I have a storm door and can raise the lower window which has a screen behind it. I love opening the windows when the temperatures are nice here in the spring and fall, neither of which see to last more than a couple weeks.
I lived with my grandmother when I was in high school and she would not turn on AC unless we had lots of company. However, she lived in an older house with lots of windows and we slept with the windows by our beds open at night and with fans blowing on us. The head of my bed was in a corner with two large windows on either side. During the day it would get extremely hot, but with the windows open and fans going, it was not unbearable (most of the time).
We also just had space heaters and they had to be off at night. If it was 18 degrees outside, it was 18 degrees in the house when we slept. Luckily, she was a quilter and we had plenty of cover.
My house, as with most construction after home AC's became the norm, does not have as many or as large windows as older houses like my grandmother's house. I can get some airflow by opening the windows, but not nearly as much of a breeze as with older houses.
My brother now lives in my grandmother's house. He removed her old screen doors which were worn out and installed new "bam, bam" doors...You know, the kind with a spring on it that make the door go "bam, bam" after you go through it.