My bachelor uncles never left home. They were slave labor for their dad, farming, tending the fruit orchards and operating their trading post near the Navajo reservation in southwest Colorado.



It gets into the 100s down there in the summer, and after my uncles wore out the window air conditioner we gave them, for a long time they made do with fans to move the hot air around. In 2004 I went down there and Uncle Robert had made a swamp cooler from a couple of car radiators and between them was a fan from a car to blow the air through the one inside the house. The parts came from the various junk cars out in his back yard; every car they ever owned is out there.



They have an artesian well, so he had water continuously circulating through it. See that black hose that comes across the window sill into the top front? That's coming from the well. There is an oil can on top of the unit in case some of the parts started squeaking too much.

It didn't really chill the air like air conditioning, but the blowing air was cooled enough to make a breeze. There was a big piece of cardboard that you could use to deflect the air towards you.
It worked pretty well, certainly it was better than nothing. A couple years later one of my cousins talked him into buying a real swamp cooler and putting it that spot. It worked a lot better but was as interesting to look at.

Here is Uncle Robert working in the zucchini plantation.