HVAC text message marketing: 3 texts worth sending, and the rules they must follow

What is HVAC text message marketing?

HVAC text message marketing is sending planned, permission-based texts to homeowners who already know your business: past customers, maintenance members and people with an open estimate. Done well, it fills tune-up slots, starts replacement conversations and closes estimates. Done carelessly, it gets you STOP replies, carrier filtering and legal risk.

I handle onboarding and client operations at Scale Theory, and I build the texting side of every account. We are new to the US market and have no HVAC client results to share yet. This post covers the texts we set up, the wording, and the rules they have to follow.

It is not about replying to brand new leads. The 60-second first reply and the day 1, 3 and 7 texts after an estimate are covered in full in our post on HVAC lead follow-up. Here I focus on texts to people already on your list.

One thing to say clearly before we start: the legal sections below are general information, not legal advice. Texting law changes, and your attorney should review your consent wording and your list before you send a single marketing text.

Which texts should an HVAC company send?

Three kinds earn their place: a seasonal tune-up reminder to past customers, a replacement offer to customers with older systems, and short follow-up on open estimates. Each goes to a specific group, at a specific time, for a specific reason. Mass "spring sale" blasts to everyone on your list do not make the cut.

Every one of them goes out in your business name, signed by a real person, from your business number. Every one stops the moment the homeowner opts out.

What should a tune-up reminder text say?

It should name your company, remind the homeowner it is time for a seasonal check, and offer an easy way to book. ENERGY STAR recommends you "check the cooling system in the spring and the heating system in the fall", which gives you two natural reasons to text each year.

The spring text:

"Hi Linda, it's Megan at Sunline Air. It's that time again: a spring AC tune-up before the heat sets in. We have openings next Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Reply with a day and we'll lock it in. Reply STOP to opt out."

Why it works:

• It has a reason. The season, not a sale. Homeowners expect a reminder at this time of year.
• It is specific. Two real days from your schedule are easier to answer than "call us to book".
• It includes the opt-out. Telling people how to stop is part of your consent process, and it builds trust.

The tune-up itself matters for what comes next. When your tech is at the unit, they record the age, tonnage and condition of the system in your field service software. That record is what makes the replacement text honest.

When should you send a replacement offer text?

When the system on file is old enough that replacement is a sensible conversation, and when your install crews have room. ENERGY STAR says to consider replacing a heat pump or air conditioner that is "more than 10 years old". That age, from your own install or service records, decides who gets the text.

Pull the list from your field service software: customers with written consent whose central AC or heat pump is past 10 years. Then send one message, timed for your shoulder season, when crews are free and homeowners are not yet desperate:

"Hi Robert, it's Megan at Sunline Air. Our records show your AC is about 12 years old. If you'd like a free in-home estimate on a replacement before summer, we have install dates open in April. Reply YES and we'll set a time, or NOT NOW and we'll leave it. Reply STOP to opt out."

Rules we follow for this one:

• Use your real records. If you do not know the system's age, do not guess it in the text.
• No invented urgency. Mention a real install window, never a fake deadline.
• One message, then wait. If they reply NOT NOW, tag them and move on. Do not chase a past customer with three texts about a new system.

Our post on HVAC off-season marketing covers the shoulder-season offers that pair well with this text.

Where do estimate follow-up texts fit?

They are the third text type, and the one closest to revenue. After an in-home estimate, three short texts on days 1, 3 and 7, signed by the comfort advisor, then a call on day 10. The full wording and timing are in our post on HVAC lead follow-up, so I will not repeat them here.

The rules in the rest of this post apply to those texts too, especially consent, opt-outs and sending hours.

Do you need consent to send HVAC marketing texts?

For automated marketing texts, yes. Federal rules require the prior express written consent of the person you are texting, and that consent can be revoked by any reasonable method, including a STOP reply. Florida adds its own consent rule on top. This is general information, not legal advice.

The federal rules sit in 47 CFR 64.1200, the FCC's regulation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). In plain terms:

• Calls or texts that include advertising or telemarketing, sent with an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice to a cell phone, need "the prior express written consent of the called party".
• Written consent means a signed agreement, which can be electronic, that authorizes the seller to send those messages to a specific number. It must clearly disclose that the person does not have to agree as a condition of buying anything.
• Consent can be revoked by "any reasonable method". A reply of "stop," "quit," "end," "revoke," "opt out," "cancel," or "unsubscribe" counts automatically. Revocations must be honored within a reasonable time "not to exceed ten business days".
• You may send one confirmation text after an opt-out, as long as it has no marketing in it. If it goes within five minutes, it is presumed fine.

What about past customers? The federal rule defines an "established business relationship" as a purchase in the last 18 months or an inquiry in the last three months, and that relationship matters for some telephone solicitation rules. It does not replace written consent for automated marketing texts. The practical fix is to collect consent going forward: a clear checkbox on service agreements, maintenance plan sign-ups and online booking forms, with the exact wording saved alongside the date and number.

What are the quiet hours for HVAC marketing texts?

Federal rules bar telephone solicitations before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the recipient's local time. Florida's law sets a tighter window of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for commercial telephone solicitations. Send marketing texts only during normal daytime hours in the customer's time zone, and you stay inside both.

We schedule marketing texts for daytime hours only, and the CRM holds anything triggered late until the next morning. Follow-up a homeowner asked for, such as a reply to their own question, is a different matter, but even then we keep it sensible.

What is A2P 10DLC, and does it affect HVAC texts?

A2P 10DLC is the registration system US carriers use for business texts sent from software through ordinary 10-digit numbers. If your marketing texts come from a CRM or texting app, you register your brand and your campaign. Skip it and carriers may filter or block your texts and charge extra fees.

Twilio describes A2P 10DLC as "the standard that United States telecom carriers have put in place to ensure that SMS traffic to US end users through long code phone numbers is verified and consensual." The campaign registration includes how people opt in, opt out and get help, so your consent process has to exist before you register. We handle registration during onboarding, in your business name.

What does Florida's law add?

Florida has its own rules. The Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, section 501.059, covers text messages, requires prior express written consent for automated sales texts and gives consumers a right to sue. Section 501.616 sets calling hours and a limit on repeat contacts. This is general information, not legal advice.

The key points from the 2026 Florida Statutes:

• Texts count. A "telephonic sales call" includes a "telephone call, text message, or voicemail transmission" to a consumer to solicit a sale.
• Consent. Sales texts that involve "an automated system for the selection and dialing of telephone numbers" need prior express written consent. A signature can include "checking a box indicating consent".
• Existing customers. Florida's definition of an unsolicited call excludes calls to "a person with whom the telephone solicitor has a prior or existing business relationship". The federal rule above still applies, so do not treat this as a free pass.
• Hours and frequency. Section 501.616 bars commercial telephone solicitation calls "before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m." local time, and more than three from any number to a person in 24 hours on the same subject. The exemptions in section 501.604 do not switch these two rules off.
• STOP and the 15-day window. Before suing over texts, a consumer must reply STOP. The sender then has 15 days to stop sending sales texts.
• Damages. A consumer can recover actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, and up to three times that for willful or knowing violations.
• Florida's own do-not-call list. The state keeps a "no sales solicitation calls" listing, separate from the national registry.

Whether a particular text counts under each section depends on how it is sent and to whom. That is a question for your attorney, not a blog post.

Does text message marketing change for Tampa HVAC contractors?

The texts stay the same. The calendar shifts. Tampa has a long cooling season and very little heating demand, so the spring cooling reminder is the main event, nearly every home heats with electricity, and Tampa Electric's rebate rewards high-efficiency replacements of existing central systems.

NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals for Tampa International Airport show about 94 days a year at or above 90°F and less than one day a year at or below freezing. Annual cooling degree days are about 3,928, against about 434 heating degree days. Time the tune-up reminder early in spring, and treat the fall heating reminder as a lighter touch.

The Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey shows about 92% of occupied homes in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro heat with electricity, and only about 5% with utility gas. For a replacement text, that usually means talking about the whole system, cooling and heating together, rather than an AC alone.

Tampa Electric's heating and cooling rebate is worth knowing before you write the replacement text. Its page lists $550 for systems with a minimum SEER2 of 16.20 and $40 at SEER2 15.20, for residential customers replacing an existing central system with ductwork. "Ductless mini split systems are not eligible", and customers apply within 90 days of installation. Participating contractors deduct the rebate on the invoice. If you are one and the equipment qualifies, a line about the rebate belongs in the estimate follow-up.

For the local picture, see our Tampa HVAC marketing page. The CRM that runs these texts, with consent capture and STOP handling built in, is on our HVAC CRM automation page. Once the install is done, the next text is a review request, covered in our post on HVAC Google reviews.

Alan

Co-founder. Onboarding and client operations

Alan runs onboarding and the day-to-day of every account: the CRM, the booking flow, the follow-up and the Friday report.

More about Alan