switching from residential hvac to industrial refrigeration

[gt4902]

Ive been working residential hvac for 5 years. Im looking to make a move to industrial/commercial refrigeration. Would I be required to take any schooling in order to make the move? I'm epa universal certified.
Just really not sure how to get my foot into the door.

[HVAC_Marc]

I would think it would be similar to any other job change. The EPA Universal means you have a basis of basic knowledge of nothing other than generics.

I would also think that you would likely be starting out as a new guy in any company and their structure would dictate your training. If you had any idea of the company who would hire you, you could then take classes to tailor your education to their structure. Guessing that is going to be HARD.

Go to companies that do what you want, tell them you want to learn and progress. If you know how to read, comprehend, and use the tools you have (especially the gauges, meter, and reference materials) you're far ahead of most fresh out of school techs trained in the field you're trying to get into.

[Nuclrchiller]

Start by just walking up to the techs that work for those type companies. You probably already have an idea of who some of them are. Especially from trips to the supply houses. Introduce yourself and strike up a conversation, working in a question of what they do, the type of equipment they work on, and how they like it. Then mention that you've been thinking about doing that type work, and ask if they have any advice. Regardless of the outcome of that conversation, develop any relationship that you can. Networking with others in this business is always a good idea. It can open up options for you. Good luck.

[indy2000]

Ive been working residential hvac for 5 years. Im looking to make a move to industrial/commercial refrigeration. Would I be required to take any schooling in order to make the move? I'm epa universal certified.
Just really not sure how to get my foot into the door.

were you doing service, install?

how is your electrical understanding?

I have taken guys out with probably similar background as yours,,,,,,,,,,they loved to see 5 75hp screw packages winding up for a blast tunnel........opened the elec cab behind the touchscreen for them and

I suggest you find your closest ua local on line, look at their contractor list, and go straight to those companies in person, and keep going back until they have the floor dirty for you to sweep

if you sweep good,,,,,,your in

[rjk_cmh]

The manufacturers of residential stuff have engineered the crap out of their electrical systems to make it easy and accessible to many brands of tech, from parts swapper to real diagnostician. They are highly standardized and uniform compared to most industrial stuff that is custom and often built up in place. I'm not questioning your electrical diagnostic prowess, but just giving you some idea of what to expect.

Additionally, refrigeration systems have all kinds of weird and wonderful oddball components on the refer side that you would never see in residential A/C, like receivers, oil separators, check valves in strange locations, EPR and CPR valves, and endless other variety of things to squeeze efficiency out of systems and protect compressors from extreme conditions. If you get excited thinking about that sort of stuff, I say go for it!

[thekux]

You can get into it I would recommend it. You'll make probably more money. There is a lot of cutthroat competition in residential is pretty sad. If you do Refrigeration there is going to be a little bit more pressure on you because of the product. Restaurants can be the worst though a lot of those restaurant owners don't want to spend any money either. But if going commercial that's where the bigger money is at. There is people out there there are making a hundred grand in residential but that that is in the right Market selling a lot of equipment to go with their repair

[thekux]

You can try HVAC agent. There's a lot of jobs there and Trane hires most of their technicians through HVAC agent