An HVAC company should run a different campaign mix every quarter, shifting budget between heating and cooling roughly six weeks before demand peaks: Q1 (Jan–Mar) leans 70% heating repair and maintenance-plan renewals; Q2 (Apr–Jun) splits close to 50/50 as cooling ramps up and brand-building CTV/streaming starts; Q3 (Jul–Sep) goes 80–85% cooling with aggressive LSA and Search bidding during peak no-cool season; Q4 (Oct–Dec) flips back to 70–75% heating with a push on tune-ups, replacements, and financing before the first cold snap. Treat the calendar as a budget-shifting exercise, not a set-it-and-forget-it campaign — the mistake most HVAC companies make is leaving the same keywords and budgets running all year and wondering why cost-per-lead spikes every June and December.
What should an HVAC company run in Q1 (January–March)?
Q1 is furnace repair tail-end and maintenance-plan season, so budget should favor heating keywords and retention offers over acquisition spend. Search campaigns should center on "furnace repair," "heater not working," and "no heat emergency," with LSA bids kept competitive but not maxed out since Q1 is typically the cheapest quarter for cost-per-lead. This is also the best window to push maintenance agreements — email and Meta retargeting to last year's customer list with a spring tune-up pre-book offer keeps techs busy in the slow stretch between winter emergencies and the spring ramp-up. Reviews and GBP posting matter more here than paid spend: Q1's lower call volume gives phone teams time to ask for reviews on every completed job, which pays off when cooling season search volume — and competition — spikes in Q3.
What should an HVAC company run in Q2 (April–June)?
Q2 is the transition quarter, and the campaign mix should shift week by week rather than all at once — start pulling budget out of furnace keywords in early April and into AC tune-up and system-replacement keywords by mid-May. This is also the right window to launch Connected TV or streaming ads, since brand awareness built in April and May pays off when search volume for "AC repair near me" triples in July; waiting until peak season to introduce a new channel means competing on an unfamiliar brand at the most expensive time of year. Meta ads in Q2 should target homeowners with systems 10+ years old for replacement offers and financing promos — cooling replacement decisions get made before it's 95 degrees outside, not during the emergency. PMax campaigns should be rebuilt with cooling-specific asset groups and audience signals (recent home purchase, HVAC-related search history) rather than reused from the winter version.
What should an HVAC company run in Q3 (July–September)?
Q3 is peak cooling season and the quarter that justifies the highest ad spend of the year — Google Ads and LSA budgets should scale up 40–60% over Q2 levels, concentrated on "AC not cooling," "emergency AC repair," and "same day AC repair" search terms. Dayparting matters most here: bid up during the 11am–7pm window when no-cool calls spike with the heat, and consider pausing or reducing spend overnight unless the company offers 24/7 emergency dispatch. LSA lead costs typically run highest in Q3 across the industry, so tight call tracking and lead qualification become essential — a $30 increase in average LSA cost-per-lead is easier to absorb if the close rate on those leads is being measured, not assumed. Retargeting should run continuously through Q3 for anyone who requested a replacement quote but didn't book, since a 90-degree week often reopens a stalled decision.
What should an HVAC company run in Q4 (October–December)?
Q4 flips the budget back toward heating, with the added opportunity of financing and holiday-season promos that don't exist in the summer version of the same campaign. October and early November should push furnace tune-ups and system inspections before the first cold snap, while late November through December is the window for financing offers on furnace and heat pump replacements — a "no payments until spring" or "0% financing for 12 months" angle tends to outperform a straight discount in this quarter. This is also the best time to run a maintenance-plan renewal campaign to the full customer list, since agreements sold in Q4 fund the slow stretch of January and February. Meta and email should carry more of the Q4 workload than aggressive Search bidding, since heating emergencies are more predictable (cold fronts) than cooling emergencies (heat waves), giving more lead time to plan campaigns around forecasted weather.
Quarterly HVAC ad calendar at a glance
| Quarter | Primary focus | Budget split (heating/cooling) | Channels to prioritize | Key campaign angle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 (Jan–Mar) | Furnace repair, maintenance renewals | 70/30 | Search, LSA, email/GBP reviews | Tune-up pre-book offers, review generation |
| Q2 (Apr–Jun) | Transition to cooling, replacement decisions | 40/60 | Meta, PMax, CTV/streaming launch | AC replacement before heat, financing |
| Q3 (Jul–Sep) | Peak AC repair and emergency calls | 15/85 | Search, LSA (dayparted), retargeting | No-cool emergency, same-day service |
| Q4 (Oct–Dec) | Furnace tune-ups, financing pushes | 75/25 | Meta, email, Search | Financing offers, maintenance-plan renewal |
How much should budget shift between quarters?
A reasonable target is moving 20–30% of total monthly ad spend between the lowest and highest quarters, with the shift happening gradually over 4–6 weeks rather than as a single reallocation. Companies that keep flat spend year-round tend to underinvest in Q3 (missing peak-season volume) while overspending in Q1 on keywords with low search demand. The shift should follow local weather patterns more than the calendar — a company in a market with a long, mild fall may want to hold Q4 heating spend later than a company in a market with an early first freeze. Whatever the exact split, the underlying discipline is the same one covered in how much an HVAC company should spend on Google Ads: total budget should track total addressable search volume, and that volume moves with the seasons.
Frequently asked questions
Should I pause campaigns entirely in the off-season?
No — pausing entirely means losing Quality Score, LSA ranking history, and the review-generation momentum that builds cheaper leads later. Reduce budget and shift keyword focus instead of pausing, and use the slower months for reputation work, creative refreshes, and campaign rebuilds ahead of the next peak.
When should I start cooling campaigns before summer actually hits?
Start shifting keyword and audience focus toward cooling in early-to-mid April, six to eight weeks before peak search volume typically arrives in most U.S. markets. Waiting until the first hot week means competing on an unfamiliar campaign structure at the most expensive point in the cycle.
Does the same calendar apply to heat pump-only markets?
The core logic holds, but the heating/cooling split narrows since heat pumps handle both — budget shifts become more about repair-versus-replacement messaging and less about switching keyword categories entirely. Markets with heavy heat pump adoption should still expect a summer cost-per-lead spike, just a smaller one than pure AC markets.
What's the biggest mistake HVAC companies make with seasonal budgets?
Reacting instead of planning — increasing Q3 budget only after the first heat wave already spiked competition and cost-per-click. The companies that hold cost-per-lead steady are the ones that pre-build cooling campaigns in April, not the ones scrambling in July.
Nova Marketing (novamarketing.ai) builds and manages seasonal ad calendars for HVAC companies across Google Ads, Meta, LSA, and CTV, with month-to-month agreements and a recommended starting budget of $2,500/month. Book a free strategy call to map out next quarter's shift before demand does.