// How it works

How HVAC contractor matching works.

We match U.S. homeowners with licensed, insurance-verified, pricing-audited HVAC contractors in under 90 seconds. It is free for you to use. Matched contractors pay us a small per-call referral fee — only after you authorize work. Here is exactly what happens from the moment you dial 1-877-877-6723 to the moment your system is fixed.

⚡ Key points
  • Free for homeowners; contractors pay a small referral fee per matched call
  • Median time from call to matched-pro answering: under 90 seconds
  • Median on-site arrival: 2 hours standard, 90 minutes for 24/7 emergency
  • Every contractor is license-verified, EPA 608 verified, insurance-verified, pricing-audited
  • 48-hour pricing dispute window — quoted price must match invoiced price
  • We don't share, sell, or resell your contact information to multiple bidders

01The 5-step matching process

Most lead-generation services in the home services category sell your phone number to between three and six contractors, who then call you in rapid succession over the next 30 minutes. That is not what we do. We pick the single best-fit contractor in our network for your specific situation and route your call to them.

Step 1 — You call. A live dispatcher answers.

When you dial 1-877-877-6723, a real human dispatcher in our U.S.-based call center picks up, typically within fifteen seconds. We do not use automated phone trees for the initial intake. The dispatcher asks four questions: your ZIP code, the symptom (no cool, no heat, water leak, gas smell, electrical issue, routine maintenance, or new install), the urgency (emergency, same-day, this week), and what kind of system you have if you know.

Step 2 — We pick a single matched contractor.

Our routing engine cross-references your ZIP code against our active contractor network — currently 5,000+ vetted pros across 7,295 cities — and applies five filters in real time:

Coveragecontractor lists your city as an in-service area
Specialty fittheir crew handles your reported symptom (heat-pump installer vs. emergency dispatcher vs. ductwork specialist)
Capacitythey have an open dispatch slot in the timeframe you need
Performance scoretheir last 90 days of customer satisfaction, response time, and pricing-audit compliance scores meet our minimum threshold
License + insurance statustheir state license and liability insurance are both currently active in our verification database

Of the contractors who pass all five filters, the one with the best recent performance gets your call. In about ninety percent of dispatches, this all happens in under sixty seconds.

Step 3 — We connect you live, on the same call.

We do not text you a number to call back. We bridge your existing call directly to the matched contractor's dispatch line. You stay on the same phone call — no hangup, no callback, no waiting. Most homeowners are speaking to the matched pro in under two minutes from when they first dialed us.

Step 4 — The contractor confirms scope, pricing, and arrival window.

The matched contractor will ask follow-up diagnostic questions, give you a flat-rate quote (or a not-to-exceed diagnostic-fee quote if the issue cannot be quoted blind), and confirm an arrival window. Standard arrival is within two hours during business hours; emergency dispatch is ninety minutes or less, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Step 5 — They show up, fix it, and you sign off.

The technician arrives in a marked truck wearing a uniform with the company name. They confirm the issue, re-quote if the on-site diagnostic reveals something different from the phone call, and only proceed with your authorization. After the work is complete, the invoice you sign must match the quoted price within the scope authorized — if it doesn't, you have 48 hours to flag the discrepancy through us and we audit the contractor's books.

02What "vetted" actually means in our network

The home services lead-generation industry is full of platforms that use the word "vetted" without defining it. Here is what we verify before a contractor takes a single call from us, and what we re-verify annually.

Initial onboarding (every contractor, before first call)

Active state HVAC licenseverified directly with the state mechanical contracting board (e.g. Texas TDLR, Florida DBPR, California CSLB)
EPA 608 Universal certificationverified for every refrigerant-handling technician on staff
General liability insuranceminimum $1M per occurrence, certificate on file with our office
Workers' compensationinsurance verified active for all field employees
Surety bondwhere state law requires it (varies by state — CA requires $25K, FL varies by class)
Manufacturer trainingverified for at least one OEM brand (Carrier, Trane, Lennox, Goodman, York, Rheem, Bryant, American Standard, etc.)
Sample invoice review— we audit five recent customer invoices to confirm pricing transparency (no surprise diagnostic fees, no parts-marked-up-300%, no "trip charge" that isn't disclosed at booking)
Background checkon the company owner and dispatchers
Better Business Bureau statusreview (we do not require BBB membership, but we do flag unresolved complaints)

Ongoing performance monitoring

Customer satisfaction surveysafter every dispatched job; below 4.5 of 5 average over a rolling 90-day window triggers review
Response time tracking— how long from our dispatch to first contact with the homeowner; outliers reviewed
Pricing-audit complaints— if a homeowner flags a price discrepancy within the 48-hour window, we pull the contractor's quote vs. invoice records
Re-verification annuallyof license, insurance, EPA 608, and bond status
Three-strike rule— three substantiated pricing or performance complaints in twelve months triggers removal from the network

03Why our model is different from Angi, HomeAdvisor, Networx, and Thumbtack

The biggest functional difference is what happens to your contact information after you reach out. On the shared-lead model (Angi, HomeAdvisor, Networx, Thumbtack), your phone number and address are sold to between three and six contractors simultaneously. They then race to call you. The contractors who pay the most per lead get yours first. Whether they are the best fit for your specific situation is unrelated.

On our matched-call model, your information goes to one contractor — the contractor we picked — based on fit, capacity, and performance. We make our money on the per-call referral fee from that one matched contractor, regardless of whether they ended up the most expensive bidder for the lead. Removing the auction dynamic means matched contractors are not paying inflated lead costs and so they are not forced to recoup those costs by inflating their quote to you.

AttributeNational AC SolutionsAngi / HomeAdvisor / NetworxDirect hire (Yelp / Google search)
Pre-vetted contractorsYes — all 5,000+ verifiedPartial; many pros self-report credentialsNo — you verify yourself
Number of contractors who get your info1 matched pro3–6 (auction model)1 (you call directly)
Pricing audit on disputes48-hour window, we pull quote vs. invoiceNoneNone
Cost to homeownerFreeFree
Median time to live conversation<90 seconds15–30 minutesVaries (depends if pro answers)
Re-verification cycleAnnualNone standardYou re-check yourself

04What it costs you (spoiler: nothing)

Our service is free for homeowners. There is no signup, no membership, no per-call charge, no hidden fee on your invoice. We make money exclusively from the per-call referral fee that matched contractors pay us when we route a qualified lead to them — and contractors only pay if you authorize work. If you call us, get connected to a pro, and decide not to proceed for any reason, no one pays anyone anything.

05Service area: all 50 states

We currently dispatch in all 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia. Our densest network coverage is in the top 200 metros, but we have at least one matched pro in over 7,295 cities. Rural and small-metro coverage continues to grow as we onboard contractors in underserved counties. If we don't have coverage for your specific ZIP, the dispatcher will tell you on the call — we will not pretend to match you and waste your time.

06What we don't do

  • We are not the contractor. We do not perform HVAC work directly. We are a matching service.
  • We do not recommend specific contractors by name on the public site. Our network rotates and we do not publicly endorse individuals; the matching engine picks them.
  • We do not finance HVAC work. The matched contractor handles their own financing program with their own third-party lender if you need one.
  • We do not sell extended warranties. Manufacturer warranties on equipment go through the manufacturer; workmanship warranties go through the matched contractor.
  • We do not pressure-sell. The dispatcher's job is to get you to the right pro, not to upsell you to a new system you don't need.

07Privacy and how we handle your data

When you call us, the dispatcher captures your phone number, ZIP code, and the symptom you described. This information goes to one contractor — the matched one. We do not sell your data, share it with ad networks, or use it for any purpose other than completing the dispatch. After 90 days, identifying information is purged from our routing database; only aggregated anonymized data (city, service type, outcome) is retained for performance analytics. Read our full privacy policy and TCPA consent language for the legal detail.

08What to expect on your first call

Have these ready before you dial — it shaves a minute off the dispatch:

  • Your ZIP code (we route by ZIP, not address)
  • The symptom in one sentence ("AC is blowing warm air," "furnace won't ignite," "water leaking from indoor unit," "I want a quote on a new heat pump")
  • The brand and model of your existing system if you have it (look for a sticker on the indoor air handler or outdoor condenser)
  • The age of the system if you know it
  • Your level of urgency (emergency / same-day / this week / planning ahead)

None of these are required. The dispatcher will work with whatever you have.

// FAQ

More questions.

Is your service really free?+

Yes — for homeowners, fully free. No signup, no fee, no charge added to your invoice. We earn a per-call referral fee from the matched contractor only when work is authorized.

Do I have to use the contractor you match me with?+

No. If the matched contractor isn't the right fit — for any reason — you can tell us during the call and we'll route you to the next-best contractor in our network. There's no obligation.

How fast will the contractor get to my house?+

Median on-site arrival is 2 hours for standard dispatch, 90 minutes for 24/7 emergency dispatch. Outlying rural areas can be longer; the matched contractor will give you a firm arrival window during the call.

Will my phone number get sold to a bunch of contractors?+

No. We use a matched-call model, not a shared-lead model. Your information goes to exactly one contractor — the one we pick based on fit, capacity, and performance score. We do not resell or share your data.

What if the contractor charges more than they quoted?+

You have a 48-hour window to flag any pricing discrepancy through us. We pull the contractor's quote-vs-invoice records and audit. If the contractor is at fault, we work with them to make it right and a substantiated complaint counts toward the 3-strike rule that removes contractors from our network.

What if you don't have a contractor in my area?+

We have at least one matched pro in 7,295+ U.S. cities across all 50 states. If your specific ZIP is uncovered, the dispatcher will tell you immediately rather than wasting your time with a no-show. We are actively expanding rural coverage.

Can I call you for non-emergency stuff like quotes on new equipment?+

Yes — quote requests for new system installation, replacement, ductwork retrofit, or annual maintenance plans are all in scope. Our installer-specialist contractors handle these calls separately from emergency dispatch.

Do you handle commercial HVAC?+

Our network is residential-focused. Some matched contractors do handle light commercial (small office, retail), but heavy commercial (multi-unit chillers, RTU service, industrial HVAC) is generally outside scope. Tell the dispatcher up front and they'll route accordingly or let you know if we can't help.

How do you make money?+

Per-call referral fees from matched contractors. Each contractor pays us a flat per-call fee when we route them a qualified lead. The fee is built into their cost of doing business and is not added to your invoice. Contractors can opt out at any time, which keeps fees competitive.

Are the contractors employees of National AC Solutions?+

No. Every matched contractor is an independently owned and licensed business. We are a matching service — we do not employ technicians, do not own or operate trucks, and do not perform HVAC work. The contractor carries their own license, insurance, and warranty obligations.

Questions or need to talk?

Free · Licensed contractors · No obligation

☎ Call 1-877-877-6723