Hello, Illinois HVAC contractors.
Illinois issues no HVAC contractor license
Chicago area: 1,531 new owners last week
new owners last week
An Illinois HVAC company can reach new owners on the list with northern Illinois utility rebates.
Does Illinois license HVAC contractors?
No. Illinois has no state license for HVAC contractors. No act licensing professions and occupations covers heating, air conditioning, refrigeration or mechanical contractors, and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation does not regulate them.
Across Illinois, EPA requires technicians who maintain, service, repair or dispose of equipment that could release refrigerants to hold its technician certification, earned by passing an EPA-approved test. The certification does not expire, apprentices are exempt while a certified technician closely and continually supervises them, and EPA issues no cards itself.
The four types of EPA technician certification
- Type I: servicing small appliances
- Type II: servicing or disposing of high- and very high-pressure appliances, other than small appliances and motor vehicle air conditioners
- Type III: servicing or disposing of low-pressure appliances
- Universal: servicing all types of equipment
What a row carries
Each row is one home purchase marked as a principal residence on Illinois's real estate transfer declaration. A row can name more than one buyer and carries a mailing name, address, sale price and deed date.
Across Cook County rows on the Monday list, deed dates run a median of about 20 days before delivery.
Year built, which Cook County rows carry, shows how old the home is, not how old the furnace or the air conditioner is.
Utility rebates for HVAC equipment
Amounts change.
Northern Illinois
| Nicor Gas's | 2026 residential rebates pay $150 to $225 for a natural gas furnace. | Work must be finished in 2026, and the application is due within 90 days of completion or by January 31, 2027, whichever comes first. A professional contractor must install all products, unless Nicor's rebate page notes an exception. |
|---|
Northern Illinois
| ComEd | heat pump incentives, as listed in 2026, cover air-source heat pumps and centrally ducted mini-split models, with the lower efficiency tier offering up to $900 on a smaller system |
|---|---|
| and the higher tier up to $2,000 on a larger one. | ComEd's guide directs customers to a ComEd heat pump-trained contractor to discuss what is right for their home. |
Each utility's offer reaches its own service area. ComEd heat pump incentives cover its northern Illinois territory. Nicor Gas furnace rebates go to current residential Nicor Gas customers in northern Illinois.
Contractor networks by service area
City of Chicago and Chicago's northern suburbs
Trade Ally is a free contractor network run by Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas to help customers complete gas-saving energy efficiency projects.
A Registered Trade Ally gets a listing in the customer-facing online directory.
Northern Illinois
Nicor Gas's Contractor Circle links customers with member contractors.
Nicor's rebate page has a Find a Contractor tool that shows Contractor Circle members.
New owners by month
Monthly averages, Chicago area, since 2014
Monthly averages
| Month | Average new owners |
|---|---|
| January | 5,556 |
| February | 4,584 |
| March | 5,991 |
| April | 6,900 |
| May | 7,470 |
| June | 8,492 |
| July | 8,506 |
| August | 8,632 |
| September | 7,809 |
| October | 7,715 |
| November | 6,486 |
| December | 6,139 |
Chicago area, Illinois cities ranked by new homeowners
Sorted by new owners over the last 12 months across six counties
| City | New owners, last 90 days90 d | New owners, last 12 months12 mo |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cook County | 5,147 | 20,538 |
| Naperville DuPage County | 451 | 1,631 |
| Aurora Kane County | 433 | 1,603 |
| Plainfield Will County | 397 | 1,472 |
| Elgin Kane County | 323 | 1,247 |
| Joliet Will County | 334 | 1,237 |
| Schaumburg Cook County | 236 | 858 |
| Arlington Heights Cook County | 201 | 846 |
| Orland Park Cook County | 222 | 841 |
| Des Plaines Cook County | 222 | 834 |
| Palatine Cook County | 216 | 812 |
| Tinley Park Cook County | 194 | 800 |
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