Yes they don't work well with our wet bulbs BUT the fan itself provides great sideline relief! And on days where it's HOT with sub 70 dewpoints it still is effective at cooling people down!
But in arid climes, absolutely it will feel like a 10 ton coldwave unit without the need for a water hookup and three phase power!
RE: Window units...
Get rid of them when convenient. Noisy, super inefficient, ugly, and yes you will have pest issues.
Minisplit is the way to go. You can install yourself if you're handy. Except perhaps electrical. Once you experience the quiet of a minisplit there is no going back. Plus being a heat pump they have the ability to heat the space as well with much better efficacy than an electric resistance heater. Their balance point is typically much lower than a central heat pump too so unless it's in the single digits to 0F you can still heat with them. There are some units preserving 90% capacity at -20F but those are more costly and at that point you're looking at a multizone system that would replace your central unit.