Washington windstorms take down lines every winter, and rural, foothill and heavily wooded areas can be out for considerably longer than urban ones.
Your heating almost certainly stops
This surprises people with gas heating. A gas furnace needs electricity for its controls, ignition and blower — the gas supply being unaffected does not help. Heat pumps stop entirely.
Gas fireplaces with standing pilots and no electric controls may continue working, and are worth knowing about in advance rather than discovering. Wood stoves obviously continue.
The Eastern Washington difference
In the Puget Sound lowlands, a house without heating cools slowly and outdoor temperatures rarely stay far below freezing. It is unpleasant rather than dangerous to the building.
In Spokane, Yakima and the Tri-Cities during a genuine cold snap, an extended outage is a different proposition. The house cools faster and further, and plumbing in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated areas becomes vulnerable.
That is the practical difference: west of the Cascades you are managing comfort, east of them you may be managing the building.
Preparing in advance
Know where your main water shut-off is. If pipes freeze and burst, being able to stop the water immediately limits the damage enormously.
Insulate vulnerable plumbing. The same autumn work that protects against ordinary cold is what buys you time during an outage.
Torches and batteries, not candles. Candle fires during outages are a genuine and avoidable risk.
Charged power banks. Phones are your link to information and to help.
Know how to open your garage door manually. The release cord. Worth locating before you need it in the dark.
During an extended outage in cold weather
Close off unused rooms and concentrate in one space, ideally one with a heat source and few exterior walls. Close curtains at night to reduce loss through glazing.
Open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls so what warmth remains reaches the pipes. Let taps drip on vulnerable runs — moving water is less likely to freeze.
Keep the refrigerator and freezer closed. They hold temperature for a surprisingly long time if left alone.
Generators and heating: the safety part
Never run a generator indoors, in a garage, or near windows and vents. Carbon monoxide from generators kills people during outages every year, and it does so in houses where nobody realised the risk.
The same applies to any combustion appliance not designed for indoor use — camping stoves, patio heaters, charcoal. Do not bring them inside, whatever the temperature.
Working carbon monoxide detectors matter most precisely when the power is out and people improvise.
Permanent generator connections
If outages are frequent where you live, a transfer switch or interlock allows a generator to power circuits safely without backfeeding the grid — which is dangerous to line workers and illegal.
This is regulated electrical work requiring a permit and a certified electrician. It is a common conversation in Spokane and in Washington’s rural and foothill areas for good reason.
When power returns
Check for water damage, particularly if the house got genuinely cold. A burst pipe may not be obvious until the system pressurises and thaws.
Restart heating and check it runs properly. If the system does not come back, resist repeated attempts and call someone.