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How Much Do HVAC Leads Cost? About $15 to $150 Per Lead in 2026

By Sharrk Team · October 17, 2026

Most HVAC leads cost about $15 to $150 each in 2026, depending on the source: shared marketplace leads sit at the low end, Google Local Services Ads average around $42 to $51, and non-branded Google search ads run near $149 per lead. Sharrk makes every one of those leads worth more by replying in under 30 seconds and booking the job into ServiceTitan or your calendar before a competitor calls back.

The price you pay per lead is only half the math. The other half is how many of those leads turn into booked calls, and that depends heavily on how fast someone answers.

How much do HVAC leads cost by source?

Here are current published ranges, checked October 17, 2026. Where the company itself does not publish a price, the figure is a third-party estimate and is labelled that way.

A few notes on reading this table:

• Google Local Services Ads charge only for valid leads, such as answered calls, texts, messages and booking requests, and Google says prices vary by location, job type, lead type and bidding mode. Starting August 2026, Google began moving HVAC advertisers' Local Services Ads into Google Ads as Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals, so your settings may look different this year. Our Google Local Services Ads cost guide goes deeper on that channel.
• Angi and Thumbtack set prices inside the pro account rather than on a public rate card, so third-party ranges are the best guide. See how much Angi leads cost for the full breakdown.
• Google Ads cost per lead swings by service line. SearchLight Digital's January 2026 data (reported by Elevarus) put non-branded AC maintenance near $86 per lead, AC install near $157, AC repair near $231 and heating install near $354.

Why do HVAC repair and replacement leads cost so differently?

Because the jobs are worth very different amounts, and advertisers bid accordingly.

• Repair: Angi puts the average HVAC repair around $350, with most repairs between $100 and $3,000 and a service call alone running $100 to $250.
• Replacement or install: Angi puts the average HVAC replacement around $7,500, with a typical range of $5,000 to $12,500.

That gap is why a heating or AC install lead can cost several times more than a maintenance lead on Google Ads. It also means a replacement lead that goes unanswered is the most expensive one to lose. When you compare sources, compare cost per booked job and the job type mix, not just the sticker price per lead.

Example math (illustrative only): if a lead costs $50 and one in three books, each booked job costs $150 in lead spend. If faster replies help two in three book, that same $50 lead now costs $75 per booked job. Same ad spend, half the cost per job.

Do HVAC lead costs change with the season?

Yes. HVAC demand climbs in peak cooling and heating months, and more contractors compete for the same homeowners. ServiceMag notes that HVAC leads in high-demand summer markets tend to run at the higher end of Thumbtack's range. On pay-per-lead and pay-per-click channels, more bidders in peak weeks push prices up.

Practical ways to plan for it:

1. Set budgets by month, not by year. Raise spend before the first heat wave or cold snap, not after it.
2. Push maintenance offers in shoulder seasons. Maintenance leads tend to cost less and give you customers to call when their system fails later.
3. Staff the response, not just the ads. Peak season is when phones ring during jobs, after hours and on weekends. That is exactly when a fast reply wins the work. Our HVAC answering service guide covers how to cover those hours.

Why does reply speed matter so much for HVAC leads?

A homeowner with no heat or a dead AC wants help now, and the company that answers first has the best shot at the visit. Harvard Business Review's study of online sales leads put it plainly: most companies are not responding nearly fast enough.

For marketplace leads, speed matters even more. Angi, Thumbtack and Networx leads are often shared, so the same homeowner may hear from several contractors within minutes. You pay for the lead either way; speed decides whether you get the job.

A simple first reply works well. Example text (placeholders only):

Hi [Name], this is [Company]. Thanks for reaching out about your [AC/furnace]. Is this a repair or are you looking at a new system? I can get a tech out as soon as [day/time]. Want me to book that?

How does Sharrk make HVAC leads pay off?

Sharrk replies to every new lead in under 30 seconds by text, call or email, around the clock. Leads from Angi, Thumbtack, Networx, web forms, webhooks and API connections flow straight in, and Sharrk's AI agent answers questions, asks whether it is a repair or a replacement, and books the visit into ServiceTitan, Sharrk's calendar, Calendly or Cal.com. When a caller wants a person, Sharrk live-transfers them to your team. Calls are answered 24/7, so the 9 p.m. "my AC just quit" lead gets a real answer while it is still hot.

Leads that don't book right away go into a Strike, an automated follow-up sequence of texts, calls and emails. Older leads you already paid for can be woken up with a Hunt (with your customers' consent to be contacted). More on the HVAC setup is on the AI receptionist for HVAC page.

Mako builds it for you

Mako is the AI assistant inside Sharrk that builds all of this from plain English. Tell Mako something like, "When a Thumbtack or Angi lead comes in, text them right away, ask if it's a repair or an install, and book them into ServiceTitan," and Mako builds the agent and the follow-up Strike, then shows you an Apply card before anything changes. You stay in control, and you never have to wire up a workflow by hand.

What it costs

Sharrk Free is $0 with 2,500 one-time credits to build and test unlimited agents with Mako, no card needed. Sharrk Core is $99 a month (or $990 a year) with 47,500 credits a month, one phone number and every feature. There are no contracts and no setup fees, and the first payment has a 30-day money-back guarantee (minus what you've used). With the average HVAC replacement around $7,500 (per Angi), a single extra install is worth several times a full year of Core.

Start free or book a demo to see Sharrk answer an HVAC lead in real time.

Sources

• Webtonic, HVAC Google Ads Statistics: CPC, CPL & Conversion Benchmarks (2026) (checked October 17, 2026)
• Elevarus, HVAC Lead Generation: Cost Benchmarks and Platform Playbook (checked October 17, 2026)
• Networx Help Center, How much do leads cost? (checked October 17, 2026)
• Jobber, Angi vs. HomeAdvisor (checked October 17, 2026)
• ServiceMag, Thumbtack for Contractors Review 2026 (checked October 17, 2026)
• Yelp for Business, How much does an ad cost online for small businesses? (checked October 17, 2026)
• Google Local Services Help, How leads work (checked October 17, 2026)
• Google Ads Help, Local Services Ads transition to Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals (checked October 17, 2026)
• Angi, HVAC Repair Cost Price Guide (checked October 17, 2026)
• Angi, How Much Does HVAC Replacement Cost? (checked October 17, 2026)
• Harvard Business Review, The Short Life of Online Sales Leads (2011) (checked October 17, 2026)

Related on Sharrk: AI receptionist for HVAC · Speed to lead · Pricing

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