HVAC in Cotati

Cotati at a glance

Cotati is the smallest incorporated city in Sonoma County, with 7,584 people (2020) on 1.88 square miles, in the Highway 101 corridor between Rohnert Park and Petaluma, about 17 miles from the Pacific.

What that means for your heating and cooling

Small, older homes and apartments are common here, many with wall heaters or older furnaces. Replacing a wall heater with a ductless mini-split adds cooling and more even heat.

In the laguna basin

Cotati lies entirely within the drainage basin of the Laguna de Santa Rosa. Lower ground holds cool, damp air on winter mornings, which shows up as condensation and musty crawl spaces in some homes. Small homes also heat and cool quickly, so a modest system sized correctly often outperforms a large one.

Rancho Cotate

The Coast Miwok had villages around Cotati for thousands of years, including Kotati, which gave the city its name. In 1844 the Mexican government granted Rancho Cotate, covering today's Cotati, Penngrove and Rohnert Park, to Captain Juan Castañeda. Much of the city grew up around its old centre, and smaller older homes there often have tight closets and attics where equipment is hard to reach, so plan tune-ups with access in mind.