How does the math work?
Plan profit per member = price − (visits × cost per visit) − card and admin costsBreak-even price = visits × cost per visit ÷ (1 − card and admin rate)Member gross profit = plan profit + repairs found on visits + change-outs, after the member discount
With the defaults: $200 − (2 × $85) − $6 = $24 per member a year. Break-even is $170 ÷ 0.97 = $175.
Cost per visit is the part most owners guess at. Take the hours a tune-up really ties up a tech, drive included, times what that hour costs you loaded (wage plus payroll taxes, insurance, benefits and the truck), plus filters and supplies. The BLS median wage for HVAC techs was $29.33 an hour in May 2025.3 Add about 70% for the load and you get our $50 an hour default; that markup is our assumption, so use your own.
The other two lines are where members pay off. Each repair found on a visit leaves $169 at a $375 ticket, 55% margin and a 10% member discount.4 Each change-out leaves $3,300 at $11,000 and 40% after the same discount.5 The two margins, the 20% of visits that turn up a repair and the 3 change-outs per 100 members are our assumptions, and the calculator lets you change every one.
What should you charge for an HVAC maintenance agreement?
| Benchmark | Figure | Source, date | How solid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly plan price, 100 contractors | $100: 8% · $200: 44% · $300: 29% · $400 or more: 19% | ACHR News, Dec 20231 | Fair: one small survey |
| What homeowners will pay | 87% willing to pay $100 or $200 a year | ACHR News, survey of 400 homeowners, Dec 20231 | Fair |
| Consumer price range | $150 to $500 a year for a service contract; single tune-up about $275 | Fixr, Jan 20266 | Fair: consumer cost guide |
| Two or more systems | $235 first system, $180 each added (worked example) | Ruth King, HVACR Business, Apr 20227 | Worked example |
| Break-even at our defaults | $175 a year for one system | This calculator | Our math; your costs decide it |
The ACHR News figures come from 100 contractors who answered its survey; the homeowner figures from a separate survey of 400 homeowners reported in the same article.1
Start from your break-even, then look at the market. At $85 a visit, two visits and 3% card costs, anything under $175 loses money on the plan itself. Most contractors in the ACHR News survey sit at $200 or $300, and 87% of homeowners in its consumer survey said they'd pay $100 or $200.1 That leaves a narrow band where the plan pays its own way.
If your price has to sit near break-even to sell, that can still be a sound plan. The member brings repairs, change-outs and renewals; the fee mostly keeps the visits from costing you. What doesn't work is a price under break-even with low renewals, because then you're paying for tune-ups on customers who leave.
Why are renewals the real lever?
Because every renewal carries the whole member forward: the plan, the repairs found on visits and the next change-out. At the defaults, one more point of renewal is worth about $1,377 in gross profit over three years from 300 members. Getting from 70% to 86% is worth about $23,409.
The targets in print are old and thin. Contracting Business put the target at "at least an 86% renewal rate annually" in 2016 without citing data,8 and FieldEdge listed 80% or more as a benchmark in 2018.9 We couldn't find a current survey of the rates contractors actually get, so we set the default at 70% and labeled it ours. Pull your own from your field software: members up for renewal last year, and how many paid.
What usually moves renewal is plain: automatic renewal on a card on file, a visit actually scheduled and done each season, and members who feel the priority they paid for. In the ACHR News homeowner survey, 77% wanted priority service.1
Do tune-ups really cost what the math says?
Only in busy weeks. A tune-up done in April or October uses a tech you'd be paying anyway. At four tune-ups a tech a day, the planning figure Sera uses,10 300 members on two visits fill about 150 tech-days a year, roughly 30 working weeks of one tech.
If those visits land in slow weeks, the real cost of a visit is closer to materials and drive, about $15 at our defaults, and the plan leaves about $164 per member. Tick "My techs are paid through slow months either way" in the advanced settings to see your numbers that way. Be honest about it: tune-ups pushed into July compete with no-cool calls, and then the full cost applies.
Maintenance agreement template: what to include
Owners who search for a maintenance agreement template usually need the terms more than the form. A short list of what a clear agreement covers:
- What's covered. Visits a year, which systems, and the tune-up checklist in plain words.
- Price and payment. Yearly or monthly, card on file, and the price for each added system.
- Term and renewal. Start date, length, how it renews and how the member is told before it does.
- Cancellation and refunds. How to cancel and what is refunded for visits not yet done.
- Member benefits. What priority service means in hours, the repair discount, whether it covers parts, labor and change-outs, and any waived diagnostic fee.
- What's excluded. Refrigerant, parts, ductwork, problems found at sign-up, and access issues.
- Home sale. Whether the agreement transfers to the new owner.
Automatic renewal and cancellation rules vary by state. This list is not legal advice; have your attorney review the agreement before you use it.
Worked example: 300 members at $200
A shop with 300 members at $200 a year, two visits at $85, 70% renewal and a 10% member repair discount, with our defaults for the rest:
- The plan. $24 per member, $7,200 across 300 members in year one. Break-even price: $175.
- Repairs found on visits. 600 visits, 20% find a repair, $169 each after the discount: $20,250 in year one.
- Change-outs. 9 a year from 300 members, $3,300 each after the discount: $29,700 in year one.
- Three years. Members fall to 210, then 147. Gross profit over the three years: $15,768 from the plan, $44,348 from repairs and $65,043 from change-outs, $125,159 in all.
The plan fee is about 13% of what these members are worth in gross profit. The rest is work members buy, and you keep it only as long as they renew. Some of that work would come from these customers anyway; the plan's job is making sure they call you when it does.
Next: are you the company they find?
Lapsed members replace with whoever they can find when the system dies. The free 49-point map scan shows whether homeowners across your service area find you for a money search like "ac replacement" or "heat pump repair", with a quick website check, in 2 business days.
The Booked-Job Audit ($1,500) scores 20 recorded calls and traces calls to booked work, including the member who called about a new system and never got an estimate visit. Replacement Zones, part of the Growth Program ($2,000 a month), aims replacement ads, mailers and maintenance offers at the neighborhoods where systems are most likely due, ranked by home age. Get the free map scan or book a 15-minute call.
Comparing marketing sources too? The cost per booked job calculator values a booked HVAC call with the same model, plans included.
Questions owners ask
What should I charge for an HVAC maintenance agreement?
Start at your break-even: visits times cost per visit, divided by one minus your card and admin rate. At two $85 visits and 3%, that's $175. The most common price in an ACHR News survey of 100 contractors was $200 a year (44%), then $300 (29%).1
Does a maintenance plan make money on its own?
Barely, at common prices. At $200 with two $85 visits, the plan leaves about $24 per member after card costs. Most of the value is in renewals and the repairs and change-outs members buy.
What's a good renewal rate for maintenance agreements?
Published targets are 80% or more (FieldEdge, 2018) and 86% (Contracting Business, 2016, with no data source given).8,9 We found no current survey of actual rates, so measure yours: members due last year and how many paid.
How much more do members spend?
One contractor quoted in ServiceTitan's Contractor Playbook averaged $1,538 a ticket for members against $687 for transactional customers.2 That's one company, so treat it as an example. Your field software can split the same numbers for you.
Should members get a repair discount?
Most plans offer one, and homeowners ask for it: 80% wanted a parts discount and 78% a labor discount in the ACHR News survey.1 Check what it costs: 10% on a $375 repair is $37.50 of gross profit, and on an $11,000 change-out it's $1,100. Many shops cap the discount or leave change-outs out.
How should I price a second system?
Lower than the first, because the drive is already paid. Ruth King's worked example charges $235 for the first system and $180 for each added one.7 At our defaults an added system costs about $60 a visit, so it breaks even near $124 a year.
How many visits should a maintenance plan include?
Two a year, one before cooling season and one before heating season, is what homeowners in the ACHR News report expect at a minimum.1 Each added visit raises your break-even price by its cost.
Is an HVAC service agreement the same as a maintenance agreement?
Yes. Contractors use the terms interchangeably, along with maintenance plan and membership.
How many members does it take to fill the slow season?
Divide members times visits by the tune-ups a tech can do in a day. At four a day, Sera's planning figure,10 300 members on two visits fill about 150 tech-days a year. Plan those visits for spring and fall.
Sources
Defaults on this page: plan price from the ACHR News survey of 100 contractors (December 2023)1; labor cost starting from the BLS median HVAC technician wage (May 2025) plus a load we assume3; the repair ticket from Fixr's AC repair average (January 2026)4; install ticket and margins from our trade value model (v1.0, October 2026), set below ServiceTitan's 2025 average install5,11; tune-ups per tech per day from Sera Systems (2022)10; renewal targets from Contracting Business (2016) and FieldEdge (2018), both low quality.8,9 The renewal rate, repair discount, share of visits that find a repair, change-outs per 100 members, hours per visit, materials, drive cost, card and admin cost and the second-system figures are our assumptions, labeled on the page. Members fall each year at the renewal rate and no new members are added. Gross profit on repairs and change-outs counts the member discount against the price and leaves cost unchanged. Five-year and three-year figures are not discounted.
- Homeowners, contractors mutually support maintenance agreements (survey of 100 contractors). ACHR News, Dec 12, 2023. www.achrnews.com/articles/153922-homeowners-contractors-mutually-support-maintenance-agreements
- Selling memberships: best practices in the field (Contractor Playbook, ch. 10; one contractor's average tickets). ServiceTitan, accessed Oct 2026. www.servicetitan.com/guides/contractor-playbook/selling-memberships
- Occupational Outlook Handbook: Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers (median pay $29.33 an hour, May 2025). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed Oct 2026. www.bls.gov/ooh/installation-Maintenance-and-repair/heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanics-and-installers.htm
- How much does AC repair cost? (average $375). Fixr, Jan 29, 2026. www.fixr.com/costs/air-conditioner-repair
- What a booked call is worth, by trade (Isoline trade value model v1.0: job mix per search, Charlotte-area search weights, sourced tickets and margins). Isoline Growth, Oct 2026. www.isolinegrowth.com/tools/cost-per-booked-job/#value
- How much does annual air conditioner maintenance cost? (service contract $150 to $500 a year; tune-up average $275). Fixr, Jan 30, 2026. www.fixr.com/costs/annual-air-conditioner-maintenance
- Calculating HVAC maintenance price plans for two or more systems (Ruth King). HVACR Business, Apr 1, 2022. hvacrbusiness.com/news/2022/apr/01/calculating-hvac-maintenance-price-plans-for-two-or-more-systems
- HVAC maintenance agreements by the numbers (Mike Moore; 86% renewal target, no data source given). Contracting Business, Sep 7, 2016. www.contractingbusiness.com/residential-hvac/article/20868670/hvac-maintenance-agreements-by-the-numbers
- Top 5 HVAC industry benchmarks to evaluate service business performance (service agreement renewal rate 80% or more). FieldEdge, Jul 30, 2018. fieldedge.com/?p=14628
- The math behind why HVAC membership plans drive business growth (4 tune-ups per tech per day). Sera Systems, Aug 11, 2022. sera.tech/blog/the-math-of-hvac-membership-plans
- HVAC replacement cost by state (2025 invoices). ServiceTitan, 2026. www.servicetitan.com/toolbox/state-of-the-trades/trends/hvac-replacement-cost-by-state