HVAC in Gordon Head, Saanich

Gordon Head at a glance

Gordon Head is a seaside neighbourhood in Saanich, north of McKenzie Avenue and east of the Blenkinsop Valley, with the University of Victoria along its southeast edge. Mount Douglas (PKOLS) and the Haro Strait shoreline shape the area.

What that means for your heating

Gordon Head turned from farmland into a residential area from the 1950s on, so many homes are mid-century and later houses with original forced-air systems or baseboards. Many have secondary suites or are rented to UVic students, which often means separate heating for each suite. See ductless mini-splits.

Suites and shared systems

When a suite shares a furnace with the main house, one thermostat controls both, and someone is always too warm or too cold. A ductless head in the suite gives each household its own control.

Strawberries, daffodils and a wireless station

For thousands of years the Songhees people lived on these lands. After the Douglas Treaties of 1852, farmers cleared the forest, and Gordon Head became known for strawberries and later daffodils; city water arrived in 1921 and greenhouses spread. During the Second World War, a Special Wireless Station here intercepted enemy radio messages for the Royal Canadian Navy, and its building still stands on the UVic campus. Mid-century homes from the post-farm building boom are prime candidates for a heat pump upgrade; see heat pumps.