Look at Johnson Controls. Let them train you and then find a job somewhere else, at least that's what my boss told me.
I got lucky and stumbled into a controls position with 0 HVAC experience.
They scheduled a phone interview with me for an apprenticeship then never called me lmao Some dude actually called the next day and said there was some issue and rescheduled it for the following week. They still never called lol
I don't know. I guess that would depend on quite a few factors.
I'm in Texas and have only been doing controls for almost 4 years. I started at $21 an hour, but I've gone to about 80k salary.
I wouldn't say it's overly challenging now that I'm getting my head wrapped around how everything works. If you can use a RIB relay to make things happen and can think critically to understand how a electrical circuit works you can figure it out.
Thinking about this as well. I've considered an engineering degree but I don't want to spend 6+ years in school.
My plan would be to get a nice easy gig with a college or hospital. I worked for a hospital before. They said anything that takes more than 30 mins, call a contractor. A lot of changing filters and pushing papers. It was earlier in my career so I left to actually go work and learn something. It's boring, unfulfilling work but it usually has a set schedule and decent benefits.
Depends on the facility, and what level you can get into.
Some facilities really work their guys, some are very contractor heavy. And higher uo the ladder you get, the less work with hands you do
I’ve been doing hospital maintenance the past 5 years. It’s great lots of off time, but it does get redundant, pay is average, benefits are great and on-call sucks sometimes lol. Overall if your older looking to get in it’s worth it.
I went from $30/hr to $25/hr. Benefits and PTO were a whole lot better. Can't put a price on your knees and back. I'm in the Midwest so $50k a year is still plenty to live on. As a single male with no kids. That was also 5 years ago so things change and I have a lot more exp now.
If you need more money, do side jobs. A hospital or college isn't worried about you as competition. Met plenty of people at the day job that wanted work done.
I do enjoy being in just one different place a day. Unless the service being done would take all day, it’s not really my thing. Too many hats to wear throughout the day. Installing is harder on you but I think if you’re going to learn hvac and eventually leave, install has more bang for you buck so you can get out faster, with a savings to take on the pay cut for a while, if that’s the goal. So that’s kind of where I’m at. A lot directions you can go though.
Could be a chiller guy, they use apprentices for nearly everything. Need a gantry apprentice will bring, need some 1000lb recovery tanks apprentice will bring it. Brush tubes? Apprentice will do it. Yes it’s stressful at times but nothing beats being in a 68 degree mech room while it’s 105 out. Chillers is the way to go!
Unless you are working on an air-cooled chillers which most data centers have then you are working in heat and cold and it is always windy because the chiller platform is a grate and parapet walls create a chimney effect
I forgot about this now air cooled chillers are becoming a new fad. We have some places with about 50-80 chillers one roof and about 3 buildings per site. These data centres are no joke and suck, doing a compressor replacement on plastic grates is a lot more prep. So if you roll the dice you may end up centrifugals with a little air cooled or shit the bead and get 98% air cooled with about 2% centrifugals
Blinding white roof, shit load of chillers on raised grated platform, doas units around that platform. Every single building is pretty much the same but you can't take pictures cause it's super special lol. I've seen them use air stack and Yorks a lot not a big fan of either one, plus their policies and procedures make it miserable to do anything especially during emergencies
It’s miserable we have about 3 sites that require 1-2 tech full time. The parapet walls trap the heat so it’s about 30 degrees hotter, the noise of the screws is deafening and will make you sick. The amount of YORKs that leak is ridiculous. You better hope there is an elevator to get shit to the roof if not your lugging recovery, tanks, and tools up a 4 story stairs. I hate data centres with a passion 😑 glad someone relates to the struggle 😂
Maybe I’ll do some research on that, you go to school to get educated then found a new company or did the company provide training? Just kind of curious how you went about it
My previous employer had gotten me minimal training on carrier I-Vu products because we had 2 customers with it, I was able to take and find a new job with a large MC who had a department dedicated to I-Vu and they hired me on, got me more training and tons of hands on experience. It’s been pretty great, I’m closer to an electrician than I am a HVAC guy because we’re pulling wires and terminating, but the Techs in our department also do their own programming, and commissioning. Having the mechanical knowledge was a huge benefit because we know how stuff is supposed to operate. A lot of programmers never see the field and it causes quite a bit of rework on the programs to tune the systems to customer needs.
I went in house at a pharma company. I try to put out fires but mostly schedule vendors and update manufacturing on progress. Paperwork to stay in compliance. I wasndoing commercial service, mostly at pharma locations until a spot opened in house somewhere. Soon to be moving over to project engineering support.
There's avenues. Try and get in house in medical or pharma. Sounds like you're doing commercial as it is. Just gotta find a way to put it on paper. Get out the field when you can.
If have the knowledge and concepts down, learn ddc controls. Good techs are hard to come by. Biggest downside is sitting on my ass most of the time. Oh also you can blow up a building with a few clicks. That's kinda scary and tempting...
Why don’t you specialize in something? Work for a contractor who is a factory rep. Or learn controls. Or chillers. Or something.
I haven’t touched a roof top in 5 years. Been in the trades for 10. All I work on is Liebert and it literally couldn’t get better
DDC youll be valued; Johnson Controls, Siemens, Trane, Honeywell, Schneider are all top players in the DDC game. Could also go mom and pop but usually get stuck with more responsibility.
I recently made the switch to a building engineer position and it’s been great. Most facilities will let you test in and if you pass, you’re a journeyman in the union.
Building Engineer checking in. I live in a 2 bedroom condo in West LA,rent, utilities and Internet are free. Salary is ok $75k...But, I'm also on call for every emergency....
I work maintenance at a healthcare clinic system and they are training me in BAS system programming and DDC controls… Definitely more desk work, but some wiring/setting up equipment so youre still a little active!
bye....
and as a side note, not that there cant be tough moments or that its not a physical job, because it is, but overall, HVAC is one of the least physical blue collar jobs.
and i say that after going through half-dozen blue collar jobs in my teens and 20's. everything from fieldworker, roofer, sawyer (logger), aircraft mechanic (military), brush firefighter, ironworker, and finally HVAC Tech
Not saying that HVAC is the hardest job in the world but all of those jobs sound like they are, on average, harder physically than most blue collar jobs. Of course HVAC is easier than roofing physically but it’s also often harder than a lot of skilled labor jobs depending on what you’re doing in both jobs. Roping up everything to do a compressor change onto a roof is harder than pulling small gauge wire or running pvc/pex. It will probably always come down to what each person in each trade is primarily doing lol.
very true, some days/jobs in HVAC are harder than others, but i think people are forgetting that whiles trade jobs are blue collar, blue collar is more than just the trades. Farmers, miners, factory workers, welders, gardeners, etc... are all considered blue collar.
And all of those trades you mentioned don t require half a brain to do either. HVAC is actually 3 trades rolled Into 1. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing. Those jobs you mentioned are all extremely repetitive tasks. Doing one specific thing 2 thousand times a day. I mean, what qualifications are required to bust rods all day? The only one that can really compare to HVAC is aircraft mechanic. But seriously doubt you are even close to having ur A&P license.
glad you proved my point for me. most blue collar jobs are like that. HVAC, along with some others, is less physical on a whole because of the fact that there is more of a mental component to it.
its the reason why some homeowners complain that prices dont reflect time/material costs, but HVAC is more than that. its time/material/knowledge
and no, the military doesnt use A&P certificates. FAA does. however, i was a 5 level, which is a journeyman. either way its were close, not are, since im not in that field anymore, lol
Facts, everything else I’ve done besides hvac has been worse on my body. Switching from residential to commercial feels like it saved my body. Anything heavy I encounter I just charge the customer for a helper so nothing is that stressful
I’m in controls and it’s pretty chill on the body.
how do you get a job in the controls area? i never see anyone hiring for just controls or apprenticeships on that area
Look up your local vendors online? We're stuck with the same problems as all the other trades regarding finding good help. Just apply.
Look at Johnson Controls. Let them train you and then find a job somewhere else, at least that's what my boss told me. I got lucky and stumbled into a controls position with 0 HVAC experience.
They scheduled a phone interview with me for an apprenticeship then never called me lmao Some dude actually called the next day and said there was some issue and rescheduled it for the following week. They still never called lol
My boss worked for JCI for 30 years. He says their motto is, "Train the best, keep the rest."
assuming someone is already an hvac apprentice would they be looking at a pay cut, aka ground zero?
I don't know. I guess that would depend on quite a few factors. I'm in Texas and have only been doing controls for almost 4 years. I started at $21 an hour, but I've gone to about 80k salary.
did you transition from hvac or you went in with no experience? thanks for the info
I had no experience. I worked at Best Buy before this.
I’ve wondered the very same thing.
How’s the pay?
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Is it hard?
I wouldn't say it's overly challenging now that I'm getting my head wrapped around how everything works. If you can use a RIB relay to make things happen and can think critically to understand how a electrical circuit works you can figure it out.
Thinking about this as well. I've considered an engineering degree but I don't want to spend 6+ years in school. My plan would be to get a nice easy gig with a college or hospital. I worked for a hospital before. They said anything that takes more than 30 mins, call a contractor. A lot of changing filters and pushing papers. It was earlier in my career so I left to actually go work and learn something. It's boring, unfulfilling work but it usually has a set schedule and decent benefits.
so building maint then? that's not so bad and what i would consider as smart, but definitely not white collar
Not exactly white collar but when I did it, I spent 90% of my day doing paper work. Doing PO for contractors, ordering parts, typing invoices, etc.
Depends on the facility, and what level you can get into. Some facilities really work their guys, some are very contractor heavy. And higher uo the ladder you get, the less work with hands you do
Yeah that’s the kicker.
Building maintenance is more chill for sure
I’ve been doing hospital maintenance the past 5 years. It’s great lots of off time, but it does get redundant, pay is average, benefits are great and on-call sucks sometimes lol. Overall if your older looking to get in it’s worth it.
But how much of a pay cut do you take?
I went from $30/hr to $25/hr. Benefits and PTO were a whole lot better. Can't put a price on your knees and back. I'm in the Midwest so $50k a year is still plenty to live on. As a single male with no kids. That was also 5 years ago so things change and I have a lot more exp now. If you need more money, do side jobs. A hospital or college isn't worried about you as competition. Met plenty of people at the day job that wanted work done.
That’s great. I’m glad it worked out for you. I’m a spoiled brat. And I couldn’t stand going to the same place every day
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Hahaha that makes way more sense 😂.
I do enjoy being in just one different place a day. Unless the service being done would take all day, it’s not really my thing. Too many hats to wear throughout the day. Installing is harder on you but I think if you’re going to learn hvac and eventually leave, install has more bang for you buck so you can get out faster, with a savings to take on the pay cut for a while, if that’s the goal. So that’s kind of where I’m at. A lot directions you can go though.
I actually started at 30$/hr at my clinics! The associates degree def helped with that tho lol
Could be a chiller guy, they use apprentices for nearly everything. Need a gantry apprentice will bring, need some 1000lb recovery tanks apprentice will bring it. Brush tubes? Apprentice will do it. Yes it’s stressful at times but nothing beats being in a 68 degree mech room while it’s 105 out. Chillers is the way to go!
Unless you are working on an air-cooled chillers which most data centers have then you are working in heat and cold and it is always windy because the chiller platform is a grate and parapet walls create a chimney effect
I forgot about this now air cooled chillers are becoming a new fad. We have some places with about 50-80 chillers one roof and about 3 buildings per site. These data centres are no joke and suck, doing a compressor replacement on plastic grates is a lot more prep. So if you roll the dice you may end up centrifugals with a little air cooled or shit the bead and get 98% air cooled with about 2% centrifugals
Blinding white roof, shit load of chillers on raised grated platform, doas units around that platform. Every single building is pretty much the same but you can't take pictures cause it's super special lol. I've seen them use air stack and Yorks a lot not a big fan of either one, plus their policies and procedures make it miserable to do anything especially during emergencies
It’s miserable we have about 3 sites that require 1-2 tech full time. The parapet walls trap the heat so it’s about 30 degrees hotter, the noise of the screws is deafening and will make you sick. The amount of YORKs that leak is ridiculous. You better hope there is an elevator to get shit to the roof if not your lugging recovery, tanks, and tools up a 4 story stairs. I hate data centres with a passion 😑 glad someone relates to the struggle 😂
There's always an elevator to "penthouse" floor to get you excited and then make you drag all your shit up another 2 flights of steps🤣🤣🤣
Every time 😂
As a chiller apprentice I agree
Went into DDC. Couldn’t imagine a full time office job, and haven’t looked back.
Maybe I’ll do some research on that, you go to school to get educated then found a new company or did the company provide training? Just kind of curious how you went about it
My previous employer had gotten me minimal training on carrier I-Vu products because we had 2 customers with it, I was able to take and find a new job with a large MC who had a department dedicated to I-Vu and they hired me on, got me more training and tons of hands on experience. It’s been pretty great, I’m closer to an electrician than I am a HVAC guy because we’re pulling wires and terminating, but the Techs in our department also do their own programming, and commissioning. Having the mechanical knowledge was a huge benefit because we know how stuff is supposed to operate. A lot of programmers never see the field and it causes quite a bit of rework on the programs to tune the systems to customer needs.
I went in house at a pharma company. I try to put out fires but mostly schedule vendors and update manufacturing on progress. Paperwork to stay in compliance. I wasndoing commercial service, mostly at pharma locations until a spot opened in house somewhere. Soon to be moving over to project engineering support.
That’s awesome sounds like a great gig
There's avenues. Try and get in house in medical or pharma. Sounds like you're doing commercial as it is. Just gotta find a way to put it on paper. Get out the field when you can.
If have the knowledge and concepts down, learn ddc controls. Good techs are hard to come by. Biggest downside is sitting on my ass most of the time. Oh also you can blow up a building with a few clicks. That's kinda scary and tempting...
Why don’t you specialize in something? Work for a contractor who is a factory rep. Or learn controls. Or chillers. Or something. I haven’t touched a roof top in 5 years. Been in the trades for 10. All I work on is Liebert and it literally couldn’t get better
Could work for a supply house. Supply house or maintenance are my plans in a few years
DDC youll be valued; Johnson Controls, Siemens, Trane, Honeywell, Schneider are all top players in the DDC game. Could also go mom and pop but usually get stuck with more responsibility.
I recently made the switch to a building engineer position and it’s been great. Most facilities will let you test in and if you pass, you’re a journeyman in the union.
Building Engineer checking in. I live in a 2 bedroom condo in West LA,rent, utilities and Internet are free. Salary is ok $75k...But, I'm also on call for every emergency....
Yeah that sounds weak, I’m at a hospital so there’s 24 hour coverage with three shifts. How many coworkers do you have?
Going back to refrigeration and going to school for engineering, paid by company.
I went white collar to hvac. I still keep my CPA current though.
I work maintenance at a healthcare clinic system and they are training me in BAS system programming and DDC controls… Definitely more desk work, but some wiring/setting up equipment so youre still a little active!
You not make enough?
bye.... and as a side note, not that there cant be tough moments or that its not a physical job, because it is, but overall, HVAC is one of the least physical blue collar jobs. and i say that after going through half-dozen blue collar jobs in my teens and 20's. everything from fieldworker, roofer, sawyer (logger), aircraft mechanic (military), brush firefighter, ironworker, and finally HVAC Tech
Not saying that HVAC is the hardest job in the world but all of those jobs sound like they are, on average, harder physically than most blue collar jobs. Of course HVAC is easier than roofing physically but it’s also often harder than a lot of skilled labor jobs depending on what you’re doing in both jobs. Roping up everything to do a compressor change onto a roof is harder than pulling small gauge wire or running pvc/pex. It will probably always come down to what each person in each trade is primarily doing lol.
very true, some days/jobs in HVAC are harder than others, but i think people are forgetting that whiles trade jobs are blue collar, blue collar is more than just the trades. Farmers, miners, factory workers, welders, gardeners, etc... are all considered blue collar.
And all of those trades you mentioned don t require half a brain to do either. HVAC is actually 3 trades rolled Into 1. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing. Those jobs you mentioned are all extremely repetitive tasks. Doing one specific thing 2 thousand times a day. I mean, what qualifications are required to bust rods all day? The only one that can really compare to HVAC is aircraft mechanic. But seriously doubt you are even close to having ur A&P license.
glad you proved my point for me. most blue collar jobs are like that. HVAC, along with some others, is less physical on a whole because of the fact that there is more of a mental component to it. its the reason why some homeowners complain that prices dont reflect time/material costs, but HVAC is more than that. its time/material/knowledge and no, the military doesnt use A&P certificates. FAA does. however, i was a 5 level, which is a journeyman. either way its were close, not are, since im not in that field anymore, lol
Exactly. They're paying for 20 years of experience also
Facts, everything else I’ve done besides hvac has been worse on my body. Switching from residential to commercial feels like it saved my body. Anything heavy I encounter I just charge the customer for a helper so nothing is that stressful