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General => General Discussion => Topic started by: The Walrus on October 01, 2018, 08:14:13 AM
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Anyone work in HVAC? Could use all the advice I can get, haha...
Leaving the family business behind. Tough move but I've been wanting to do it for a long time (been here almost 11 years come January). Had a moment of clarity and realized the military wasn't for me, so surprisingly I managed to get an interview with an HVAC company and starting the 15th they're sending me off to Indianapolis for a week, every other week, for training.
Kinda feels good to know I have direction in life for the first time since graduating college, and I'm starting off making more money than I am here, so there's no downside to this other than working in dirty crawlspaces in hot/cold weather, but I'll finally be learning a trade, so that's cool.
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You will get shocked.
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Lovely!
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Is it a union shop, or are you entering a union trade school? My dad was an HVAC service technician for 43 years and just retired from the union. I'd recommend joining the union if you can - he had incredible benefits and now has a pension (though unions are now moving towards 401K's and are slowly phasing out pensions).
His shop provided a work vehicle and a lot of the tools. Some tools he had to purchase on his own and accumulated through the years. I know that auto mechanics have to purchase their own tools, so you might want to eventually verify what your employer will be providing for you and if there are any common tools or equipment that you will be responsible for buying on your own.
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Congrats on the job :yarr
I got my home HVAC unit replaced a couple years ago and spent a lot of money and learned a bit about how things work. Might be a good trade for our future with global warming. Seems every summer I hear about record power bills due to AC.
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Cram, yeah, that's a big reason I chose HVAC. Job security, will never fear for work, don't have to worry about outsourcing, and great pay. Overtime + sales commission = sweet paycheck. Residential work, maybe in a few years if I like it enough I'll try moving to commercial but I'm just focusing on the present for now.
They're not union (honestly I know nothing about unions and it's actually been a couple weeks since they mentioned that so I could be wrong, LOL) but the benefits couldn't be better, and by mid-December I'll have full health care. Matching 401k too :metal
I'm actually leaving an auto body shop (father's business) so I kind of have an advantage with having access to the tool man on a consistent basis (I can easily have the old man pick up something and I can pay him back). I have a ton of sockets and a few wrenches lying around but I need voltage meters, gauges, Channellocks and more. I get a company van to drive though and some common power tools, so I won't immediately have to dive into the deep end buying tools.
One of their former employees actually recommended me to them so they're wary of hiring me and investing all this money into training only for me to leave in a couple years to work for him, but 1) I don't want to mix work and friends especially if I'm working for them, and 2) I'm easy to please and don't like moving from job to job so I hope to stay with these guys for the long haul.
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Cousin's fiance / baby daddy / boyfriend / whatever works as an HVAC tech in Arizone. Good money.
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I worked at a company that made the machines to clean the ducts.
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HVAC Tech 32 years in the business here. Union is the way to go but it sounds like you are starting at a decent company so I'd roll with that for now. Residential work is a good place to learn but I prefer larger commercial for a number of reasons. Set up a login here ( I am tech45 ) …
https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/forum.php
Most places are " subdivided " into different aspects of the trade sheet metal , mechanical install , service , controls. I have worked in all of them and mainly do control work and start up of new equipment. The work ethic thing will put you ahead of most new hires ( show up early , stay late , don't mess with your phone , etc. ).
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Cool! Thanks max_security :) Yeah, I guess 401k is ready to go on my first day of work so I'm gonna get on that, and the benefits look dope but I need to remind myself to learn more about unions after a few years in the business, once I've gotten my feet wet and can actually handle things. I'm just going to be a maintenance technician for now and hopefully move on up after some time.
Yeah, I figure, I'm 27, single, work out, got all the time in the world... showing up early and staying late, working overtime etc. ain't gonna be a hassle for me. Just thinking about that money... :biggrin:
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Just thinking about that money... :biggrin:
and the costs of progpower next year.... :biggrin:
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Just thinking about that money... :biggrin:
and the costs of progpower next year.... :biggrin:
That's a big reason I'm so stoked to be starting so soon, I shouldn't have a problem getting the vacation time set and paying for everything as well as walking out of the merch room with a wheelbarrow full of stuff :lol
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lol as if your haul wasnt big enough from this year
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I shit you not there were at least a dozen more CDs I wanted. I barely even looked at the Nuclear Blast table, too!
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Finished up my third day today... worked 7.5 hours Wednesday... 12 hours yesterday, and 10 today. 'Worked' in that I was just standing around watching the techs I was with do their stuff and explain stuff to me.
Long story short I think I made an amazing choice to jump ship, and headfirst into this career to boot. The people are great, the benefits are great, the job itself is interesting and on Monday I head to Indianapolis to start official training. Cannot wait... despite being out of the home from 6:30 AM to 8:30 PM yesterday I had no problem waking up for work today, I was looking forward to it.
HVAC is just as interesting as I expected it would be. Hooray!
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Great to hear man. Nothing like putting together a bunch of oddball looking duct and pipe and watching it come to life !!! Or replacing some 10 cent part on a 100 degree day and being a hero to the occupants.
I bought one of these last week , I haven't used it yet but cold weather is comming .
https://sporlanonline.com/smartservicetools/