I live over the mountains in Utah. We've been running high nineties and 100+ and I can keep it in the mid seventies. A bit better than you.
I too use the blue pads. They can be reused a few years though their efficiency decreases a bit.
The best pads are the aspen pads. But they're also the messiest. They'll give you a few more degrees of coolness. They only last one season. If you're going to go with aspen, I recommend one of those water purge systems to keep your system clean and pumping well. It also cuts down on the mineral build up on the pads maintaining efficiency.
I run a heavier pump than stated. I think it helps a bit.
When I bought my house, it had a three wall swamper with the fourth side having the ducting to the house. I switched that out to a 4 wall design, bottom vented, and I think that helped.
The other thing is the motor. They go bad surprisingly quickly. On high, it self limits to low because of thermal protection. The unit has quickly worn to where it overheats on high. Mine's doing that right now. And the low isn't as good as when it was new. But even on low, I'm keeping the temps I mention at the start. When it's just starting to go bad, you'll sometimes get a brief period on high before it thermally limits itself.
An attic fan is a worthwhile addition. This is just a thermostatically controlled fan to get the heat out of your attic. Granted, when it's 100 outside, it's still 100 inside the attic, but that's much better than 160 it could otherwise be. We had one installed and found it to be helpful.
Good technique helps too. In the PM and AM, when it's cool, purge the house as much as possible. Open windows, run ceiling fans (and the swamp, maybe on vent). Before I go to bed, I close things up more for security. But I open the bedroom windows and run a ceiling fan on low all night The core of my house often hits 80 or more overnight, but the bedrooms hold low seventies or less depending on the night. In the AM, repeat the process to cool the house as much as possible. Run the pump only to wet the pads before turning on the fan if you turn it on during the heat of the day. That avoids an initial high heat blast of air.
Practice with different windows open and doors closed to get the kind of airflow in the rooms you're occupying. During the day, I close off the bedroom doors. They're not occupied or only briefly and that helps direct cool air where it's needed. When I'm cooking, I'll turn on my stove hood (vents outdoors) to suck out the heat and pull cool air into the kitchen. A hood that vents back into the kitchen probably won't help.
Phil
