ReplyIf you don't like working on ladders this work may not be for you. We work on ladders everyday. If you can't work up high and have good balance I can't see how you can do this job.
Regular Guest
I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this! But i will ask anyhow.
I've recently finished up my apprenticeship as a Toolmaker, but i do not enjoy it very much. I also don't like the competition this trade faces with China and shops closing left and right. I've looked into a few different trades and HVAC looks the most interesting and fitting for me.
I have a wife and we recently bought a house... so i can't just jump back down to $10/hour and start fresh. Basically i need to work myself up to $20/hour in order to make a full switch to HVAC. What would be the best way to go about this? Would it be possible to get part time evening work after my day job as a toolmaker? I wouldn't want to work EVERY evening though since i still need a life.
I don't know much about HVAC so what would be a good area to start? Reading text books i assume. But what kind of courses should i look for? They offer a Gas Tech course at a community college near me for a G2 and G3 certification.. but each course is over 5 grand... Does Gas Technician relate much to HVAC?
Some things about myself.
I am mechanically inclined (as my current job is hands on).
I love and prefer to work Independantly once i know what to do.
I am really ambitious about learning.
Some questions:
How much of HVAC work is independant (once you're a certified tech).
How many hours a week is typical?
What sort of wage can you expect? (canadian)
What Math/Science books do i need? (ie do i need to know physics/algebra?).
What tools should i start to purchase that i will need?
How much of the work is on ladders? (not a huge fan of ladders).
Where should i start to look for training?
HOW should i start to look for training?
How long before i can work myself up to a liveable wage to make a full switch?
What courses would skip me over some of the apprenticeship hours/courses?
and finally, is it even possible to make a switch to HVAC and still keeping my current job untill i get up higher in wage? (ie can i work something very part time. I CANNOT quit my day job and start a full time $10/hour apprenticeship). I am thinking part time evening work is the only way i can make it work.
Thank you all very much for your time and consideration and assistance.
Also i live in Woodstock Ontario Canada, so if anyone around this area (perhaps Kitchener/waterloo/london) can advise me on school courses to look into.
Thank you Again.
Last edited by Slapstick; 08-12-2007 at 09:13 PM.
Professional Member*
If you don't like working on ladders this work may not be for you. We work on ladders everyday. If you can't work up high and have good balance I can't see how you can do this job.
Professional Member*
You just need to stay doing what you're doing. You will make $10/hr for at least 1-2 years until you prove you can do the job. Let's put this in perspective, do you think your boss would pay me $20/hr to come in and run a lathe, drill press or CNC machine with no experience. Just like mine wouldn't give you a truck and a list of service calls, you would ride with me for quite a while until getting turned loose and not making $20/hr.
Professional Member*
Let me just dispell some of the myths you may hold to.
Air contains lots of dirt, you will work with dirt, not clean air.
If you are allergic if asbestos, chemicals, soot, bother you do not apply.
This is generally a very hot, sweaty job, you will get stung, cut, burned, shocked, brusied, and some people will treat you like crap.
As an apprentice you will work harder than the tech they send you with.
In most cases you will be pigeoned holed into one part of the business, mostly by your own abilities and attitudes. You may become a professional filter and belt changer, or a professional part changer.
In most companies you will have no benefits, low pay, and hard work.
This is not doom and gloom, but until you can go out and make your boss more money than you cost him, you are overhead. Bosses hate overhead, unless it is for their benefit.
I bet in Canada (major lib country) (socialist) a boss must be very careful who he hires as his ability to terminate that hire may be a problem, not to mention any compensation he might have to pay out.
One nice thing, you all have FREE health care, supported by high sales taxes. Nothing like something that is FREE that you have to pay high taxes for.
Married and starting out as an apprentice, I would not do it.
It might be better to learn Chinese.
Professional Member
i have had to do some crazy things with ladders that osha would not approve. it will take you probally 5 years to get to 20 bucks an hour. i work 12-16 hour days. Its all about making whoever you are working for alot of money. you will be dirty everyday. crawling into places of peoples homes that the homeowner never even goes into. but your a canadain so im sure your summers are not as bad as what new jersey gets hit with.
Professional Member
If you are in woodstock I would recommend going to Cambridge and getting your G3 before doing anything else. This will tell you if you will even be able to tolerate the trade at all. Hi-mark. Mr applebee. He is a good guy. You will have to do nights and weekends and it won't be cheap. There is no one that I know of that will take you on for more than what you are worth - currently nothing. If you get your G3 you have a chance to be at least somewhat marketable. That is the best you will be able to do. The other option is to go full on, take your lumps for a couple of years and rely on the missus for money.
If at first you don't succeed; charge, charge, charge again.
Regular Guest
I worked as a journeymen machinist before becoming an hvac tech. I don't know what your market is like up there, but I left the machine shops when the supporting industries in the area started closing down. Machine shops around south jersey are now few and far in between and struggling at best. I went to work as a industrial plant maintenance mechanic and picked up on controls and commercial/industrial power. I got lucky enough to get a job as a service tech based on a friend working in the business convincing his boss that I would be worth the money starting at a higher rate than just a beginner. The rest is history and I've been an hvac journeymen for a while now.
You may be better off pursuing a similar path in more of a mechanical field. Learning controls in a plant maintenance environment is more so what laid the foundation for a successful transfer for me. How are you with electrical trouble shooting? That's a major aspect of the job. If you can get into a school and get some credentials down on paper, you're a stronger candidate then with out it. It could be done close to the way you want in the money aspect, but you have to bring more to the table then just a machinist background. It may take a while, but if you don't like standing in front of a machine all day checking your parts for tolerance, it will be worth it.
BTW, still have the Kennedy 3 piece roll away box loaded up with tools sitting under a sheet in the basement
God Speed, Jim. We'll miss you - 2-26-23
Most night work in this trade is service calls.
Doesn't take 2 guys to do most service calls, let alone after hours.
Some weekend installations when the company is swamped.
You only decided this after finnishing your apprenticeship.
Professional Member*
So, you want to leave a career that is being outsourced to China... and you want to enter a career field that has an overabundance of available labor because outsourced, mechanically inclined people are flocking to HVAC?
Professional Member
im for it. there is too much work and not enough techs in this field. I started at 11 bucks an hour out of trade school. in this field you have to squirm on your belly before you can walk.
Regular Guest
If i did the G3 and G2 courses at my college (they are evening courses). What sort of employment would i be able to get? Would it still just be a way to get my foot in a door to start an apprenticeship? Or would i be able to start a little bit higher with these?
Regular Guest
Holy crap! That is hilarious!Originally Posted by AtticAce
Professional Member
In order to get your G2 you need work experience.
Cleaning the shop floor.
Yes.
Yes, a little bit. Like from 9 to 10 or maybe 11. 11 if you are lucky. Pay is based on experience. Trade school will tell you that they teach you 10% of what you need to know. So expect 10% of pay.
Of course that is 3 bucks a hour. So maybe 20%.
No offense, but a G2 in TO or wherever you said you were, means pretty much nothing. I had that when I was 19. You want to make money you need to go to Mohawk in Stoney Creek and get your refrigeration...after FOUR YEARS!
If at first you don't succeed; charge, charge, charge again.
Professional Member*
Did you edit your OP? All references to ladders and heights are *POOF* gone!!!
Regular Guest
No, i did not edit my origional post... it is still there. My main concern with ladders i suppose is that i've never actually worked on them... But it appears scary to me as one fall and your working career is over.
Thank you all for your replies... i will have to think about everything, and hopefully something will work out.
Professional Member*
Sorry, I didn't look close enough.
If ladders really freak you out, you should consider a different career path. Ladders are an integral part of HVAC work. You will find yourself climbing extension ladders, step ladders, and "suicide" ladders all day long in this line of work.
Word to the wise...ALWAYS tie off your ladder once you reach the roof.
Professional Member
I worked for 19 years as a custom fabricator for the aerospace field, but after that 911 tragedy, a lot of work dissappeared and made a choice to hvac/r and got my degree in 2 years, collected unemployment and schooling paid for through TRA program becuse of that 911 tragedy. last day of school i got a job as a service tech. for a mid-level firm and was pretty close to 20 a hr starting and since then i got a good raise but things where very difficult to start,learning hvac/r was one thing but also being in the service field you got to deal with irate customers,putting up ladders and being comfortable about it, extreme weather,very hot and humid and sub-zero with 40 mph winds, insects, icey slippery roofs,high voltage,how are your knees, your back,if your not good with a map-buy a gps system and about 2,000 in tools to start,guess i got lucky finding a place that started me that high,but i had excellent references, perfect attendance,clean driving record,looking back the first few months seemed like i was never going to make it.stuck it out and now i enjoy this type of work,actually look forward to next service call. if you can adapt to these kind of changes youll be fine........
God Speed, Jim. We'll miss you - 2-26-23
Personally, I'm terrified of heights.
Some times it takes me 2 tries to get up the extension ladder to get on a roof.
I just can't figure out why they put RTU's on the dang roof.
Seriously, I am afraid of heights, you either over come it, or you don't stay in the trade.
Professional Member
if you like working long days. then this can be the trade for you.i do 12-16 hour days often.
Regular Guest
I’m not in HVAC, but I did work for a national company that serviced all major and minor appliances. My primary job was fixing TV’s and other electronic devices.
Anyway, I was sent out on another tech’s recall to install a part that was factory ordered. Unknown to me the “new” part was bad from the factory.
The customer was so upset that I could not fix the TV, she shouted every obscenity in the book and even chased me out to the truck throwing her shoe at me. LOL
Then there was the person who wanted to know why it cost $75 to replace a 10 cent part.
Dealing with people was the hardest part of the business for me. LOL
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