How much do Google Ads cost for HVAC contractors?
Search ads for HVAC cost a median $127.74 per lead for air conditioning and $129.02 for heating and furnaces, with clicks at $9.68 and $9.30, according to LocaliQ data from campaigns run April 2024 to March 2025. Local Services Ads cost less per lead: SearchLight Digital measured $51 per HVAC lead across 409 accounts in February 2026. Agency management is billed on top of ad spend, commonly as 10% to 20% of spend or a flat monthly fee.
Below is published data on what HVAC contractors pay for Google Ads and Local Services Ads. Each figure links to its source and states its year. RYN Digital does not publish client results.
What HVAC search ads cost per click and per lead
The most detailed public breakdown for HVAC search ads comes from LocaliQ’s home services search ad benchmarks. LocaliQ analyzed 3,211 US search campaigns its customers ran on Google Ads and Microsoft Ads between April 1, 2024 and March 21, 2025, and reports medians. LocaliQ labels these its 2025 benchmarks, and the page was last updated July 15, 2026.
| Metric | Air conditioning installation and repair | Heating and furnaces | All home services |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per lead | $127.74 | $129.02 | $90.92 |
| Cost per click | $9.68 | $9.30 | $7.85 |
| Conversion rate | 6.56% | 7.48% | 7.33% |
| Click-through rate | 6.43% | 5.97% | 6.37% |
Both HVAC categories cost more per lead and per click than the home services median. LocaliQ also reports that cost per lead rose for 69% of home services businesses year over year, by 10.51% on average, and cost per click rose for 75% of them. For costs across all industries, see Google Ads cost in 2026 and our Google Ads benchmarks.
What a Local Services Ads lead costs for HVAC
Local Services Ads charge per lead rather than per click. SearchLight Digital describes the model: Google charges when a customer calls or messages through the listing, Google sets the lead price based on trade, market and competition, and the advertiser controls a weekly budget rather than a bid. The ads show a Google Verified badge, which Google says tells customers the business is verified by Google.
SearchLight tracked $6.72 million in Local Services Ads spend across 888 home service contractors in February 2026. HVAC leads averaged $51 across 409 accounts, and 44.0% of those leads booked an appointment.
| Trade | Cost per lead | Accounts | Book rate | Average ticket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HVAC | $51 | 409 | 44.0% | $2,110 |
| Plumbing | $57 | 230 | 44.5% | $1,714 |
| Electrical | $39 | 112 | 43.4% | $1,434 |
| Drain and sewer | $59 | 23 | 39.5% | $1,521 |
| All 888 contractors, blended | $53 | 888 | 43.9% | $1,826 |
SearchLight’s figures are spend weighted (total spend divided by total leads), while LocaliQ’s are medians. The periods also differ: the search figures above are from 2024 to 2025 campaigns and the Local Services Ads figures are from 2026. For more on choosing between the two, see Google Ads vs Local Services Ads and our Local Services Ads statistics.
Search cost per lead by campaign type and HVAC service
SearchLight also publishes Google Ads data from contractors that use its attribution software. In January 2026, across 816 HVAC and plumbing contractors and $14.9 million in spend, the blended cost per lead was $104. That average hides a wide split: branded campaigns (people searching a company’s name) cost $34 per lead, Performance Max $72, and non-branded search, which took 79.7% of spend, $149.
| Service | Cost per lead | Accounts | Book rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heating repair | $144 | 137 | 38.2% |
| AC install | $157 | 87 | 24.2% |
| HVAC general | $198 | 432 | 36.0% |
| AC repair | $231 | 101 | 37.0% |
| Indoor air quality | $274 | 23 | 39.3% |
| Heating install | $354 | 25 | 42.8% |
| AC maintenance | $86 | 17 | 29.3% |
January is heating season, and SearchLight calls the heating repair result seasonally expected. Heating repair campaigns, at $144, cost less per lead than general HVAC campaigns at $198, though AC repair and heating install campaigns cost more. The AC maintenance row covers only 17 accounts.
Summer data shows a similar branded and unbranded split. In SearchLight’s HVAC-only data for June 2026 (606 businesses), unbranded search cost $184.56 per lead and the median business paid $174, while branded search cost $36 and the blended average was $107. LocaliQ and SearchLight use different samples and methods, so treat each as its own benchmark.
Conversion rate and how many leads book
LocaliQ puts the median search ad conversion rate at 6.56% for air conditioning and 7.48% for heating, against 7.33% across home services. Conversion rate fell year over year in 10 of 16 home services subcategories, by 14.96% on average.
A conversion is not a booked job. SearchLight’s non-branded Google Ads leads (HVAC and plumbing) booked at 37.6% in January 2026, and its HVAC Local Services Ads leads at 44.0% in February 2026. In September 2026, SearchLight graded about 24,600 Local Services Ads conversions from 121 contractors and found 41% could not have booked at all. The most common reasons were calls that reached only an automated greeting or menu, and requests for a service the contractor does not offer.
How much HVAC contractors spend per month
No public source gives one typical HVAC budget, but SearchLight publishes spend for the contractors in its samples, all of whom pay for its attribution software. Spend is uneven: in SearchLight’s 2026 Local Services Ads sample, the top 100 contractors got 48% of all leads, so medians describe a typical business better than averages.
| Measure | Monthly spend | Sample and period |
|---|---|---|
| Average Google Ads spend per business | $18,230 | 816 HVAC, plumbing and electrical businesses, January 2026 |
| Average Google Ads spend per business | $15,110 | Same source, December 2025 |
| Median Local Services Ads spend per contractor | $4,766 | 948 contractors, September 2026 |
| Average Local Services Ads spend per contractor | $11,692 | 948 contractors, September 2026 |
| Median monthly Google Ads spend, all industries | $1,024.79 | Data from more than 7,000 AgencyAnalytics users, January 2025 |
Bigger Local Services Ads budgets paid more per lead in September 2026: contractors spending under $2,000 a month paid $42.73 per lead, and those spending over $50,000 paid $75.84. For small search budgets, Search Engine Journal’s Ask a PPC column suggests that businesses spending under $2,500 a month consider managing ads in house or with automation tools, because agency fees can take too large a share. To size a budget from your own ticket and close rate, use the Google Ads ROI calculator. Broader HVAC data is on our HVAC marketing statistics page.
When HVAC ad costs rise and fall
In SearchLight’s 2026 data, cost per lead moved less than budgets did. HVAC Google Ads daily budgets jumped about 35% from May to June 2026, yet unbranded search cost per lead held at about $185 in May and June and $177 in July through the 28th.
For Local Services Ads across all trades, cost per lead stayed steady through April 2026, then rose about $5 once summer began and stayed there. In a group of 837 contractors that ran the ads every month from June to September, cost per lead fell from $65.70 in August to $62.88 in September, the lowest of the four months, as spend fell 20% and leads fell 16.5%. For HVAC alone, SearchLight measured $51 per lead in February 2026, which it notes is heating season, and $60.66 per lead in September 2026.
How Google Ads management is priced
Management is billed on top of ad spend. The common models, per Search Engine Journal (April 2025) and AgencyAnalytics (July 2025):
- Percentage of ad spend. AgencyAnalytics calls 10% to 20% of spend the industry norm. Search Engine Journal puts it at 5% to 15% when paired with a flat base fee, and says the model has fallen out of favor because an agency that earns more when you spend more has less reason to spend your budget efficiently.
- Flat monthly fee. Search Engine Journal puts flat-rate management at $2,500 to $10,000 a month, rising with added work such as landing pages or conversion tracking setup.
- Hourly rate. Billed on time spent, though AgencyAnalytics notes most agencies prefer a retainer.
- Performance based. A charge per lead or conversion. Search Engine Journal warns that the agency often keeps ownership of the ad account under this model.
- Hybrid. A base fee combined with a percentage of spend or a performance bonus.
RYN Digital charges a flat $1,000 a month regardless of ad spend, month to month with 30 days notice, with no setup fee and no percentage of spend. We take one client per trade per metro. Details are on our pricing page, and you can request a free written audit of an existing account.
Sources
- LocaliQ, 2025 Search Ad Benchmarks for Home Services (updated July 15, 2026)
- SearchLight Digital, What Is a Good Cost Per Lead for Google Local Service Ads? (2026 Benchmarks)
- SearchLight Digital, What Is a Good Cost Per Lead for HVAC Google Ads? (2026 Benchmarks)
- The Data-Driven Trades (SearchLight), Unbranded Google Ads Analysis, January (February 11, 2026)
- The Data-Driven Trades (SearchLight), 3.68x ROAS on Unbranded HVAC Google Ads (July 29, 2026)
- The Data-Driven Trades (SearchLight), Google LSA Benchmarks: July 2026 and YTD Trends (August 6, 2026)
- The Data-Driven Trades (SearchLight), Google LSA Benchmarks: September 2026 (October 6, 2026)
- Search Engine Journal, Ask A PPC: How Much Should PPC Management Cost? (April 26, 2025)
- AgencyAnalytics, PPC Agency Pricing (July 17, 2025)
- Google, Local Services Ads overview