Chicagoland contractors: winter is the stress test
In short: O'Hare averages about 121 nights a year at or below freezing and hit −23°F during the January 2019 polar vortex. HVAC search ads in Chicago are rated "Very High" competition. When a no-heat call goes to voicemail during business hours, Google can still bill it. KeptRing answers instead.
Areas include Chicago, Naperville, Aurora, Joliet, Schaumburg, Evanston, Oak Park.
The polar vortex test
On Jan. 30, 2019, O'Hare dropped to −23°F, and the airport stayed below zero for 52 straight hours, according to the National Weather Service in Chicago (NWS Chicago). Weeks like that decide a season for Chicago HVAC and plumbing shops: furnaces fail, pipes freeze in exterior walls, and calls come in faster than anyone can answer.
Normal winters are demanding too. NOAA's 1991–2020 normals for O'Hare show about 5,974 heating degree days, about 121 nights a year at or below freezing, and 6 or 7 nights below zero (NOAA). Summer brings about 17 days at 90°F or above and about 1,003 cooling degree days, enough for a solid AC season.
A crowded ad market
MB Adv Agency classifies Chicago as a "Very High" competition HVAC market, at about $18.50 per click with a 10% conversion rate (Google Search ads, not LSA; observed and modeled data mixed) (MB Adv). Illinois wasn't called out in SearchLight's March 2026 state cut for Local Services Ads, and we found no published Chicago-only LSA price. National averages:
| Trade | Feb. 2026 cost per lead | Mar. 2026 cost per unique lead |
|---|---|---|
| HVAC | $51 | $56.39 |
| Plumbing | $57 | $58.89 |
| Electrical | $39 | $43.84 |
Why answering matters more since October
Under Google's current rules, a call you miss during your business hours is a chargeable lead once the caller stays on the line for more than 20 seconds, and a business-hours voicemail or automated greeting is "treated as a connected call" (Google Local Services Help).
In a cold snap, that's a double hit: you can pay for the lead, and the homeowner with a 50°F living room calls the next listing. Here's an illustration, not data. If 15 business-hours calls ring out over a polar-vortex week, at the March 2026 national HVAC figure of $56.39, that's about $846 in possible charges, before counting the furnace replacements that went elsewhere.
KeptRing answers overflow and after-hours calls, takes the details, and emails you a summary right away, with no-heat and active-leak calls marked urgent.
If a caller reports gas, CO, or sparks
In the city of Chicago, Peoples Gas runs the gas system. Most suburbs are served by Nicor Gas. KeptRing tells a caller who smells gas to leave without touching switches or flames, call 911 from outside, and call their utility: Peoples Gas at 866-556-6002 or Nicor Gas at 888-642-6748.
A carbon monoxide alarm gets the same instruction: everyone out, then call 911 from outside. For sparking, a burning smell, or anyone hurt, callers are told to get to safety and call 911. KeptRing gives no repair steps on these calls and flags them urgent in your summary. KeptRing is not an emergency service and doesn't replace 911, the utility, or your own on-call line.
Set up your winter rules
Tell us what's urgent for your shop: no heat below a certain temperature, frozen or burst pipes, a CO alarm. KeptRing asks the right follow-up questions and puts the urgent ones at the top of your inbox.
Try it now, before January
Call (317) 558-7718 and say your furnace is blowing cold air. Start with a free 14-day pilot, then $249/month per line if you keep it. Our first 10 paying clients lock in $197/month for as long as they stay subscribed. No card to start, month-to-month, cancel anytime. Lead summaries come to you by email after every answered call; texting isn't live yet. Email to start a Chicago pilot.
Sources
- National Weather Service Chicago, "January 30-31, 2019: Record to Near-Record Cold in Northern Illinois." https://www.weather.gov/lot/RecordColdJan2019
- NOAA NCEI, U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, Chicago O'Hare Intl. Airport (station USW00094846). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/us-climate-normals/#dataset=normals-annualseasonal&timeframe=30&station=USW00094846
- MB Adv Agency, "HVAC PPC Statistics 2026." Google Search ads (pay-per-click), not Local Services Ads; a mix of observed campaign data and modeled estimates. https://www.mbadv.agency/ppc-industry-statistics/hvac-ppc-statistics
- SearchLight Digital, "Google Local Service Ads Cost Per Lead by Trade (2026)," Feb. 2026 data, 888 contractors. https://searchlightdigital.io/google-local-service-ads-cost-per-lead/
- Jon Torrey (SearchLight), "Google Local Service Ads Benchmark: March 2026 (By Trade)," Mar. 26, 2026. State figures are labeled directional by the author. https://thedatadriventrades.substack.com/p/google-local-service-ads-benchmark
- Google Local Services Help, "How leads work." https://support.google.com/localservices/answer/7195435?hl=en
- Peoples Gas, "Emergencies." https://www.peoplesgasdelivery.com/safety/emergency
- Nicor Gas, "Emergency Information." https://www.nicorgas.com/safety/emergency-information.html
Sources checked Oct. 15, 2026. Lead-cost figures are third-party benchmarks, not KeptRing results; your own Google Ads Leads page is the real number. Worked examples are labeled as illustrations. KeptRing isn't affiliated with Google or any utility named here.
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