Robert Coogan

I live in the High Desert of Southern California and we have central A/C (most have evaporative coolers). It's too expensive to run so we use ceiling fans and a couple f small desk fans, and lots of screens. Even in dry heat it is tolerable (and I grew up in CT).

I've been researching yakchals
. They have been used in Persia for a long time. I want to try something like this is Joshua Tree, CA someday.

They use cooling towers as well. The moisture (even in dry climates) will cool rapidly as it travels down the tower, before condensing on the inside of the yakchal. It eventually will help to replenish groundwater and can be captured as well. The base of the yackchals can get so cold that it can keep food at near-freezing temps.