HVAC in Sooke

Sooke at a glance

Sooke is a district municipality 38 km by road from Victoria, the westernmost of the Western Communities, on the Sooke Basin. It had 15,086 people in 2021, up 16% in five years, and serves as the regional centre for Otter Point, Shirley and Jordan River.

What that means for your heating

Rural lots and older homes around Sooke often heat with wood stoves, electric baseboards or oil, and natural gas isn't available everywhere. Ductless heat pumps are a popular upgrade because they need no ducts and can run alongside a wood stove. See ductless mini-splits.

Distance and outages

Being further from town means longer waits for service and more exposure to winter storms off the strait. Keeping a backup heat source and booking maintenance before winter reduces the risk of a cold house during an outage.

A growing seaside district

Sooke was incorporated on December 7, 1999, and lies in the traditional territories of the T'Sou-ke and Scia'new First Nations. Its climate is warm-summer Mediterranean, with dry summers and mild, wet winters, and Wikipedia compares its temperatures to Ireland's. Rapid growth means many new homes alongside older cabins and houses. New builds often come with heat pumps already; older homes can gain a lot from a modern system and better ventilation. See heat pumps.