Would this work to cool my dorm room?

there are few ways to keep room cool , and they dont cost a lot. you can put a plastic "heat" film , on the window . its similar to the plastic food wrap. its sold in many stores, like "home depot" or online. its easy to install and remove, and you still have light going tru. you can also put a alum. foil on the window. you can also use one of those car shades, they sell everywhere. or hang up a blanket. the later also blocks out some of the outside noise as well. i used to use that,when i worked night shifts, and needed the room to be dark and quiet.

you can also try the combination of "swamp" cooler and dehumidifier. you would need the later , if you dont like moist air. swamp cooler is not as efficient as AC , but it uses much less electricity , no more then a reg. fan. you may want that, instead of AC , if your dorm room is pretty old. if it is, it means it has an old, outdated el. wiring. an AC, + all the "college gadgets" --- laptops, mp3s and so on, plugged at the same time, would cause the fuse to trip. i know, because i live in an old apartment ,if i plug too many things at once, everything goes dark.

if you live on top floor, you are out of luck. top floors, which are directly under the roof, would absorb more heat then lower floors. but thats better in the winter.

if you live in 1st floor, and there is a water hose near by, you can water a bit outside, cooling the patio,sidewalk,yard, etc, that you have outside your window. it will help with radiating heat.

if you live in a top floor, and there is no attic , just the roof, you can have them install a roof fan. they dont cost a lot , dont require electricity and are quiet.

If you can't buy a window AC unit, just get a portable AC one (they're bigger--about the same size and price as a dehumidifier). You can either let it fill up and drag it someplace to drain the condensation (a pain), or run the tube that comes with it into a large pan, then drain THAT. The hot air is vented through a flexible hose, out the window (it comes with a plastic panel that's about 6: high and adjusts to the window, vertically or horizontally).

I have one and it works GREAT! It cost about $200 on sale, but you might find one for less at the end of the summer. Mine is a Sylvania, 5000 btu unit. It totally freezes the 10x20 room it's in.

The others are right about dehumidifiers not cooling...BUT an AC unit will de-humidify! Two functions for one price.

Dehumidifying the air will not lower the temperature. When you use a humidifier you remove water from the air and directly decrease something called the "humidity ratio". Decreasing the humidity ratio will inadvertantly decrease what is called the "relative humidity". Humans are sensitive to relative humidity and will feel uncomfortable if it is over 60 %.

using a wet towel on a fan will indeed cool the air at first by speeding up the evaporation process but.......the moisture will return to the air ....raising the relative humidity. This water vapor has the ability to condense and when it condense heat will be released to the air...this is called "Latent heat". Your body also produce latent heat as well as the other form called " sensible heat". Using the dehumidifier while using the towel method may keep the temperature slightly lower...it depends on rate of heat added to room.

But,

The dehumidifier generates heat too by latent heat ( It works by condensation. condesation and latent heat go hand and hand) and by the motor ( That electrical power is dissipated in the form of mechanical motion and heat ).

So its like you are working against your self if your goal is to remove heat.

Having your fan on is also slightly raising the temperature via the motor. The purpose of the fan (in this case) is to keep the air in the room circulating. Circulating air makes you more comfortable. Unless its blowing right on you...in that case evaporation on your skin will be sped up and you'll feel cooler...but, you add latent heat to room faster...which again makes you work against your self.

Which brings me to last point of closing the doors. You want good air circulation in the room. So having the doors open is not a bad idea...unless the adjacent room is warmer and more humid. If that is the case then closing the door is the better of the two evils.

Well, it takes 1 btu to raise 1 pound of water 1 degree F. However, for 1 pound of water to change from liquid to steam will take 970 BTU. Even though there is no change of tempurature. When you hang wet towels on the fan and they turn to vapor they release heat. So, it will be cooler only where the towels come into direct contact. The heat they release will be circulated in the room. Until they meet with the dehumidifyer. Which will absorb the heat from the water vapor condensing back into water. But, releasing the same amount of heat out the back of the dehumidifyer. The net heating will be positive. In other words the heat from the electricity used to run the dehumidifyer and fan will go directy into the room. If you can get a cheap window unit. It will also lower the humidity. But, it will blow that absorbed heat out the window, instead of back into the room. Also, instead of weting towels and putting them on fans. You would be better off if you took the towels and put them on you. But, at any rate August is about over. So, then, you can open the window at night and close it during the day.

Your homemade swamp cooler doesn't sound very effecient. And you'd need a huge dehumidifier for this purpose, in which you're gonna spend hundreds more than if you just picked up a cheap 5,000btu window a/c off craigslist for $50 bucks

This is good