Expecting a horror heatwave we bought a portable air conditioner for about $600. Added to an extended window blocker (we have sliding doors) it works well but it’s as noisy as a Stalinist tractor.
Then for one of our offices we bought a Click evaporative air cooler which works on the same principle as the Coolgardie Safe but with a fan. Don’t expect a blast of Antarctic chill, but a gentle cooling breeze is all you need.
One of the assistants in Bunnings advised me not to buy it because the fan wasn’t very strong. Even so, Bunnings seems to have sold out and I’m not surprised. It only cost about $140 and does what we want, relatively quietly.