Every fall, HVAC owners ask me if Facebook ads still make sense once AC season is over. In a cold-climate city like Edmonton, winter is when your best jobs are out there. You just have to run the ads differently.
The short answer: Yes, Edmonton HVAC companies should run Facebook ads through the winter. Lead volume slows in the shoulder season, but furnace and heat pump jobs are high-ticket, so a well-qualified lead is still worth paying for. Lead with an estimate, not a discount, qualify people inside a Meta Instant Form, and have someone ready to answer the phone fast.
I run Adovate out of Winnipeg, managing Meta ads for service businesses across Canada and the US. To be upfront: we don't have an HVAC client in Edmonton or Calgary. We do have a Winnipeg HVAC account we've run since spring 2026, in a city with an even harsher winter. The numbers below come from that account, plus what's different about Edmonton.
Yes. The only HVAC companies that should go dark in winter are the ones that can't take on more work.
Lead flow does slow at certain points in the year. But a furnace replacement, a heat pump or a full system install is a big ticket, so even a month with fewer leads can pay for itself many times over. If your form is structured the right way, the leads you do get are still good leads. Your job is to make the most of every one of them.
We made the full case, with data from other industries, in should you pause Facebook ads in winter.
On our Winnipeg HVAC account, cost per lead ran about $20 to $23 through the spring and summer, then climbed to $90 in October before the cold arrived.
Here's the primary services campaign, month by month, straight from the ad account (CAD):
That's roughly $10,300 in spend for 350 leads from April to October, an average of about $29.52 per lead, on a budget of around $1,500 a month.
The October number looks scary until you understand why it happened. July is the middle of AC season: if someone's air conditioner dies, they need help today. October in Winnipeg this year was unusually warm. There was no snow on the ground and furnaces weren't being pushed yet, so people simply weren't noticing problems. As soon as the snow hits and it actually gets cold, people come.
And CPL is only half the story. By late May, the ad leads had already turned into 11 booked quotes, 18 quotes sent and 4 closed jobs worth about $20,000. In June, the client closed a single $62,000 job that came from the ads. By August 20, the account had produced about $80,000 in revenue from roughly $6,400 in ad spend, a 12.45x return. That's why a $90 lead in a slow month doesn't worry me for a business with tickets this size. For more context on what those returns mean, see our breakdown of what a good ROAS looks like for local service businesses.
Edmonton winters run a little milder and a little shorter than Winnipeg's on average, but it's still a long, snowy, furnace-dependent season, so the same playbook applies.
A few local details change the offer, though:
Yes. We're going right after it with our HVAC client, and I'd do the same in Edmonton.
Here's what's been announced so far. On October 8, 2026, the federal government unveiled a $2 billion heat pump rebate program. Households below the median income can get up to $10,000, and other eligible households can get up to $2,000. The online portal isn't expected to open until early 2027. Homeowners will apply online, upload receipts after the install and get paid by direct deposit. The rebate can be stacked with existing provincial programs.
The gap between announcement and launch is the opportunity. Homeowners are hearing "up to $10,000" and don't know what it means for them. The HVAC company that explains it first becomes the company they call.
A few rules we follow so the ads stay honest:
Offer a real estimate or assessment, not something free or discounted.
The most common mistake I see is leading with "free" or a percentage off. If you're selling a high-ticket system, you want people willing to spend money, not people shopping for the cheapest fix.
Our live HVAC ads lead with the homeowner's problem ("Is your furnace or AC struggling?"), then list what sets the company apart: premium equipment, repairs on all systems, a local family-owned team and 24/7 emergency service.
That last one matters. I wouldn't run "24/7 emergency service" as the whole ad on Facebook. Someone whose furnace dies at 11 p.m. isn't scrolling Instagram. They're typing into Google, and that's where an emergency-only campaign belongs. We compare the two platforms with real numbers in Facebook Ads vs. Google Ads for service businesses. On Facebook, 24/7 service works as a bonus point that separates you from competitors, not as the main hook.
We use a simple four-part framework: video creative, a qualifying Instant Form, fast follow-up, and a separate hiring campaign.
That's the system behind our Facebook ads management for service businesses, and it works the same way for an HVAC company in Edmonton as it does in Winnipeg.
Facebook ads work best for HVAC companies that have someone dedicated to answering the phone.
A homeowner with a struggling furnace is probably filling out two or three forms. Companies with admin staff who call back within minutes, and actually care about booking the job, win far more often than an owner calling back from a rooftop four hours later. If nobody can answer the phone, fix that before you spend a dollar on ads.
On our Winnipeg HVAC account, a budget of about $1,500 CAD a month produced leads at $20 to $23 during spring and summer and about $29.52 on average from April to October. Costs rise in shoulder months when demand drops. For the bigger picture across industries, see how much it costs to advertise on Facebook in Canada.
Start before the first real cold snap and keep running through it. Furnace demand jumps once snow is on the ground, and you want your ads already warmed up when it does.
Yes, as long as you're accurate. The rebate was announced in October 2026, offers up to $10,000 or $2,000 depending on household income, and is expected to open in early 2027. Use the ad to explain it and collect interested homeowners, not to promise a specific amount.
We use Instant Forms for almost every HVAC client. They're faster on mobile, and questions about service, problem and timing keep lead quality high.
Not on their own. Emergency buyers search on Google. On Facebook, mention 24/7 service as one reason to choose you, and use the ads to generate planned replacements, installs and estimates.
Want to see what a winter HVAC campaign could look like for your company? Get in touch with Adovate and we'll walk you through the numbers.
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