Choosing Heat & Airin Washington
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Start from your house

Heat, west side

Heat, east side

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Cooling

Wildfire smoke

Damp, crawlspaces and ducts

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What are your choices in a house with no air conditioning?

Updated . Sources checked November 3, 2026.

A Washington house with no AC has company, since EIA's 2020 survey found only 53% of homes use air conditioning. The choice runs from a plan for one cool room to a whole-house heat pump. Make it before the heat comes, because 2021 showed how fast a house can become unsafe.

A small white house with green-trimmed windows under shade trees in Ritzville.
A small white house with green-trimmed windows under shade trees in Ritzville.

What to decide, in this order

  • Are fans enough, or does your Washington house need AC?

    Where a fan stops helping, in each agency's own numbers.

    Fans
    Mild days when the indoor reading stays within the agency lines
    Air conditioning
    Any home planning for a heat wave, or for people at home all day
    A low single-storey blue-green double house with a summer-browned lawn on 19th Ave SW in West Seattle.

  • Should you cool one room or the whole house?

    Cooling one room may be enough, and sometimes leaving is the right plan.

    One cool room
    West side homes, no ducts, a modest budget, a room you can close
    Whole-house cooling
    East side summers, existing ducts, people home through the heat
    An 1894 stucco house with a parched summer lawn and pale driveway in Browne's Addition, Spokane.

  • Portable AC or window AC for a Washington house?

    The two plug-in choices, and how each behaves in smoke.

    Portable AC
    Windows that can't hold a unit, ideally with a two-hose model
    Window AC
    Sashes that can hold a unit, on a model whose damper closes
    The top of a white portable air conditioner, with its wide exhaust hose rising behind it.

  • Window AC or a ductless heat pump for your house?

    A summer fix or a unit that also heats.

    Window AC
    One or two rooms, a small budget, cooling only
    Ductless heat pump
    Electric heat you also want to cut, a long stay
    A window air conditioner hung on a bracket in the sash of a clapboard house, seen from outside. Photographed in New Orleans, not Washington.

  • Your furnace is fine but you have no AC: AC or heat pump?

    West side house with working heat, weighing a new outdoor unit.

    Central AC
    You want only summer cooling, and a bid shows a clear gap
    Heat pump, furnace stays
    You want cooling plus a second heat source for mild days
    A large grey and white Craftsman bungalow with a planted front bank on a sunny September day in Wallingford, Seattle.

  • Your AC died: replace it, or install a heat pump instead?

    East side readers replacing old cooling should start here.

    New central AC
    Houses with a sound furnace and no wish to change their heating
    Heat pump in its place
    Houses wanting cooling plus heat from one outdoor unit
    A square central-air condenser on a concrete pad beside a brick wall and chain-link fence.

  • Evaporative cooler or AC for an east side house?

    A dry-climate option that does not suit the west side.

    Evaporative cooler
    Dry east side house, ready for water use and pad upkeep
    Air conditioning
    Most houses, smoke-prone areas, west side, or where heat pump cooling fits
    AI-generated picture: a plain metal evaporative cooler on the low roof of a 1950s ranch house, with dry tan hills behind.

  • Windows open or closed when it's smoky and hot?

    Smoke can take away the cheapest cooling you have.

    Keep them closed
    Smoke outside, safe temperature inside
    Open when the air improves
    A clean break in the smoke, even a short one
    Go somewhere cooler
    Too hot to stay safe, or too much smoke indoors
    Seattle's skyline and Space Needle washed out by smoke from the Sourdough Fire and other regional wildfires, seen from Kerry Park in August 2023.

How hot does it actually get?

Hotter than the averages suggest. Sea-Tac's July high averages 77.4F in NOAA normals, yet it reached 108F on June 28, 2021. Spokane's record is 109F and Pasco's is 115F, both set that month.

The state reported 157 heat-related deaths from June 26 to August 31, 2021, and 1,232 excess deaths during the heat dome, including 826 beyond the COVID-19 and heat-related deaths reported around that time. Whether a house has cooling is a safety question as well as a comfort one.

A low wide-eaved bungalow behind a green lawn in Corbin Park, Spokane, June 2024.
A low wide-eaved bungalow behind a green lawn in Corbin Park, Spokane, June 2024.

What can you do this week, with no equipment?

Shade the windows, use the lowest floor and know where you would go. DOH says awnings or louvers can reduce heat entering by as much as 80 percent, and that people without AC should stay on the lowest floor out of the sun. To find a cooling center, dial 2-1-1.

Do not count on a fan alone. CDC says: "Use fans, but only if indoor temperatures are less than 90°F." EPA says separately not to use electric fans for cooling when the room is in the mid-90s or higher.

Know the signs of heat stroke, which NWS lists as including confusion, slurred speech, a body temperature above 103F and fainting. Call 911 or get the person to a hospital immediately.

A tall wildfire smoke plume rising behind a ridge above Spokane Valley on 21 August 2016.
A tall wildfire smoke plume rising behind a ridge above Spokane Valley on 21 August 2016.

What does smoke change about the choice?

It rules out some equipment on some days, so ask how each option handles it. EPA's wildfire guidance says not to use a window unit if you cannot close its outdoor damper, and to use a single-hose portable sparingly because it can bring more smoke in. EPA's smoke and heat guide adds that mini-split and window units typically lack filters for PM2.5, so plan on an air cleaner too.

What should you budget for?

We can give you rebates but no installed-price figure, since we found no official one. Plug-in units need a suitable window or vent, secure fitting per the manual, and a correct ENERGY STAR size for the room. A mini-split is contractor-installed, and any refrigerant or line-set work belongs to a certified technician. Never open a portable's refrigerant circuit. Utility rebates are almost all written for heating, so check the utility comparison if your house has electric heat, as of November 2026. The west side and east side hubs show how much cooling your climate asks for.

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