If you lived in a dryer climate, I would recommend a swamp cooler. Growing up in Oklahoma, we had one which worked reasonably well, but it was far better when I lived in Tuscon, because of the low humidity. I guess this doesn't help much where you live, but I just had to toss it in.
I found some airconditioning systems that are said to have "inverters" they cost more but they say they can save up to 60% less on power consumption... I want to make sure if this has been proven.. does anyone here have air conditioners that have inverters? Does it really save that much electricity?
I have no idea about their power consumption, but an inverter is used to convert DC to AC, which means that batteries are required, which also means that rectifier is needed to convert AC to DC for charging the batteries. While this might be good for a portable airconditioner, like in a motor home, the cost of maintaining the system would offset any saving in power costs.
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