2 answers
hunter
Student
1
Question
Updated
232 views
What are some tips when planning to go into HVAC? Is sustainable for money and family align with this profession?
What are some tips when planning to go into hvac, is it sustainable for money and family?
Login to comment
2 answers
Deergha Naik
Senior Manager
10
Answers
Dallas, Texas
Updated
Deergha’s Answer
Make sure your work is sustainable and allows for a good family life. Consider getting certified and collaborating with insurance companies. This way, you can work with builders and businesses instead of just individual homeowners. This approach will help you grow your career while maintaining a balanced family life.
Liam Rielly
Data Center Technician
186
Answers
Manassas, Virginia
Updated
Liam’s Answer
HVAC is one of the three main systems in buildings and is an always growing field. You will have a lot of work and if you are in the right area (like most cities in the US) you will be working constantly. If you are planning to work during the week and spend time with your family at the end of the week and week nights, plan on doing commercial or industrial HVAC. Residential HVAC will have you working more often due to scheduling and side work you will take up. Commercial construction and maintenance usually has a more defined window and will have you home most nights. In general commercial and industrial tradesmen make more money than residential.
HVAC should make you enough money to live comfortably in the area you are living. You should be able to move around companies easily and move to an administrative role if you need a better defined schedule. Working for a company, you should be able to make your way up to a foreman or a more advanced role within that company after being there for some years. Being a union member gives you access to better benefits and the possibility of representing workers and families like yours.
I highly recommend going through an apprenticeship. You can probably find work doing HVAC pretty easily but unless you know how to do higher level tasks you might not make the money you need. Lower level tasks will be doing repairs with tools, installations, and basic repairs. Higher level tasks will be anything from replacing coolant, to basic electrical, and possibly even programming PLCs based on what an engineer specifies. The goal is to be able to walk onto the job at 6am, work on whatever equipment is there, and then leave work at 3pm. You want to be the person on the job with answers, and the one that can do any task related to the work. Brazing, welding, balancing rotating equipment, replacing breakers and contactors, troubleshooting, coordinating trades, administrative work, and quality assurance are tasks you may do as well in a commercial or industrial environment.
Quick extra added info, whenever you read something about chip fabrication in the United States, this is a HUGE deal for HVAC, as chip fabrication facilities rely primarily on robust HVAC systems. This is about to become a major field in this country.
https://www.tsmc.com/static/abouttsmcaz/index.htm
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/corporate/usa-chipmaking/home.html
https://www.semiconductors.org/ecosystem/
HVAC should make you enough money to live comfortably in the area you are living. You should be able to move around companies easily and move to an administrative role if you need a better defined schedule. Working for a company, you should be able to make your way up to a foreman or a more advanced role within that company after being there for some years. Being a union member gives you access to better benefits and the possibility of representing workers and families like yours.
I highly recommend going through an apprenticeship. You can probably find work doing HVAC pretty easily but unless you know how to do higher level tasks you might not make the money you need. Lower level tasks will be doing repairs with tools, installations, and basic repairs. Higher level tasks will be anything from replacing coolant, to basic electrical, and possibly even programming PLCs based on what an engineer specifies. The goal is to be able to walk onto the job at 6am, work on whatever equipment is there, and then leave work at 3pm. You want to be the person on the job with answers, and the one that can do any task related to the work. Brazing, welding, balancing rotating equipment, replacing breakers and contactors, troubleshooting, coordinating trades, administrative work, and quality assurance are tasks you may do as well in a commercial or industrial environment.
Liam recommends the following next steps: