Eight documented HVAC results. None of them ours.
Third-party case studies and 2026 benchmarks behind every number we use. Attributed, linked, and read with the caveats attached.
Akarsh Digital publishes third-party evidence, not its own results, because it has none yet as of September 2026. The eight case studies below, from Ignite Digital, Alev Digital, Marketing 360, Tharros Media, Hatch and others, document the Local Services Ads, Meta, Google Ads, AI voice and speed-to-lead tactics our system runs. Every figure is attributed and linked.
Emergency calls up 203% year over year for a family-run Texas HVAC company
Hyper-local SEO, seasonal content, SMS review capture and tight alignment between Google Business Profile and Local Services Ads. Cost per lead fell 44%, install quote requests rose 155%, and 88 new Google reviews arrived via SMS automation.
Cost per lead in one Florida market from $2,519 in Google Ads spend
195 leads in market one. Two further markets ran $57.70 and $56.56 per lead. Top-of-page impression share 97% to 99%. The spread across three markets in one state is the lesson: your suburb sets the price, not the channel.
Cost per lead cut 65% after moving budget from Yelp and Yellow Pages to Google Ads
Same spend, nearly three times the leads, by moving from shared directory leads to keyword-targeted campaigns the contractor owned.
Facebook cost per conversion versus $45.56 across all channels for a local HVAC company
Six months, $1,190 spend, 65,153 people reached, 27.83% conversion rate, the highest of any channel they ran. The best creative was a two-second GIF used as a pattern interrupt.
Return on ad spend on install estimate value in a single month
$322,280 in estimate value from $14,476 in spend after the campaign was rebuilt from a loss. An earlier wave produced $65,000 in estimates from $3,900. Estimate value is not closed revenue; treat the multiple accordingly.
Return on lead value for a two-state mini-split HVAC company within 90 days
Before: $25,126 on Google Ads for 3 leads, $6,380 on Facebook for 17. After rebuild: $11,635 spend, 36 leads, $28,476 lead value, and April Facebook at $15.20 revenue per $1 spent.
Of bookable leads booked by AI at High Ground Service Pros
Abandoned call rate cut by about 80% after moving from voicemail to AI voice as first response. Roughly 75% of overall call volume handled by AI, with complex calls escalated to human CSRs. This is the capability our Tier 3 waits to prove on our own line before selling.
More likely to make contact when responding inside 5 minutes versus 30
Harvard Business Review research with InsideSales data. Hatch data adds that single-message follow-up runs around 8% response, while 5 to 7 touches over a few days can multiply engagement and appointments 3 to 4 times.
Source: Harvard Business Review (Oldroyd, March 2011), Hatch and GoHighLevel benchmark data compiled 2026
What are the 2026 HVAC marketing benchmarks?
| Benchmark | 2026 value | Why it matters to a shop owner |
|---|---|---|
| Local Services Ads cost per lead, HVAC | $51 to $63 national average | The cheapest exclusive lead in the trade when the badge and reviews are in order |
| Texas LSA cost per lead, June 2026 sample | $63.16 average, peaks near $125 | Summer pushes the auction. Answer speed protects the spend. |
| LSA book rate | 30% to 44% | Your answering process decides where in this range you land |
| LSA cost per booked job | $168 to $190 | The number a Tier 2 ceiling of $350 is built on |
| Angi cost per booked job | Approximately $542 | Shared with 3 to 8 contractors, closed at 8% to 15% |
| Google Search Ads, non-branded HVAC cost per lead | About $149, some markets $231 | Reserved for replacement and financing intent |
| Meta lead ads, HVAC | $20 to $60 per lead, 10% to 20% close | Cheap in, needs two-minute follow-up to convert |
| Referral close rate | 60% to 80% | Unbeatable per lead, unpredictable per month |
| Inbound calls missed, small trades businesses | 25% to 40% | The gap Tier 1 exists to close |
| AI receptionist adoption, trades small businesses | 18% to 22% | Most of your competitors still go to voicemail |
| Homeowners deferring essential home services | 34%; 50% skipped HVAC maintenance, summer 2026 | Every lead is harder to close, so losing one is costlier |
| Equipment price rise since mid-2025 | 15% to 30%; A2L systems 12% to 30% above R-410A | Financing and rebate offers matter more than they did |
| Organic click-through loss where AI Overviews appear | 58% to 61% | Why we manage the Business Profile and reviews rather than sell blog posts |
| Marketing spend, top-performing HVAC operators | 8% to 12% of revenue | Where our pricing is calibrated to sit |
Source: 2026 HVAC Contractor Market and Lead-Gen Agency Opportunity Briefing, third-party benchmark data, August 2026.
What does the response-time research actually say?
The most cited study is Harvard Business Review's 2011 audit of 2,241 US companies, which found that firms responding to a web lead within an hour were nearly seven times more likely to qualify it than firms that waited an hour longer, and that the average response time among responders was 42 hours. InsideSales data in the same body of research puts the odds of making contact at roughly 100 times higher inside five minutes than at 30 minutes. Hatch's 2026 data adds that one follow-up message converts around 8% of leads, while five to seven touches over a few days multiply engagement and appointments three to four times.
Source: Oldroyd, James. The Short Life of Online Sales Leads. Harvard Business Review, March 2011, with InsideSales.com response-time data. Source: Hatch speed-to-lead and multi-touch follow-up data, as compiled in the Akarsh Digital HVAC case study review, 2026.
Questions HVAC owners ask
Are these Akarsh Digital results?
No. Every case study on this page was produced by another agency or platform and is attributed to its source with a link. Akarsh Digital has no client results to publish as of September 2026. We publish these because they document the strategies our system is built on.
Why show other agencies' work?
Because the alternative is inventing testimonials, and we will not. Attributed third-party evidence plus your own audit data is more honest proof than borrowed logos.
How should I read the ROAS numbers?
Carefully. Several are calculated on estimate value or lead value, not closed revenue. A 22x return on quote value is not 22x cash. We flag that on each card.
When will you publish your own results?
When client #1 has run through a full guarantee cycle and agreed to share the numbers, anonymised unless they give permission. That replaces this page's disclaimer, not the sources.
Your own numbers beat anyone's case study.
The Response Gap Audit measures your response time, your call answer rate and your search presence, then puts a monthly figure on the gap. Free, 48 hours, no pitch inside it.