Quick answer
Google Ads vs Facebook ads for HVAC comes down to intent versus demand creation. Google Search catches homeowners searching now, especially when a system breaks in a heatwave. Meta reaches homeowners in your suburbs who are thinking about ducted before they search. We run both: by default $2,500 a month on Meta and $1,500 on Google, flipped in Sydney's December to February peak, with the same qualifier and 60-second reply behind each.
Ask ten agencies about Google Ads vs Facebook ads for HVAC and most will pick one. For a ducted installer, both camps are half right, and the answer we settled on is to run both.
The two platforms do different jobs. Google Search answers a question someone has already asked. Meta puts an idea in front of someone who has not asked yet. A ducted buyer can arrive either way: thinking about replacing a tired system for months, or searching the afternoon their old one dies in a 40 degree week. This post matches each platform to each kind of buyer, shows how we split the budget by season, and explains what sits behind both channels so the enquiries turn into booked quotes.
A disclosure before we start: Scale Theory has no clients yet, so there are no results in this post. The numbers are our published planning assumptions, labelled as such.
What is the difference between Google Ads and Facebook ads for HVAC?
Google Search ads show to people typing a need into Google, such as "ducted air conditioning Penrith", so they capture demand that already exists. Facebook and Instagram ads (Meta) show to people in chosen suburbs while they scroll, so they create demand before anyone searches. For a ducted installer you need both, because buyers arrive both ways.
Intent is the word that matters. Intent means how ready someone is to act at the moment they see your ad. A search for "ducted air conditioning not cooling" has very high intent. A homeowner scrolling Instagram on a warm Sunday has low intent, but they may own a four-bedroom house with a 15-year-old ducted system that is about to become a problem.
Two other differences follow from that:
- How you pay. Google Search mostly charges per click. Google's own definition: cost-per-click bidding "means that you pay for each click on your ads" (Google Ads Help). On Meta, we set campaigns to optimise for leads. On both, we judge the result on what happens after the enquiry: the cost per booked quote.
- Who else is there. On Google, the homeowner sees several installers on one page and often calls two or three. On Meta, your ad is the only aircon business in that moment of their feed.
When is Google Ads the right choice for an aircon business?
Google Search is the right choice when the homeowner is already looking: a ducted system that will not start in a heatwave, an old unit that is finally being replaced, a "ducted air conditioning price" search. Intent is high, and speed of reply decides who gets the work. In Sydney's December to February peak, this is where most of the buyers are.
It is also useful for brand searches. If homeowners have heard of you from a neighbour, a van on the street or a Meta ad, some of them will type your name into Google. A small brand campaign makes sure they find you and not a competitor bidding on your name.
Google Search ads sit alongside your Google Business Profile (GBP), the free listing that shows your business on Google Maps and in local results. We manage the profile as part of the offer and send automated review requests after each install, because a searcher comparing three installers looks at the reviews before they ring.
The weaknesses are worth being straight about:
- Shared intent. Someone searching "aircon installer near me" is looking at a page of options. They will often ring two or three. You are in a race, and the first to answer usually wins.
- Price pressure on installs. A homeowner searching "ducted air conditioning price" is already comparing. You arrive at the same time as everyone else, so the conversation turns to price quickly.
- Auction costs in peak weeks. When a heatwave hits, every installer turns their budget up at once. Click costs move with competition, and we have not pulled Australian HVAC keyword costs for this post, so we will not quote a figure.
- Small jobs. Broad terms pull in single-room split and cheap repair searches. We keep keywords on ducted, replacement and whole-home systems and add the small-job terms as negatives.
When are Facebook ads the right choice for HVAC?
Facebook and Instagram ads are the right choice for considered installs: ducted, multi-head and whole-home replacements, where the homeowner takes weeks to decide. Meta reaches them in your suburbs before they search, lets you lead with a real offer, and hands you an exclusive enquiry you can qualify before anyone drives out.
A ducted buyer is spending $10,500 to $16,500 (our Sydney planning range for a 3 to 4 bedroom install). Outside a breakdown, they are not in a hurry. They are thinking about zoning, brands, whether the roof space will take ducting and whether they can get it done before summer. That thinking time is when Meta works best, because the ad can start a conversation before the homeowner has three names on a list.
The trade-off is that Meta enquiries start colder than search. Someone who tapped an ad on their phone at 9 pm is not ringing you. That is why the ad is never the whole system, on either channel. The detail on forms and pages is in Meta instant forms vs landing pages.
Google Ads vs Facebook ads for HVAC: how do they compare?
Google Search wins on intent and speed, especially when systems break in peak summer. Meta wins on exclusivity, reach before the search, and room to sell a ducted offer. Neither is free of trade-offs: Google puts you in a price race, Meta needs a qualifier and fast follow-up to turn colder enquiries into booked quotes.
This table is our judgment of how each platform behaves for a residential ducted installer, not measured data.
| Factor | Google Search ads | Meta ads (Facebook and Instagram) |
|---|---|---|
| What it captures | Demand that already exists | Demand before the search starts |
| Best job types | Ducted breakdowns and urgent replacements, "ducted price" searches, brand | Ducted, multi-head, whole-home replacements, zoning upgrades |
| Homeowner's mindset | Needs someone now, comparing options on one page | Thinking about it, not yet collecting quotes |
| Exclusivity in practice | Low: they often ring two or three installers | High: your ad, your page, your enquiry |
| Room to sell an offer | Limited: short text ads | Wide: images of your crew and installs, video, a real offer |
| Targeting | Keywords and locations | Suburbs, radius and audiences, not keywords |
| Main risk | Price race and peak-week click costs | Colder enquiries that need qualifying and a fast reply |
| Our default share of $4,000 | $1,500 ($2,500 December to February) | $2,500 ($1,500 December to February) |
Notice the last row. Neither channel is the add-on. Each one carries the budget in the months its buyers are most active.
What about Google Local Services Ads in Australia?
Google Local Services Ads are pay-per-lead listings with a Google Verified badge that appear at the top of search results. HVAC is one of the categories where they run. But Google's help centre does not list an Australian version, so Australian aircon installers cannot use them at the moment.
We checked Google's Local Services help page in September 2026. The countries listed were Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Google describes the product as one where you "only pay when a customer gets in touch from your ad", which is why US installers like it.
A guide recommending Local Services Ads to an Australian HVAC business was almost certainly written for the US. We do not offer them. Our Google work is Search ads and your Google Business Profile.
How should an HVAC business combine Google and Facebook ads?
Use each platform for the buyer it is good at, and weight the money by season. Meta creates demand from homeowners thinking about ducted. Google Search catches people searching now. Send both into the same qualifier and CRM, reply to both inside 60 seconds, and compare them on cost per booked quote, not cost per click.
The two help each other:
- Meta creates the name. A homeowner sees your crew photos and ducted offer three times over a month.
- Google catches the follow-through. When they are ready, or when the old system dies, some search your business name or "ducted air conditioning [suburb]". Your search ads and Google Business Profile make sure you are there.
- The CRM joins them up. Every enquiry gets a source tag, the same qualifier and the same fast reply, so you can see which channel booked which quote.
How does the budget split between Meta and Google?
Ad spend is paid by you directly to Meta and Google, with a minimum of $4,000 a month combined. By default we put $2,500 on Meta and $1,500 on Google Search. In Sydney's December to February peak we flip it, $2,500 on Google and $1,500 on Meta, because people search when systems break.
| Period (Sydney) | Meta | Google Search | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| March to November (default) | $2,500 | $1,500 | Most ducted buyers are still thinking, so Meta leads |
| December to February (peak) | $1,500 | $2,500 | Breakdowns and urgent replacements are searched |
| Winter and shoulder months | Meta-heavy, Off-Peak Fill module | Brand and replacement terms | Heating, service and pre-summer install slots |
Multi-area and commercial campaigns start at $6,000 or more of ad spend, and we quote those on the audit call. Month by month detail is in our Sydney HVAC marketing calendar.
What sits behind both channels?
The channel is only the front door. Behind both sits the same system: a suburb landing page, a six-question qualifier (property type, current system, install or repair, urgency, budget, ownership), the CRM, an SMS and call inside 60 seconds, SMS follow-up on days 1, 3 and 7, and a Friday report. A single-room split enquiry never routes to Priority in the qualifier, whichever channel it came from.
How do you decide where the first dollar goes?
Work backwards from what a booked quote is worth to you. A booked quote is a qualified homeowner booked in for an in-home quote, in your diary, with a time. The most you can afford to pay for one is its expected gross profit, and for a ducted quote that is about $800 to $1,800 on our planning numbers.
Worked example: what a booked quote costs across both channels (planning assumptions, not results)
Ad spend: $2,500 Meta + $1,500 Google = $4,000 a month
Blended cost per enquiry across Meta and Google: assumed $100 to $130
$4,000 / about $115 = about 35 enquiries
35 x 60% pass the qualifier = about 21 qualified
21 x 60% book = about 12 to 13 booked quotes
Ad cost per booked quote: $4,000 / about 12.5 = about $320
All-in with our $3,000 fee: $7,000 / about 12.5 = about $550 per booked quote
$550 against a ducted quote worth $800 to $1,800: pays back with room to spare
$550 against a single-room split quote worth $200 to $550: does not pay, which is why we never advertise splits
At a 30% close rate: 12.5 x 30% = about 3 to 4 won jobs a month
We plan on a blended cost per enquiry, not a separate figure for each channel, because we have no client data to split it honestly. What we do know is the shape: Google enquiries tend to be warmer and dearer, Meta enquiries colder and cheaper. The qualifier and the 60-second reply are what make the blended number work.
Once there is data, judge each channel the same way: its spend divided by the booked quotes it produced, against the value of the jobs it booked. The Friday report shows this by source.
On your numbers, about two ducted jobs a month covers everything you'd spend with us, fee and ads: $7,000 divided by about $3,500 gross profit per ducted job. Anything past that is yours. That is a planning assumption, not a guarantee.
Why does Scale Theory run both Meta and Google?
We run both because ducted buyers arrive both ways. Meta creates demand from homeowners who are thinking about ducted before they search. Google Search catches people searching now, especially breakdowns in a heatwave. Running one without the other means missing either the planners or the urgent buyers.
The reasons, in order:
- Job fit. We work with installers where ducted is at least 40% of the work. Their buyers plan for months, until the old system fails, and then they search that afternoon. One channel for each moment.
- Exclusivity. An enquiry from our landing page goes to one installer. We take one HVAC client per service line per area, so it is not shared with a competitor on the same page.
- The offer carries. A NSW Energy Savings Scheme discount, a free in-home heat-load assessment or a dated install-by promise needs space to explain. A Meta ad and a landing page have that space, and the Google ad sends searchers to the same page. We cover how ducted buyers decide in marketing ducted air conditioning.
- One system behind both. The qualifier, the 60-second reply, the day 1, 3 and 7 follow-up and the Friday report are the same whichever channel the enquiry came from. That is where most of the result is won or lost.
What we do not include is SEO. It may come later as a separate add-on, but our offer covers paid Meta and Google Search, your Google Business Profile and the system behind them. Our ranking of HVAC lead sources puts every channel in context.
What does this look like for a Sydney installer?
In Sydney, Meta suits the hot, ducted-heavy west and north-west, where big houses and long summers make ducted quotes common. Google Search earns its place everywhere, and carries most of the budget from December to February. Run both by region from your depot, keeping Google keywords on ducted, replacement and brand terms.
Our page on HVAC marketing in Sydney shows how the regions differ and which territories are still open. If you want to see how the search side is built, start with Google Ads for HVAC. The Meta side, from the ad to the booked site visit, is on Facebook ads for HVAC.
Sources
Sam
Sam runs every audit and buys every ad. Before going HVAC-only, he ran Scale Theory as a performance marketing agency: SEO, Meta and Google ads, CRM automation.
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