At 29 I left a job making 85k a year and decided I wanted to learn hvac. I didn’t want to go to school, so I went and got an apartment maintenance job where I was required to learn hvac basics. Worked there for two years and studied my ass off reading hvac books and watching hvac yt round the clock, while making about 45k a year. After two years of that I had a solid foundation for basic maintenance and service, all on real world equipment.

@skymoore3177

29 күн бұрын

Any tips on landing that 85k spot? Lol

@millenialmemoirs

29 күн бұрын

@@skymoore3177 take risk. I moved across the country seeking opportunity with no plans and found that job through a family member.

@snxttynozedoc169

8 күн бұрын

@@skymoore3177yes we need to know

Man I went to school and it helped me a lot I was able to get on with a corporate company going to trade school helped me a lot

@HVACTechKnowledgy

10 ай бұрын

Nice! I appreciate you sharing. I do understand everyone has different learning styles. What was the most beneficial aspect of attending HVAC School?

@LEEKHVAC

10 ай бұрын

@@HVACTechKnowledgy the most beneficial thing for me was pre learning about the trade I was able to receive my epa about 7 weeks into going to school learning about the heating and cooling cycle and I was able to meet with some corporate company’s and unions and alot of other hvac company’s to as well was the best benefit as well my school had alot of companies that always came to school ready to hire people so the best thing for me was the networking I was able to receive and all that. But you are right you don’t have to start at a school I just took that route and I’m glade I did for me

@kennythii

9 ай бұрын

I’m finna start school in January and I wanna know what did you get most out of it?

@MoonRambo702

9 ай бұрын

@@kennythii My 2 cents, going to an hvac school is hit or miss. Depends on what you make of it, you can go and do bare min, pass the lil tests and get the paper or you can dig tf in. If money is a factor, everything you will learn in school you can learn on KZread free. The difference I see is the structured curriculum and the classroom setting, easy to ask questions and get very basic hands on experience. And they usually have a post grad dept that will help get you a job, but don’t think ur automatically gonna slide into a position out the gate, but it can happen. If you can self learn and get a basic curriculum outline, you can research each topic in a logical order. Save that money you woulda spent on school to buy decent tools. Maybe find a local supply shop and scope it out. The younger dudes in uniforms sometimes are kinda cocky and won’t give you the time of day, they have no juice anyway, they may see you as competition and don’t wanna help. Id look for the older dude in a beat up plain ass work van. He prolly has 20+ yrs experience, works for himself and more open to mentoring. See if u can shadow, carry tools unpaid. Just soak up as much knowledge as you can on how it really works in the field. If you learn and yall vibe, that will surely lead to him sending you solo to do simple shit like thermostat replacements and PM’s. Get youtube premium and watch vids constantly. When I first went solo I didn’t know shit compared to now. I’d have a vid playing in my earbud while troubleshooting. Even 8 yrs in, I still do it from time to time, always be learning. I worked with a old guy for about a year then he retired. He vouched for me and I took over for him with a property mgt company as the sole hvac guy. I was still green as fuk and instantly had my own business. Besides the basics, everything I know I learned teaching myself and off of KZread while in the field. Like dude said, working on your own equipment is good experience. See if you can get an old unit free off of a contractor and tear it apart. Get a good meter and learn how to use it. I have a uei dl489 since day 1, never let me down. Network and use kneepads. If you go all in for like a year, you could get hired with any named company easy when they start hiring for the season. Having your own business is where the money is tho.

@IheartJesus000

7 ай бұрын

@@kennythiiit’s definitely good you get your 608 which lets you deal with refrigerants

thanks so much, i’m 19, just finished high school and looking into what to do with my life, making pros and cons list of either going into this field, or getting an environmental degree😅 so far I think I may start my journey in HVAC!

@DerSchrottBastler

10 күн бұрын

a friend of mine is in HVAC in germany (hard place in the past for HVAC, cause "A/C is bad for the climat, jadda jadda", but it started to change here since the last few summers, more and more people getting A/C) told me a few months ago: "Go into HVAC, the need for cooling and heating increases and there is ALLWAYS a customer wanting the job done NOW, HVAC is a little bit like beeing a mortician, you never run out of customers"

Well said man I started with a friend of mine that started his own hvac business after being a manager for 15 years at a bigger company. Rode with him for almost two years doing commercial installs that he was subbed and residential service calls. Took the Ron walker online course (who you can find on KZread) and bought AC service tech books. Got my 608 cert. Stopped working for my friend and Started with a commercial company as a service technician for $20bucks an hour after 1 year im at $27. If you really want to learn its there for anyone who wants it! Keep making it happen man good video 👍

In Oklahoma, graduating from an accredited school knocks 2 years off apprenticeship. Giving you earlier opportunities to make more money. In Oklahoma with no schooling, it is a 3 year apprenticeship. If you go to school and not work in trade while in school you only have to do 1 year apprenticeship before you can take tests. If you get a HVAC apprenticeship while in school you can almost immediately go take your tests and have a license to get working.

I ain’t dealing wit it this is the foundation of my career I’m not dealing wit no bs tech training me do what’s best for me and my future which is on to the next tech never keeping a closed mouth if not being treated right by a co worker that’s not doing they job his can’t pair up with the right person to learn if u sit and let it go down that way

Hvac is a hands on job, doing it is the only way to learn it.

@Dudleyism1

Ай бұрын

most jobs are on job. there is always a weird barrier to entry though. around me every HVAC apprentice job wants trade shool experience, I am assuming they do it just to make sure you are serious about the job

@terranceburgess9170

3 күн бұрын

Yes school doesn’t show you every thing

I just turned 36 today. I start airconditioning Technology august 19th. Im nervous as I can be. Im tired of working crappy jobs that pay little. Im just really nervous that Im gonnna crash and burn.

As a woman technician, going to school got me in the door. Being a female, I don't believe I would have even got an interview without showing them I had my diploma and EPA certification... But for men, I don't think it's necessary.

@user-rv6sm9bh8f

5 ай бұрын

Well that's sounds more like your preconceived notion that gender determines whether or not a job can be done. If that's the case then you should get the certificate if you don't think you can do a good job based on your gender.

@Herricane62

5 ай бұрын

@user-rv6sm9bh8f It's not a preconceived notion. The facts are, there is less then 1% of women that do this kind of work, not because women can't do it but because a lot of women just don't want to do it... I went to school because I wanted to be prepared and didn't know anything about HVAC but wanted to be a technician, which is the reason I'm sure most people go to school. But I'm pretty sure it's part of the reason I even got an interview.

@user-rv6sm9bh8f

5 ай бұрын

@@Herricane62 Thats not what we are talking about. We are talking about you saying that being female you don't think you would have gotten a foot in the door without a diploma and certification but for men you dont believe its necessary. We are not talking about how many women are applying to construction jobs. It's an illogical reasoning because an A/C unit in need of repair doesn't recognize what gender the person repairing it is. If you're going to succeed in trade you need to use logical reasoning because all that women do this and men do that has no place in the field and you can make yourself a liability amongst your peers.

@Herricane62

5 ай бұрын

@user-rv6sm9bh8f OK well your going off on a tangent, nobody even mentioned a construction job.... Going to school got my foot in the door. I'm not gonna argue with you over semantics.

@user-rv6sm9bh8f

5 ай бұрын

@@Herricane62 , BBL

Great video, wonderful advice.

@HVACTechKnowledgy

6 ай бұрын

Appreciate you watching!

I’m 1 month into a apprentice job and I love it man. I come from industrial maintenance background so a lot of hvac is similar to what I was going. Im doing installs half the week and service the other half. What’s the best service bag around? Veto?

@SkilledLabor

5 ай бұрын

Veto YES 👍

@millenialmemoirs

2 ай бұрын

Veto tech mc pack is just large enough to fit the essentials but small enough I can easily get around in tight spaces.

Great information. I’m learning a lot from your video.I thinking about making that change, however it’s the fear that stopping from jumping into the field. Thank you.

@HVACTechKnowledgy

6 ай бұрын

There’s a lot to learn but you can do it!

@Dre.lc1

5 ай бұрын

Do it 💪🏾 I went the trade route to a school called NTI out in Vegas and it’s changed my life.

I'm in the military, so payment wouldn't be an issue if I decided to go to school.

I disagree with your opinion about school. School isn’t necessarily about gaining more knowledge, it’s about showing discipline and time management skills.

@themrmoy40

4 ай бұрын

school is about gaining more knowledge. " it's about learning just the basics and some theory of hvac. so many techs who dont know the difference between a manometer vs. an enemometer. the experienced u learn on the field. I've seen many experienced techs who think common on a capacitor is common, its not its the run winding.

@nef003

4 ай бұрын

School is great if you have the money and time to spend on learning. Meanwhile; you can save the time and money and get both education and experience by following this mans advice and get paid wbile working.

@NicolasGer

Ай бұрын

are you even in the hvac trade?

@nef003

Ай бұрын

@@NicolasGer yes I am. Thanks to this man's advice; I'm earning wages as if I just came out of school. Hopefully in my upcoming review; I'd get 30-34$ hourly.

@johnc1867

26 күн бұрын

​@nef003 not yet he's still in a 200,000$ school/scam/parental retirement robbery...

Are you out of Dallas area? I’ve been plumbing a minute thinking about hvac for a change

I am in the Dallas Fort Worth and there is two HVAC schools offering a 10 week program and they claim during third week three they have you applying for job so once you pass your EPA you’re already full for finishing the entire family program if you don’t think going to school route makes any sense what books and KZread videos would you recommend beginning on to gang a acknowledge about HVAC general?

@HVACTechKnowledgy

6 ай бұрын

Yeah me personally I probably wouldn't go to school route few channels I learned the most from would be gray furnace man, HVAC service tech, HVAC school, Jim Bergman and the measure quick Channel Tye branaman, HVAC School podcast with Brian Orr that should be a pretty good start just listen to the HVAC School podcast whenever you're driving you'll soak up a ton of information oh yeah and of course my channel😁

@JoseSandoval-du5ww

4 ай бұрын

Found a website that trains you pretty good called skillcat

I disagree with your opinion about school. They teach theory and fundamentals. When you get in the field and summer hits it’s turn and burn. Unless you find people willing to teach you on their (spare time) and ask you questions. I look at schools like training classes. You can take all the training but if don’t apply it you will loose that knowledge. I think best way to learn is to scrap units that’s the way I taught my sons the school help them get in with the union and my them helping me on weekend doing side work and we would talk about the call on the drive or during lunch

@brandonleesanders

2 ай бұрын

Nope. I disagree with you. There’s nothing better than in the field training and being paid for that training. School is an absolute waste of your time. Get started, get out in the field, get with a good company who’s willing to invest in you. That is your school.

He's right and wrong to some extent. The main purpose is to pass the exam and learn the trade in the end. If school helps and later you get a job it works and if you get a job and experience and pass exam and the knowledge it also works.

You gotta go to school. YOU don't know what you don't know sir.

The new generation is lazy, thank god I am an 88! I love to dig money!

@raygunsforronnie847

10 ай бұрын

Two of the people I admired are my grandfathers, both were farmers and one, a part time mechanic. They gave me an eye for "big picture" thinking, how devices and equipment (and people and relationships) interact, how to find and fix common points of failure, and that prevention is easier and cheaper than reactive maintenance. So fast forward a few decades and most of today's young adults haven't had a "fix it" person in their families and the mindset of the culture they've grown up in is "replace it". Even stuff that aint broke, like last year's phone. They have no experiential basis, no concept, of repairing something especially if it involves dirty hands or physical disassembly. Is that their fault, a sign of the times, or a bit of both?

@feelsbadsmdp2045

4 ай бұрын

your mom was lazy raising you

@DerSchrottBastler

10 күн бұрын

@@raygunsforronnie847 "So fast forward a few decades and most of today's young adults haven't had a "fix it" person in their families and the mindset of the culture they've grown up in is "replace it". " absolutly right, but the generation that can only replace rely highly on working supply chains, if there is something slightly off, all that "we just replace it if it breaks" crumbles like a cardhouse in front of their eyes. i was raised in the spirit of " a man have to pull himself out of a missery by his own bootstraps if needed". and i think this is a state of mind we should teach the younger generations again. stop beeing dependent of a third party and help themself.

What is your opinion on a school that will teach you in 55 weeks HVAC and charges $19.000.00? Is it really possible to get hired with 0 experience? To me the ideal scenario would be to learn on the job, not get perceived negatively and stuck with a label of "not knowing anything" for 2 years and get paid reasonably well to stay motivated. Aren't the people who go to school more likely to get hired due to the school's connections?

@ryandanault8115

3 ай бұрын

i worked 2 kitchen jobs to go to school , if they offer a shorter program take that

@StreptoStar

2 ай бұрын

Where are you based? $19k sounds to high for a Texas school... I'm doing my program through Austin Community College, and since it's a traditional college and I make under $35k a year, my schooling is free via Pell grants. But even a trade school that only does HVAC and refrigeration should be cheaper than that where I live.

@nodnarb5

2 ай бұрын

@@StreptoStar This is a school in Ontario, Canada

I just started a company and have went to school got EPA 608universal/Nate and OSHA,only paid $13 hr in 2024.kinda feel like I’m ripped off.

@LDiego

Ай бұрын

You worth more, go somewhere else

@teweruyyygbb3361

Ай бұрын

Go out on your own for that shitty rate bro.

@mikeyPRE6

Күн бұрын

Where this at ?

@kayakandlandfishing2651

Күн бұрын

@@mikeyPRE6 Valdosta ga