The Field Report — Weekly HVAC Research Digest

The Field Report.

One independent piece of HVAC market research, every Wednesday. One number to watch this week. One operator-side observation. One piece of new research. No marketing tips. No agency content. No filler.

Three things. Nothing else.

The Field Report follows the same structure every week. Skim time: under three minutes. Useful time: about ten.

Section 01

One number

A single metric we tracked this week with the context to read it.

Sample:
"Atlanta OTP map-pack winners average 87 reviews/quarter; ITP winners average 52. A 1.67× gap in identical CSAs."

Section 02

One observation

A pattern from the week's operator conversations. Names anonymized.

Sample:
"Two PE-backed shops asked the same question this week: 'why is our LSA cost-per-lead up 38%?' Same answer for both — and it's not the bid."

Section 03

One piece of research

A short read on new data, with the chart and the methodology link.

Sample:
"Maintenance plan conversion against website visit count, 42 operators. Inflection point sits at 1.8% — below that, plans don't sell."

Latest research.

MAY 4, 2026 · Pipeline Systems

HVAC Membership Pricing in 2026: What to Charge for Maintenance Agreements

HVAC maintenance agreements run $150 to $500 per year nationally, with most healthy operations pricing between $200 and $350. The agreement itself is rarely a profit center — the return shows up in the repair pipeline, replacement conversion, and customer retention from the maintenance customer base. Here is the tier structure that holds up, the modeled per-agreement margin math, and how to price the program for your market.

13 Read the article →