[BrianR]

Yep. We had a swamp cooler (basically a cage fan with a constantly wet filter to knock off ten or fifteen degrees) running constantly in the hot months. It used a lot of water, sometimes the fill valve would get stuck and it would rain indoors, it was noisy and only cooled our hallway, walls and doors blocked the air otherwise. Of course, if we could actually open any windows, I might have been able to set up a cross-breeze and possibly be cooler but I like this answer better.

If you look around, most houses within my view have these "coolers" on the roof (ugly too), very few have what Texians refer to as Refrigerated air, and what everyone else calls air conditioning. You have to cover it up in winter too, or else there will be a drain on your heat. But a good breeze will tear the cover off and send you chasing it down the street.