Put window fans your windows, particularly if the ambient temperature outside is cooler than the temperature outside. What is particularly helpful is if you can use two windows opposite each other--- use one window facing inward to pull the cooler air from outside inward, and one fan to pull the warm air inside out. Having the windows opposite each other will pull the air through the room, and creates a current.

Ceiling fans can provide year-round energy efficiency and cost savings. A ceiling fan can save up to 40% on summer cooling costs. During winter, it can move heat trapped near the ceiling back into the living area, reducing heating costs by up to 10% - especially valuable in rooms with high or vaulted ceilings. Savings will vary depending on local climate conditions and energy rates, but in the summertime, you want the blades to circulate to create a downward downward. Fan blades are tilted, rotation in one direction will move air upward, and downward in the other. Look for the directional switch on the center housing of the fan unit and change it accordingly. A ceiling fan cools a room by creating a \\\"wind chill effect\\\"; it does not lower the room temperature. \\\"Wind chill effect\\\" makes you feel cooler by accelerating the evaporation of perspiration on your skin. It is the feeling you get when you open the window in a moving car. If you run a ceiling fan in a room that's 80 degrees, you will feel as if it's 72 degrees. When used in conjunction with an air conditioner, a ceiling fan can lower energy costs, because you can set the thermostat higher. The temperature of the air in a heated room varies in layers; the air near the ceiling is warmer than the air near the floor, because warm air rises. A ceiling fan can help push the trapped warmer air near the ceiling back down into the room, thus \\\"de-stratifying\\\" the layers. As a result, the air is circulated where needed, and the heating system does not overwork to warm the room. To properly \\\"de-stratify\\\" a warmed room, the ceiling fan should run upward to pull air up against the ceiling and down along the walls, to gently re-circulate the warm air without creating a cooling \\\"wind chill effect.\\\" In addition, if your window gets direct sunshine, you should keep your blinds tilted, and curtains drawn, to help keep the temperature down. To cut costs, open your window at night whenever possible to take advantage of an evenings cooler air. UNLESS your room is on the ground floor, in which case this IS NOT AN OPTION, due to your personal safety - regardless of your gender. You'd be better off paying a few bucks for air conditioning and being able to sleep soundly with the window locked, than to worry about waking up to a stranger holding a knife to your throat!

We leave the windows open and the fan on at night, then shut the windows during the day. Even better: put a window fan in one window at the end of your house to suck cool air in all night, and another one in another window at the other end to blow it out all night. Then watch your thermometer and when the temperatures equalizes inside & outside, turn off the fans and shut all the windows until it once again cools off in the evening.

Open the windows to let in the night air if it's cooler outside but first thing in the morning, close them to keep out the hot humid air in. Have the fan on all the time if you need to. When it's really hot, we keep ours going all the time, maybe on medium at night so we don't get too windblown.

In addition to keeping the curtains or blinds closed durign the day, you could paint your room in a cold color like blue. It really helps!

the best thing ..... lose some weight! You will be much cooler without all the insulation.

Buy one of those square floor fans (about $12), face it backwards in the entrance of your room to suck out the warm, humid air. Or, if the air conditioner is on outside of your room you can just place the fan in your doorway and let the cool air blow in to help cool your room.

get a loud of ice and leave it in a bucket in the middle of the room, alturnitively you could use a heat exchange.

I understand you want to avoid using an air conditioner, but wonder if you are talking about central air. Have you considered a window unit. You can get a 5000 BTU unit for about $100. I put a small 110 volt unit in our bedroom. It costs less than a dollar a night to operate. We turn our central unit up at night so we don't cool the whole house. The window unit keeps our bedroom nice & cool.

Maybe you should try one of these units to cool your hot room during the summer months. It is a waterless, portable air cooler that is inexpensive to operate. In the winter it can double as a humidifier. Air Cooler PLUS http://www.ihsmall.com/air-cooler-plus.html Good luck staying cool!

It's hot and humid here a lot too. I use fans even if I put my air on.