If you have windows facing each other from different rooms, one of the best & oldest tricks is to 'cross-ventilate'.......this means you would put a fan on one side of the rooms blowing INTO the room, and another fan across the way blowing OUT of the room.......this creates a steady stream of moving air, & while not exactly 'central air' IS cooling and easy to do......You would, of course, use box fans for this,,,,,,,and SET THEM ON LOW NOT HIGH......no sense wasting energy when the lower setting will get the job done!! now IF, as most apt. dwellers know, you HAVE no way to 'cross ventilate", you can just have a fan in each room..I live in a small 1 BR apt. and have a fan in each room......I have the Vornado brand, that 'swirls' the air into a little vortex....thus the name; cross between vortex and tornado.....around since the 1940's, by the way and still good!! anyway, this type of fan will move air a lot more efficiently than just one that blows it straight ahead. so you can do this fairly economically.......... OH and close drapes on the south side of the house,,,,,,NO COOKING OR LAUNDRY DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS.....every little bit of heat you can not cause is worth it!!!! and one final not... instead of drinking crappy soda, etc., OR running the faucet to get that 'cold' water for a drink, do what my mom taught us when we were kids...ALWAYS KEEP A PITCHER OR TWO OF WATER IN THE FRIDGE.....THEN YOU'LL HAVE COLD WATER RIGHT WHEN YOU WANT IT> better yet (see, I never know when to shut up!! lol) GET WATER FILTRATION SYSTEM FOR YOUR HOME OR AT LEAST A WATER FILTRATION PITCHER....I use PUR but Brita's also a good brand.......you must not keep on drinking tap water!!! AND PLEASE DONT BUY BOTTLED WATER.......more damage to the enviornmant.....all that plastic!!!,,,,,,,and MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE than paying for a filtration system or pitcher, in the long run. sooo finally I'll shut up and hope get some use out of all this stuff!! LOL :-D

I use fans. I don't use my convection oven, stove or dryer until after the sun goes down. I'll sometimes use the microwave, but usually prefer cold foods and drinks. Smoothies and slushies are great! Cold water is too! Drinking it showering in it and cold compresses ( especially around your neck) are all soothing. And having a cold compress can be as simple as putting a damp towel in your freezer for a little bit. Depending on your housing situation hosing off your roof May considerably drop the internal temperature of your home as well.

A Vietnam air conditioner. Attach a wettened rag to the top of a fan so the fan floats the rag. Small cooled water particles will get slowly released into the air until the rag goes dry.