Why Most HVAC Maintenance Plans Aren't Profitable
Struggling to make your maintenance agreements profitable?
Most HVAC contractors are losing money on every service visit without realizing it. I'll show you exactly where your pricing is bleeding profit and how to fix it.
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Maintenance and repair services captured 46% of total HVAC industry revenue in 2025, with the U.S. market reaching $28.2 billion and projected to grow to $38.8 billion by 2030, according to Mordor Intelligence.
ServiceTitan's latest data shows commercial businesses now derive 63% of total revenue from service agreements.
Yet here's what industry leaders won't tell you in their marketing materials: HVAC maintenance plans by themselves remain a break-even proposition at best.
That gap between opportunity and reality comes down to one thing: structure.
Every contractor I've coached has made the same mistake at some point.
They price their maintenance agreements based on competitors' rates rather than the work's actual value.
They treat these plans as a necessary evil rather than what they should be: the most profitable, predictable revenue stream in the business.
When done right, maintenance agreements keep your technicians busy year-round and turn one-time customers into repeat buyers. They create a steady cash flow that helps you grow rather than struggle.
But "done right" is where most contractors fall short.
Here's what's actually costing you money and exactly how to fix it.
Stop Chasing Leads. Start Mining Your Customer Base.
Before we dive into the specifics, let’s talk about where your maintenance customers should actually come from.
Here is a simple fact: SimplicityDX 2024 data show that customer acquisition costs have increased by 60% over the past five years.
As a trades business coach for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical business owners, I saw this play out with a contractor outside of Boston who was spending heavily on Google ads and not seeing the return on investment he had hoped for.
We then audited his customer list and identified more than 800 past service calls that had not converted to maintenance agreements.
Within three months of a simple outreach campaign, direct mail, email, and follow-up phone calls, he was able to sign up over a hundred new maintenance customers at a fraction of the acquisition cost.
So why do most HVAC contractors still spend their slow months pumping money into Google Ads instead of calling the past customers sitting in their database who aren’t on a maintenance plan?
The customers were already there.
They already knew his company, trusted his technicians, and had a working relationship. He just wasn’t asking them to join a maintenance plan.
Your past customers are your warmest leads.
Before you spend another dollar on advertising, pull a list of every customer you’ve served in the last three years who isn’t currently on a maintenance agreement.
That’s your goldmine.
Table of Content
The 5 Mistakes Killing Your HVAC Maintenance Revenue
Mistake #1: Pricing Based on Competition Instead of Costs
This is where most contractors go wrong. They look at what the guy down the street charges, say, $199, knock off $20 to be competitive, and call it a day.
The problem? They’ve never calculated the actual cost of delivering that maintenance visit.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median hourly wage for HVAC technicians was about $28.75 in 2024.
But that’s just the base wage.
Once you add payroll taxes, workers’ comp, health insurance, PTO, and training, your true loaded labor rate is somewhere between $40 and $50 per hour, sometimes higher depending on your market.
Now let’s factor in drive time.
Thirty minutes each way isn’t unusual in suburban or rural areas.
Add a 45-minute to 1-hour service visit, fuel costs, truck wear and tear, consumables such as filters and refrigerant top-offs, and your share of office overhead.
That two-visit maintenance plan you’re selling for $179? It might actually cost you $200 or more to deliver.
Bottom line, you’re losing money on every single customer, and you don’t even know it.
Mistake #2: Ignoring the Psychology of Three-Tier Pricing
Stop offering your clients a one-priced maintenance plan!
You are leaving significant money on the table and not realizing that people prefer choice when they buy.
Behavioral economists call it the “compromise effect”, and decades of research confirm it works across all industries.
Why the Brain Chooses “the Middle” is explained below:
Avoiding extremes. We fear overpaying or looking “cheap.”
Rationalization. The middle choice is easy to justify: “not too cheap, not too luxurious.”
Regret minimization. Choosing the compromise feels like a safer bet.
The highest tier serves as an anchor, making the middle tier appear reasonable.
The lowest tier provides an entry point for price-sensitive customers. But the magic happens in the middle.
I’ve seen contractors double their average revenue per maintenance customer simply by restructuring from a single plan to three tiers.
The total number of customers didn’t change dramatically, but the revenue per customer did.
Remember, the magic happens in the middle-tier management plan offer.
Mistake #3: Giving Away Uncapped Discounts
I’ve seen contractors offer “15% off all repairs” to maintenance customers without thinking through the math.
Then a heat pump replacement costs $8,000, and suddenly you’re handing over $1,200 in discounts to a customer who pays you $199 a year.
You just gave away six years of membership revenue in a single transaction.
Now, let’s say that the customer needs another major repair next year? You’re digging an even deeper hole.
Uncapped percentage discounts can devastate your margins on exactly the jobs where you need margin the most: big-ticket replacements and major repairs.
Mistake #4: Signing Long-Term Maintenance Plans With No Price Increases
I recently spoke with a commercial HVAC business owner who said he signs three-year maintenance contracts with no escalation clause.
By the third year, due to rising labor costs, refrigerant price spikes, and fuel inflation, he was losing money on every visit.
He was legally obligated to honor those contracts for another full year. Every maintenance visit cost him out-of-pocket, and there was nothing he could do about it.
This happens more than you’d think.
Contractors get eager and hungry.
They view the situation as follows: “Well, I am getting $190 upfront, and that is helping my cash flow.”
They are excited about locking in a long-term commitment and having the money now.
But this ill-advised move left them financially exposed and incurring losses on all agreements.
They forget to protect themselves from rising costs, and you can not do that in this economy.
Mistake #5: Offering Unlimited Service That Competes With Profitable Work
If you offer “unlimited service calls”, it will cannibalize your profitable work.
I see contractors add this to a maintenance plan because it sounds like an easy way to lure in the client.
But beware. Unlimited isn’t a benefit; it’s a blank check.
These are some of the ways it will affect you and your team:
These clients will call you for every minor issue.
It will clog your schedule with low-value visits.
It can place your technicians in a home where the job is unprofitable rather than on other service jobs where they are really needed.
A maintenance plan should create predictable, planned work. Not on-demand, all-you-can-eat dispatching.
Use clear boundaries: define what’s included, cap included visits, and charge appropriately for after-hours, same-day, or non-maintenance repairs.
The Profitable 3-Tier HVAC Maintenance Plan Framework
Now that you know what’s killing your margins, let’s talk about what actually belongs in a maintenance agreement that makes your HVAC company money.
As discussed, your maintenance program must have three clear membership tiers, each designed for a specific customer type, service level, and gross margin target.
Use simple tier names customers already understand, and build the benefits around convenience and priority service, not discounts.
Let’s look at each more closely.
Bronze Maintenance Plan
Bronze is your entry-level HVAC maintenance plan for price-sensitive homeowners who still want priority over non-members.
Include scheduled preventive maintenance visits, priority scheduling during normal business hours, proactive tune-up reminders, and the ability to transfer the plan to a new homeowner.
Offer after-hours access, but make it clear that standard overtime rates apply. Target a 25–35% gross margin on this tier.
Bronze is not designed to be your biggest profit driver. Its job is to bring new customers into your service area, reduce churn, and create a clear path to move them into higher-value membership levels over time.
Silver Maintenance Plan
Silver is your core tier and the one most customers should choose. Include everything in Bronze, plus stronger convenience benefits such as reserved peak-season scheduling and reduced diagnostic fee for members.
Target a 35–45% gross margin, and position Silver as the “Most Popular” option on your website and service agreement marketing materials.
Gold Maintenance Plan
Gold is your premium HVAC membership tier for homeowners who want the fastest response and the most coverage.
Include everything in Silver, plus an extra preventive maintenance visit and an extended workmanship warranty while the membership stays active.
Target a 40–50% gross margin, and use Gold to anchor your pricing so Silver feels like the smart middle choice.
Pricing note for your website and SEO pages
I’m intentionally not listing exact prices because HVAC membership pricing varies widely by geography, labor rates, overhead, and the benefits included, so the right price must be built from your local market and real costs.
Putting It All Together
The HVAC industry typically runs on tight margins.
Average net profit hovers around 5-10%, though well-managed companies regularly hit 15% or higher. The difference often comes down to how they structure recurring revenue.
HVAC Maintenance plans, done right, should be among your most profitable revenue streams.
They provide predictable cash flow during slow seasons, keep your technicians productive year-round, and create the customer relationships that drive referrals and replacement sales.
Done wrong, it’s a money pit that keeps you busy while you slowly go broke.
Key Takeaways
Your existing customer database is your most profitable source for maintenance plan growth. Past customers cost 60% less to convert than new leads acquired through paid advertising.
Most HVAC maintenance plans lose money because contractors price based on competition rather than calculating true loaded costs, which include labor, drive time, overhead, and consumables.
Three-tier pricing structures leverage behavioral psychology to increase average revenue per customer. The middle tier becomes your profit driver when properly anchored by premium and basic options.
Uncapped percentage discounts on repairs can wipe out years of membership revenue in a single transaction, especially on high-ticket replacements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I offer unlimited service calls in my maintenance plan?
No.
Unlimited service calls train customers to call for minor issues, clogging your schedule with unprofitable work. Include two or three preventive visits plus one covered service calls for actual system malfunctions. Additional calls get billed at member rates.
How do I raise prices on existing maintenance customers?
Include escalation language in all agreements from the start.
For existing customers without escalation clauses, send a professional letter sixty days before renewal explaining cost increases and announcing the new pricing. Most customers will renew. Those who don’t were probably price-shopping anyway.
Are HVAC maintenance contracts actually profitable?
Yes, when structured correctly.
Well-managed programs achieve strong margins by pricing on full loaded costs, capping discounts, defining clear service boundaries, and using maintenance visits to drive additional revenue through professional recommendations and easy upgrade paths.
Stop Losing Money on Maintenance Plans & Let's Fix Your Pricing Today
If your maintenance agreements aren't generating at least 35% margins, you're leaving serious money on the table.
I work with HVAC contractors across the US to help them restructure their pricing, eliminate the profit killers, and turn your maintenance plans into your most predictable revenue stream.
Schedule Your Complimentary 20-Minute Session Today
Coach Ellie is an award-winning certified business and executive coach helping HVAC, Plumbing, and Electric business owners across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and nationwide scale profits, strengthen leadership, and streamline operations through no-fluff strategies that actually work.