We refitted the house so we don't need AC -- important steps were (1) putting a solar-powered attic fan on the roof to suck out the hot air when it's sunny, which is even better than putting the thing on a thermostat; (2) improving ventilation so we can really change the air out when it cools down at night (for us, this meant a locking screen front door and putting in a whole-house fan when we replaced the furnace two years ago); (3) ceiling fans in the two bedrooms that get hot; and (4) but longer term, planting deciduous shade trees between the house and the western sun, about 20' out from the building, to fill the gaps between the neighbors' pine trees. This is obviously a long-term solution but after five years the trees are starting to kick in.

When we had that run of over-100 days last week, it never got above 85 here, and that's in the upstairs.