Google Ads for HVAC companies that actually scale.

Repair intent and replacement intent are not the same customer.

Someone searching "ac making noise" wants a $189 diagnostic. Someone searching "new hvac system cost" is three days from writing you a check for $8,000–$14,000. Most HVAC accounts we audit run both under one campaign with one shared daily budget — so the cheap, high-volume repair searches eat the budget before the expensive, high-value replacement searches ever get impressions.

HVAC is also brutally seasonal. Your ad spend needs to move with the thermometer, not sit flat on autopilot for twelve months while your competitors double down every July and January.

What each HVAC search is worth to you.

Assumes a 25% close rate and a 12% target cost-of-acquisition against gross ticket. Adjust for your own close rate before you set bid caps.

Don't buy more leads than you can dispatch.

• →
  Build a heat-wave bid schedule before summer, not during it

  Set automated bid adjustments tied to a forecast trigger — three straight days over 95°F or a hard freeze warning — so you're not manually raising bids at 11pm while the phones melt down.

• →
  Cap daily lead volume to available trucks

  If you run four trucks and each can close 3 jobs a day, your account shouldn't be capable of generating 40 leads on a spike day. Set portfolio bid strategies with daily budget ceilings, not just monthly ones.

• →
  Route replacement leads to a human within 90 seconds

  A replacement lead is worth 40x a repair lead. Every minute past 5 minutes response time cuts close rate roughly in half. Set up call routing and text-back automation before you scale spend, not after.

• →
  Shoulder-season campaigns keep the pipeline from going dead

  Spring and fall are when replacement decisions actually get made calmly. Run maintenance-plan and tune-up campaigns hard in shoulder months to keep techs busy and build the customer list you'll upsell replacements to later — more on that in our maintenance plan playbook.

• →
  Geo-fence around service area, not city lines

  HVAC drive time matters more than municipal boundaries. Build radius targeting around your dispatch hub and exclude zips that blow your average drive time past 35 minutes.

What a healthy national HVAC account looks like.

Also weighing Local Service Ads? Read our HVAC Local Service Ads breakdown.

HVAC Google Ads questions

Why does my HVAC account spend a fortune but book cheap repairs?

Because 'ac repair near me' and 'furnace replacement cost' sit in the same campaign, splitting one budget across a $150 tune-up and a $9,500 system swap. Google will always chase the cheaper, higher-volume click unless you force separation. Split repair and replacement into two campaigns with two budgets and the replacement side finally gets fed.

Should I raise bids during a heat wave?

Yes, aggressively, but only after checking dispatch capacity first. A 100-degree week can triple search volume for 'ac not cooling' and 'emergency ac repair' — that's when replacement leads are hottest because units die under load. Push bids up 30–50% for 72 hours, but only if you actually have trucks free. Winning the click and stranding the customer for four days burns the lead and the review.

What's a realistic starting budget for an HVAC company?

$3,000–$6,000/mo in most metro areas is the floor for meaningful data inside 30 days, because HVAC clicks run $15–$45 depending on season. Rural or smaller markets can start lower. Below $1,500/mo you're sampling, not advertising.

How does this compare to running Local Service Ads too?

Most HVAC companies should eventually run both. Google Ads gives you control over messaging and landing pages; Local Service Ads gives you the top-of-page badge and pay-per-lead pricing. See our breakdown on Local Service Ads for HVAC to decide which to fund first.