Pricing and money · HVAC
How to price HVAC jobs: your hourly rate, parts markup and a flat-rate price book
Three numbers you work out once: what a tech's hour costs you, what you add to parts, and the profit you want. Then how to turn them into time-and-materials bills or a flat-rate price book, and how to bid a replacement.
On this page
- The short version
- 1. Start with your hourly rate
- 2. Mark up parts for the margin you need
- 3. Flat rate or time and materials
- One job, priced two ways
- 4. Build a price book
- 5. Bid a replacement from the house, not the box
- 6. Price nights and weekends once
- 7. What to say when a caller asks for a price
- Questions
- Sources
The short version
- Work out your hourly rate from your own costs: a tech's pay, taxes and benefits, the hours nobody pays for, your overhead, then the profit you want.
- Mark parts up for the margin you need: a 50% markup keeps a third of the price, not half.
- Use flat rates for the repairs you do every week, and time and materials where you can't see the size of the job until you're there.
- Build each flat rate from your own average time, rate and markup, and review the book whenever wages or supplier prices move.
- Bid a replacement from a load calculation, every line item and two or three options, not from the price of the equipment.
Pricing an HVAC job comes down to three numbers you work out once: what an hour of a tech's time has to bring in, what you add to the parts, and the profit you want on top. Then you decide how the customer sees them: as time and materials, or as one flat price from a price book. Here is each step, with a worked example you can redo with your own numbers.
1. Start with your hourly rate
Your rate isn't what the shop down the road charges. It's what a billed hour has to bring in to pay the tech, cover the hours nobody pays for, run the van, the office and the insurance, and leave the profit you want. Pricing from the tech's wage comes up short, because a tech paid for 40 hours rarely bills 40.
- $39.00 an hour: A tech's hour on the clock: $30.00 of pay plus 30% for taxes and benefits
- $60.00: Spread over the 26 of 40 hours they bill
- $113.25: Plus $53.25 of overhead for each billed hour: the break-even rate
- $141.56 an hour: With 20% of the price kept as profit
The example's $30 an hour of pay is close to the median the Bureau of Labor Statistics found for HVAC mechanics and installers in May 2025. Housecall Pro's 2026 pricing guide puts what HVAC contractors charge at $75 to $150 an hour, and $140 to $250 for emergencies and after hours, from consumer cost guides. If your rate comes out well above that, look at the billed hours and the overhead before you cut the price: that's where the money goes.
- $29.33 an hour, the median pay for HVAC mechanics and installers in May 2025. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
- $75–$150 an hour, what HVAC contractors typically charge for labor in 2026. Source: Housecall Pro, from consumer cost guides
2. Mark up parts for the margin you need
Markup is what you add to the cost. Margin is the share of the price you keep. They're different numbers for the same price, and mixing them up is how parts get underpriced: a part that costs you $100 and sells for $150 has a 50% markup, but only a 33.3% margin.
| Markup on the cost | Margin you keep |
|---|---|
| 25% | 20% |
| 50% | 33.3% |
| 75% | 42.9% |
| 100% | 50% |
| 200% | 66.7% |
Decide the margin you need first, then find the markup that gets you there. The free markup and margin calculator works both ways. Equipment needs more on it than the price of the unit: Housecall Pro's guide lists supplier price changes, warranty handling, pickup and delivery time, financing costs and the risk of a callback.
3. Flat rate or time and materials
There are two ways to show the customer those numbers, and many shops use both, as Housecall Pro's guide notes: flat rates for the predictable work, time and materials for the rest.
One job, priced two ways
Here is one repair both ways: an air conditioner that isn't cooling, and a run capacitor that has failed.
Time and materials
The time on the clock, plus the part.
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Diagnostic fee | $95.00 |
| Labor: 30 minutes at $142 an hour | $71.00 |
| Dual run capacitor | $48.00 |
| Total | $214.00 |
The customer learns the price when the work is done. On a slow day, when the same repair takes 90 minutes, it comes to $356.00.
Flat rate
One price for the repair, from the price book, agreed before the work starts.
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Diagnostic fee | $95.00 |
| Replace dual run capacitor | $155.00 |
| Total | $250.00 |
Built from the 45 minutes this repair takes on average, at $142 an hour, plus the part at $48, rounded up to the next $5. A slow day costs the customer the same.
On a quick day, the flat rate brings in $36 more. When the unit fights back and the repair takes an hour and a half, the flat rate is still $250.00, $106 less than time and materials: the shop carries the extra hour, not the customer. If 45 minutes really is the average across your techs, it evens out over a month of capacitors, and the techs who beat the average make the shop more an hour.
4. Build a price book
A price book is your flat rates written down: each common job, its price, and what's in it. It's what lets two techs, or whoever answers the phone, give the same price for the same job.
- List the 20 or 30 jobs you do most. Last year's invoices will tell you: capacitors, contactors, tune-ups, drain lines, igniters, thermostats.
- Time each one honestly. The average across your techs, from arriving to leaving, including the walk to the van for the part. Not your best day.
- Price it: the average time at your hourly rate, plus the parts at your markup, rounded up.
- Add what changes the price: an attic or a roof, a second visit, after hours.
- Review it whenever wages or supplier prices move, and at least once a year. Housecall Pro's guide says to update refrigerant, compressor and equipment costs when supplier prices change, not only at the yearly review.
Then check it against the market. These are the national ranges in Housecall Pro's 2026 guide, which come from consumer cost guides, so read them as what's common, not as what's right for your costs:
| Job | Typical price, labor and parts |
|---|---|
| Tune-up | $70–$150 |
| Capacitor replacement | $100–$250 |
| Drain line cleaning | $75–$250 |
| Blower motor replacement | $300–$900 |
| Refrigerant leak repair | $200–$1,500 |
| Furnace, installed | $2,800–$7,500 |
| Central air conditioning, installed | $5,000–$12,000 |
| Heat pump, installed | $4,000–$11,000 |
| Maintenance plan | $150–$300 a year |
The example's $155 capacitor repair sits inside its range. For the maintenance plan, the free HVAC maintenance agreement template sets out the price and what each visit includes.
5. Bid a replacement from the house, not the box
A replacement is too big to price from a book. Start with the house: where your area has adopted the International Residential Code, section M1401.3 calls for sizing heating and cooling equipment with ACCA Manual S, from loads worked out with ACCA Manual J. The load calculation also shows the customer why the unit you're quoting is the right size.
On every replacement bid
- The load calculation (Manual J), and the equipment it points to (Manual S).
- Equipment and materials: the units, line set, pad, disconnect, thermostat and any duct changes.
- Labor: the crew's hours at your rate, including taking the old system out.
- Refrigerant recovery by an EPA Section 608 certified tech, and disposal of the old equipment.
- The permit and inspection your area requires.
- Warranty: what the manufacturer covers, and what labor you cover yourself.
Then offer two or three options, such as two efficiency levels or two warranty lengths, each with one price; Housecall Pro's guide suggests tiers by efficiency, brand, system type and warranty. Its heat pump example shows why the box alone misleads: $6,700 of equipment and materials became a $10,000 price once 20 hours of labor, $500 of overhead and a 10% margin were in.
6. Price nights and weekends once
Decide the after-hours price before the first cold night, not on the phone at 11pm. Housecall Pro's guide gives the example of a $100-an-hour weekday rate becoming $150 to $200 an hour on a Sunday evening.
7. What to say when a caller asks for a price
“How much?” often comes before anything else. Give the price of the visit, not a guess at the repair: your service call fee, what it covers, and that the technician prices the repair before starting. For a tune-up or a maintenance plan, give the flat price straight from the book.
Our diagnostic is [your fee]. That covers the trip and finding what's wrong. The technician gives you the price of the repair before doing anything, and nothing's done until you say yes.
Common questions
How do you price an HVAC job?
From your own costs. Work out an hourly rate that covers a tech's pay, taxes and benefits, the hours nobody pays for, your overhead and your profit, then add parts at a markup that keeps the margin you need. Use time and materials where you can't see the size of the job, and a flat rate from your price book where you can.
How much should an HVAC company charge per hour?
Whatever covers your costs and your profit; the free labor rate calculator works it out from your own numbers. As a check, Housecall Pro's 2026 guide puts typical HVAC labor at $75 to $150 an hour, and $140 to $250 for emergencies and after hours, from consumer cost guides.
What markup should HVAC companies put on parts?
There's no one right number. Start from the margin you need and work back: a 50% markup keeps 33.3% of the price, and a 100% markup keeps 50%. Equipment needs to cover more than the unit: supplier price changes, warranty handling, delivery time and callbacks.
Is flat rate better than time and materials for HVAC?
For repairs, tune-ups and standard replacements, a flat rate is easier for the customer to say yes to, since they know the price first, and it pays the shop for a quick tech. For a diagnosis or a job whose size you can't see, time and materials is fairer. Many shops use both.
How do you bid an HVAC replacement?
Start with a load calculation (ACCA Manual J) and equipment sized to it (Manual S), which the International Residential Code calls for where it has been adopted. Then price every line: equipment, materials, labor, refrigerant recovery, disposal, the permit and the warranty, and offer two or three options.
What is an HVAC price book?
Your flat rates, written down: each common job with its price, built from the average time it takes, your hourly rate and your parts markup. It lets every tech, and whoever answers the phone, give the same price for the same job.
Sources
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers (median pay of $29.33 an hour in May 2025). Checked .
- Housecall Pro, HVAC pricing guide 2026, updated October 2026 (labor and after-hours rates, typical prices for common jobs and installs, from consumer cost guides; using both pricing methods; equipment markup; tiers; the heat pump example; reviewing prices). Checked .
- International Code Council, Residential HVAC Design Process (ACCA Manual J and Manual S are required by IRC section M1401.3). Checked .
- Pima County, Arizona, HVAC Sizing Requirements (IRC M1401.3: equipment sized to Manual S, from Manual J loads). Checked .
- US EPA, Section 608 Technician Certification (who must be certified to work with refrigerant). Checked .
Prices and policies change; the links are the authority, not this page. Spot something out of date? Tell us.
