How Much Do HVAC Leads Cost?

How much do HVAC leads cost by channel?

About $179 CAD from Google search, $73 from Local Services Ads and $61 from Facebook, from our medians of published benchmarks. HVAC also has the most expensive click of any trade we track: about $19.35¹.

Here's how HVAC compares with other trades on Google search:

HVAC sits in the middle per lead but at the top per click. Why? More HVAC clicks turn into calls. When the furnace is out, people call fast.

Why do HVAC leads cost so much?

Because every HVAC company in town bids on the same few searches when it's cold. A heat pump job is worth thousands, so companies can afford to bid high. And Local Services Ads and the map sit above the regular ads, so fewer people scroll down to them.

How you run the account matters too. In one 816-contractor study, HVAC campaigns that lumped every service together paid about $198 a lead. Heating repair campaigns paid about $144 (US dollars)⁹.

In our experience, smaller markets on Vancouver Island and in the Interior usually cost less per click than Metro Vancouver.

Missed calls now cost money too. Since October 1, 2026, Google can charge a Local Services Ads lead for a missed call during your business hours if the caller stays on the line more than 20 seconds¹⁰.

Should an HVAC company pay for leads from a lead company?

Only if you can call back within minutes and you track how many book. Shared leads are cheap because the same homeowner goes to several companies. Exclusive leads cost more but are yours alone.

In Canada, HomeStars is free to join and charges only when a homeowner chooses to contact you¹¹. Ask any lead seller how the homeowner agreed to be contacted. Canada's anti-spam law needs consent before you send commercial texts or emails¹².

How much can an HVAC company afford to pay per lead?

Work back from the job. HVAC contractors in Canada keep about 44.5 cents of each dollar after parts and labour⁷. If you spend 10% of that to win the job, and 42 in 100 leads book, here's the most you can pay per lead:

Debut Marketing calculation. Job prices are the middle of HomeStars' Vancouver ranges⁶. The margin is from Statistics Canada data for plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors, cost of sales 55.5%⁷. 42 in 100 is the contractor typical booking rate¹. Swap in your own numbers.

So heat pump and mini-split campaigns can carry a $179 search lead. Furnace and AC replacement campaigns are tight. Repair campaigns can't, on the repair alone.

But 10% of what you keep is a careful rule. Repair customers come back for tune-ups and, years later, a new system. If you count that, you can afford more. At 20%, every number in the table doubles. That's why Local Services Ads, at about $73 a lead, are where most HVAC companies put repair calls.

How do you lower your HVAC cost per lead?

Answer every call, split services into their own campaigns and pages, show a price range, block junk searches every week, and track calls. These cost little and usually do more than a bigger budget.

1. Answer every call. 84% of Canadian homeowners in our survey said in an emergency they'd hire the first contractor who picked up¹³. Leads called within 5 minutes converted 8 times as often in a study of 5.7 million leads¹⁴.
2. Split services. Heating repair, installs and tune-ups each get their own campaign and page⁹.
3. Show a price range. 70% of HVAC customers in one survey said they're more likely to call a company that's open about price¹⁵.
4. Only list hours you answer. Missed Local Services Ads calls can now be charged¹⁰.
5. Track calls. Most HVAC leads phone in. You can't lower a cost you can't see.

Our Google Ads guide for HVAC covers the setup, and How to Get HVAC Leads compares every channel. To have it done for you, see our Google Ads management or marketing for HVAC companies.