Free · Pricing & profit
HVAC Estimating ROI Calculator
Put in how long an estimate takes you now and how many you write, and see the hours you get back, what they are worth, and the net return on EstimateKit after the subscription.
Estimating today
Site to sent, including the write-up
Closing
Same-day, signed on phone
Net gain per year
$60,212
Hours saved
140 / yr
11.7 per month
Time worth
$14,000
at $100/hr
Extra jobs
7.2
from faster follow-through
Extra revenue
$46,800
per year
See the ten-minute estimate for yourself
Start a free 14-day trial, load a template and send a three-option estimate from your phone. No card needed.
What the calculator assumes
EstimateKit estimates take about 10 minutes from template to sent, because pricing, tiers and the customer's details are already there. The calculator compares that to your current time per estimate, values the difference at the hourly figure you choose, and subtracts the subscription.
The close-rate lift is the part worth being skeptical about, so it is a separate input. Set it to zero and the calculator shows time savings alone. The default of 3 points reflects what contractors report when the estimate goes out the same day with three options and a signature link, instead of a PDF from the office two days later.
Where the time actually goes
- Driving back to the office to type it up, or doing it at the kitchen table that night.
- Looking up equipment prices and rebuilding the same line items for the fifth time this month.
- Making a second and third version because the customer asked "what would the better one cost?"
- Chasing the signed copy, then re-keying everything into the invoice.
If you want to check the underlying numbers, price a job with the markup calculator and see what tiers do to the ticket in the good-better-best calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an HVAC estimate take?
Contractors report 30–90 minutes per estimate when they build them by hand in Excel, Word or a generic invoicing app, plus the drive or the evening to do it. With templates that already carry pricing and tiers it drops to about ten minutes, most of it talking to the customer.
Is $100 an hour the right value for my time?
Use what an hour of that person's time is worth to the business. For a technician it is roughly the billable rate; for an owner who sells, it is higher because an hour not spent estimating is an hour spent closing or managing. Office staff time is worth its loaded wage.
Why is the close-rate lift a separate input?
Because it is the number most likely to be different for your company. Faster, tiered, sign-on-the-phone estimates do close better, but by how much depends on your market and your follow-up. Set it to zero to see the time savings on their own.
What does EstimateKit cost?
$49 per month, or $588 per year, with unlimited estimates, jobs and invoices, and a 14-day free trial. The calculator subtracts the full year from the gain before it reports the net.
How many estimates a month makes it worth it?
At 45 minutes per estimate and $100 an hour, the subscription pays for itself at about one estimate a month from time savings alone. Most contractors doing five or more a month see a return over twenty times the cost.