the high range is 80 then the low side would be 60 in order for it to be efficient so if you have it set in the house at 72 degrees on the high side and low side would be 52 degrees. But the larger the unit the less time it would take it to recover from the heat differential.