HVAC · October 12, 2026

How much should an HVAC company spend on marketing?

Most growing HVAC companies spend 8 to 12 percent of revenue on marketing, and companies holding steady spend closer to 5 to 7 percent. For a $2M HVAC company that is about $100K to $240K a year, ads and management together. Put the first dollars into the channels that catch no-heat and no-cool calls (Google Local Services Ads and Google Search), then scale whatever books jobs at the lowest cost.

By Marco Savone, co-founder of Scusa Media. Sold and marketed for a Metro Detroit exterior remodeler before starting the agency.

The percentage, and where it comes from

Industry groups and HVAC consultants land in the same place. ACCA planning guidance points contractors who want to grow toward about 10 percent of gross revenue. Published reviews of HVAC financial statements put profitable, growing shops at 8 to 12 percent. The SBA rule of thumb for small businesses is 7 to 8 percent.

Treat the range as a starting point, not a rule. A shop with a full maintenance plan list and strong referrals can grow on 6 percent. A new shop, or one moving into a new county, often needs 12 to 15 percent for the first year because nobody knows the name yet.

Most of these numbers come from people who sell marketing, us included. That is why the number we manage to is cost per booked job, not the percentage.

What it looks like in dollars

A $1M shop at 8 to 12 percent spends $80K to $120K a year, or about $6,500 to $10,000 a month.

A $3M shop at the same range spends $240K to $360K a year, or $20K to $30K a month.

A common split: about two thirds on ad spend, one third on the people running it (an in-house marketer, a freelancer or an agency), the website, the CRM and tracking. Website and CRM builds are mostly one-time costs with small monthly fees after.

Where the first dollars should go

Google Local Services Ads. Recent benchmarks put HVAC leads on LSA at about $50 to $100, with one large 2026 data set showing an average near $51 and close to half of leads booking. You pay per lead, the homeowner called you, and the Google Guaranteed badge does work for you.

Google Search. Non-branded searches like 'furnace repair near me' commonly run $100 to $200 per lead, more in peak weeks. Leads are pricier than LSA but you control the ads, the landing page and the hours.

Follow-up before more budget. An unanswered no-heat call in January is gone in minutes. Missed-call text-back, an after-hours voice agent and a two-minute callback rule get more jobs out of the same spend than any new channel.

Where the next dollars go

Meta ads for replacement and maintenance plans in the shoulder months. Leads commonly cost $30 to $120 and close slower, so the follow-up sequence matters more than the ad.

Your own customer list. Spring and fall tune-up campaigns by email and text cost almost nothing per send and fill the schedule in April and October, the two quiet months.

Reviews and service pages. Every city you serve, every service you sell (repair, replacement, heat pumps, mini splits, indoor air quality). These compound and lower your paid costs over time.

How to shift the budget through the year

Peak: July and January. Search and LSA carry most of the spend because demand is already there. Raise daily caps rather than turning on new channels.

Shoulder: April, May, September and October. Move money to replacement offers, financing, maintenance plan sign-ups and your own list.

Do not go to zero. Pausing ads for two months resets the account's learning and lets a competitor take the spot. Run lighter, not off.

In Metro Detroit the furnace season is the bigger one, and the first hard freeze in late October or November is the busiest week of the year. In Miami and South Florida cooling runs almost all year and the peak stretches from May into October, so budgets there stay flatter month to month.

How to know if the spend is working

Track three numbers by channel every month: cost per lead, cost per booked call, and cost per sold job. Ad platforms report the first one. Only a CRM connected to your ads and your phone gives you the other two.

Price each job against its gross profit. A $150 lead is expensive for a $189 tune-up and cheap for a $12,000 system replacement. Split repair and replacement campaigns so each is judged on its own math.

If you cannot see which ad produced which sold job, fix tracking before raising the budget. Spending more on an account you cannot read is the most expensive mistake we see.

Questions people ask next

Is 10 percent of revenue too much for HVAC marketing?

Not for a company trying to grow. ACCA guidance points growing contractors to about 10 percent. If revenue is flat and the schedule is full, 5 to 7 percent is enough to hold your spot.

What is a good cost per lead for HVAC?

Recent benchmarks put Local Services Ads around $50 to $100 per lead, Google Search around $100 to $200 for non-branded terms, and Meta around $30 to $120. The number to watch is cost per sold job.

Should a small HVAC company hire an agency or do it in-house?

Under about $1M in revenue, one good agency or freelancer usually costs less than a full-time hire. Above $3M, many shops have an in-house marketer and use an agency for ads and the CRM. Either way, the ad accounts should be in your name.

How fast will more marketing spend show up in booked calls?

LSA and Google Search produce calls within days of launch. Reviews, service pages and SEO take three to twelve months but keep working after you stop paying for them.