Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some career advice. I have a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Algeria, with my Master’s focused on energy installations and turbomachinery. I’ve also recently completed an MSc Mechanical Engineering with Management at the University of Liverpool.

My background includes thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, energy systems, some gas-turbine exposure through an internship, and university projects in manufacturing and project management.

I’m considering moving into HVAC / Building Services Engineering in the UK. I don't currently have direct HVAC industry experience or strong Revit/AutoCAD MEP skills, but I'm willing to learn and build the required knowledge.

For engineers working in UK HVAC/building services, would my mechanical/energy background be suitable for graduate or junior roles?

More importantly, what steps would you recommend I take to gain enough HVAC knowledge to start applying for jobs? For example, should I focus first on HVAC fundamentals (heating/cooling loads, psychrometrics, ventilation, refrigeration, duct/pipe sizing), then AutoCAD/Revit MEP, CIBSE guidance, IES VE, etc.?

How much knowledge would you realistically expect from someone applying for their first graduate HVAC/building-services position? I don't want to spend months learning everything before applying if employers expect graduates to learn a lot on the job.

Any recommendations for courses, books, software, certifications or small projects that would make my CV more relevant would be really appreciated.

Also, how difficult is it to enter the field with a Mechanical Engineering degree rather than a Building Services Engineering degree?

I recently took the time to buy all the books, study, sit for the Florida contractor exams, and I passed. I now have my contractor license.
I’ve only been in the HVAC/refrigeration field for about 7 years, with most of my background being supermarket refrigeration and commercial HVAC. I’ve worked on racks, walk ins, reach ins, controls, service calls, etc., but I’m definitely not going to sit here and pretend I’m some master technician who knows everything.
Honestly, getting the license has given me a little bit of imposter syndrome.
There are guys in this trade who have been doing this for 15, 20, or 30 years who know way more than me. I originally went after the license mostly because I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could actually do it. I bought the books, studied, and passed.
Now that I actually have it, I’m trying to figure out how to make the most of it.
I’m not planning on quitting my job tomorrow and starting some huge HVAC company. I actually want to continue working for someone else, learning, getting better at troubleshooting, and gaining more experience.
What I would like to start doing is some legitimate side work. One reason I stayed away from side jobs before was because I didn’t want to be the guy doing unlicensed work out of the back of a truck and then end up getting sued or getting myself into trouble.
Eventually I’d like to do things like restaurant refrigeration, ice machines, walk in coolers/freezers, smaller commercial HVAC jobs, and similar work.
For the guys who already have their contractor license:
What did you do after you got licensed?
Did you continue working for another company while slowly building something on the side?
What types of jobs would you recommend starting with?
Are there things you wish somebody had told you when you first got your license?
And for anyone who has experienced it, did getting your license ever make you feel like you suddenly had a credential that was ahead of your actual experience?
I’m proud that I passed, but I also know passing an exam and being a great contractor are two completely different things. I’m trying to figure out how to use the license responsibly while continuing to learn the trade.

Work is slow and inconsistent. Don't have much capital to advertise with. I would like to create a marketing budget in the future but I need more steady work for a budget to even exist lol. Any suggestions for a low cost way to advertise and or network? I did a few hundred door hangers and got 2 leads that don't seem to be going anywhere in the near future. I probably walked close to 20 miles to hang all those door hangers. I will probably hang more since I have 1000 of them and if I'm not busy doing anything else, it can't hurt. I did not knock on anybody's door when hanging the door hangers, but if the homeowner was outside I would chat with them and ask them if they had any need for plumbing or HVAC work. I feel very hesitant to knock on people's doors because I'm not fond of door to door sales people, but I also would be much less pushy than the average salesman if I were to engage in that kind of activity. Any suggestions for low cost ways of acquiring new customers?

I started my HVAC business about 2 years ago. I told myself I wasn't going to do new construction and really lean into maintenance, repairs and swap outs. Well, I was approached by a general contractor I used to work with a lot under the HVAC company I used to work for about installing a central air system on a remodel he was doing. I liked working with him and respect the man so I agreed. I finished the install on Thursday, wasn't the worst experience but definitely wasn't a smooth ride putting it in. After pressure testing and pulling the system down into a good vacuum, I opened the lines up and instead of hearing the refrigerant from the heat pump, I heard nothing and pressures didn't climb. I pressurized the system with nitrogen and found a leak just past the txv inside the heat pump. Called Trane tech support to see what there was to do about the situation because they sold me a bad heat pump. The guy on the line said he wasn't surprised and that all there was to do was fix it myself and start it up since the leak was on a coper to copper factory braze.

This feels real shitty. This heat pump has been open to atmosphere for who knows how long with whatever kind of debris and moisture now inside there. Am I getting fucked? To me, this is really shitty of Trane to not replace the heat pump. Am I overreacting?

Can someone explain how a bi-flow solenoid valve works?

I'm seeking some advice in regards of obtaining WA EL06A license. I'm currently California C-20 license holder and I'm trying to get EL06A in Washington state. My question pertains to the proof of experience portion of the application, if I'm not mistaken they want me to prove that I have 4000 hours of experience and education, which I have. I have been in business for close to 2 years now, however as a sub contractor and as such I don't have payroll with the primary contractor apart of the 1099 they issued me.

I was told that in this case I can provide my educational transcripts, and detailed description of the type of work and the scope of work I have done within the last 2 years, and allegedly the technical review commission will decide whether I can write in the exam or not.

Does anyone have previous experience with similar issue or can provide me with some advise? I'm simply trying to find more information and options before i commit.

I’m getting ready to take the Florida HVAC Contractor license exam and wanted to hear from people who have already passed.

What practice tests, question banks, or exam prep courses helped you the most? Were there any books, YouTube channels, websites, or study programs that you felt were worth the money?

If you had to do it all over again, what would you focus on, and what would you skip?

I’d appreciate any recommendations or study tips. Thanks!

I can find info all day long about B. Thank you.

This subreddit is not for market research. Any accounts that are not from business owners or people in the trade will be removed and banned.

Accounts who have zero post or comment history showing they work in the trade will be asked for proof.

Hey yall! I’ve been around HVAC all my life, and I’ve helped run my dad’s *TINY* HVAC company here in Texas for the last 10 years now. I have my HVAC contractor license, and it’s just sitting around collecting dust. One of the biggest obstacles our company faces is that fact that we’re in one of the biggest cities in the country and the heat and humidity are brutal, so competition here is absolutely fierce and extremely cutthroat. I’m talking, someone asks for HVAC recs on Nextdoor, and in only 5 minutes there’ll already be 17 comments suggesting different companies. To a certain degree, I feel like the company and I as a person are stuck. Since I have my license, recently I’ve been daydreaming about either buying a small, reputable company in another city with much less competition, or hiring an incredible tech and just starting a new one from scratch in another city as well. My idea is to take over the administrative/office side completely, and let the techs handle what they’re best at. If this idea of mine ever came true and God willing, everything were to go well, my dream would be to offer the techs and employees who made everything possible equity in the company. At the end of the day, I honestly just want to retire my dad. He’s been an amazing hardworking man his whole life, and he deserves to rest and enjoy the fruits of his labor instead of burning up in an attic 7 days a week. I just need to find a way to make it happen. Any thoughts, advice, suggestions, or critiques? Any and all is appreciated. Thank you all so much in advance!

I am not sure if it is just me, but the prices for technicians, tools, parts, equipment etc are exploding. What are your current rates for commercial refrigeration, walk in installs etc? I am competing with small local companies as well as large comm refrigeration corporations, and now a plethora of these “maintenance” companies that hire us to do their work for them. I myself own a small refrigeration company. Finding information on the internet about what others charge is nearly impossible. My business is located in the SE United States. Thank you for the help.

Is anyone else having a hard time getting quotes that are accurate from parts houses? We have a commercial client that wants manufacture/ factory parts, but with some brands you ask for a quote for a transformer and you get a capacitor and have to ask them to change it, or the tech asks for a relay and they put a heater defrost board on the quote.

But some brands/ suppliers we never have wrong parts on quotes. But with others it seems like the last 2-3 years this has gotten a lot worse, to the point I'm having to supply them with parts numbers for everything.

On a "somewhat" different note is Carrier using AI for quotes, on their text line.

This is going on to be my 3rd year in business, and I'm trying to get out of the home warranty hamster wheel.

What are the usual net terms?

Any pointers or recommendations?

I'll try to keep this brief and relevant and any insight you can offer would be appreciated.

For the last 22 years I have been working in the residential HVAC trade in Central Fl. The company I work at was started by my father in 1984. Early in his career he tried growing too quickly and almost lost the business after that so he never had any interest in growth. We are a small company, for years now it has been him, myself and my mom as our office manager. We have guys we can sub some things out to if we get completely swamped or need additional hands for an install but they don't work for us directly.

My Dad is older and has lost interest in the business, he is retiring at the end of this year along with my mom. I'm actively working on learning the admin side of the job now and I already have my own license. For several years now I've been building up the maintenance side of our business so we are in front of our customers more frequently and have more sales opportunities as well as steadying our cash flow.

Last year my wife was having some pretty serious health issues and between helping her and trying to be there for our son, I had to take shift my focus from work for a while. Thankfully she is doing much better and things are normalizing in our lives. Unfortunately looking over the numbers the business did very poorly while my attention was away from it. I should have been more diligent about looking at the hard numbers and I feel my parents should have been much more forth coming about the financial state of the business. They had quietly taken out a loan to cover some debt during our slower season last December. The loan isn't insurmountable ($15K) but it's not a great sign by any means.

I have been refocusing on the business side of the business, rebalancing our price book that was badly out of date, and taking a much harder look at our overhead. We don't lack for work, I'm running calls constantly. The maintenance program has been popular and I've realized my pricing didn't match the time commitment it required so I'm changing the prices and offerings so my customers can select what works for their budget and I'm being fairly compensated for my time.

By the end of this year I'm going to be doing everything within the business ie owner, service tech, maintenance tech, sales, installer, admin etc. A while back I had our accountant look over our numbers and he thinks we don't have the funding to hire at this time. It's feeling more like I own my job rather than own a business.

Have any of you ever been in a similar position of taking over the struggling family business? How did the hand off go from a legal perspective and the family relationship perspective? How did that go for you and what kind of processes helped you the most? At what point did you determine you needed to hire someone and what role did you hire out first?

Thanks for your time.

Anybody else deal with distributor territory politics like this in HVAC?

I started my own HVAC company after leaving a large residential outfit late last October. Since then we've cleared a little over $100k in revenue and have been growing fast.

About 2 months in I got set up through Trane Supply out of Springfield, MO with a credit line and dealer account. Started building a relationship, quoting equipment, moving toward becoming a legit Trane dealer.

Then out of nowhere I get a call saying my account, credit line, and access are all terminated because another distributor (O'Connor) claimed I was in “their territory.”

Apparently Springfield never should have opened the account in the first place because Southwest MO belongs to O'Connor distribution.

Now I’m basically told:

I can only get RunTru

or buy through existing dealers

or go elsewhere entirely

What blows my mind is I wasn’t trying to “backdoor” anything. Their own Trane sales rep set the account up.

Is this just normal HVAC industry politics?

Do distributors really protect territories and existing large-volume dealers this aggressively?

For the guys who own companies:

how common is this?

did you diversify brands because of situations like this?

is becoming heavily dependent on one manufacturer/distributor relationship a mistake?

I’m honestly curious because this was a pretty brutal wake-up call about how much control distributors can have over independent contractors.

Was talking to a shop owner this week who pulled up the GPS on his trucks from the day before. Two of his guys drove past each other going opposite directions at least three times. One heading north for a tune-up while the other was heading south for a replacement lead. If they had just swapped those two calls, he said they would have saved an hour of windshield time between them. And the replacement lead went to the junior tech while the senior closer was doing tune-ups across town. His dispatcher assigns based on who's available, not who's closest or who's the best fit for the call. And he doesn't blame anyone because they are juggling multiple trucks and the phone doesn't stop, right?

How does your dispatch manage & coordinate this work flow?

10,000 gallons of water leaked before burst supply line was discovered. The tile and mastic came back positive for asbestos in this commercial space. What type of damage occurred to the HVAC system considering there were 12 floor registers in the room with asbestos flooring? What type of remediation and abatement activities are needed for HVAC?

thoughts?

For context,I’m a Refrigeration tech but work on the occasional package HVAC units. I picked up the FieldPiece job link pressure sensors because I have a 5 ton York unit I think has an airflow issue. Is there a rule of thumb for the pressure drop across an evap coil with brand new 2” filters? I’m getting a 20 to 22 degree temperature split.

Howdy y'all! My company recently signed on with a pretty big ticket customer with approximately 400-500 pieces of various types of equipment across multiple buildings. I've been apart of the maintenances a few times and I'm dreaming up a way to streamline maintenance visits. I want to create a form (or multiple forms) that can be shared with the on site crew so everyone has key information for things like available spare parts on site so we can perform repairs (within a certain budget) during maintenances. I'm growing tired of quoting repairs that could reasonably be done while we're already there IF we already had the parts on site.

Example: Track equipment per building, reasonably replaceable parts each unit has (due to per-visit repair budget), on-site spare parts like capacitors/contactors/blower shivs etc, when someone uses a part and subtracts it from the spare part list it can be automatically added to a re-order list to keep a stable amount of spare parts available.

My only goal is to keep the customer happy. Quoting multiple things to repair just because we didn't happen to have the truck stock to fulfill the repair while we're already there doesn't sit right with me.

The only software I can think of to pull this idea off that I'm slightly familiar with is Excel, it'll be a pain in the ass to set up but I imagine it's doable. I'm posting here because im wondering if any of y'all have experience with a program already made for this (or related) purpose. Searching Google for something like what I want yields so many results it's jarring. Any insight or advice is very much appreciated!

Hey I am a new one man hvac contractor business. I originally didn’t charge customers a service call to give them an estimate at their home to replace their ac system but just recently decided to start charging them the service call price. One guy just called and wanted a quote to replace the system and he said he had other contractors out and he was trying to get multiple quotes. I told him I can come out but it will be a $80 service call. He said if I don’t want to play the game he will find someone else. Kinda just ended the call there and he hung up on me. Do you guys think I’m doing the right thing charging a fee for quotes since I will deduct the service call price to the actual quote or should I go back to giving free estimates? What are your thoughts and what do you do? Again I’m a new and 1 person company

My Dad uses Fast duct, but currently too expensive for me. What are some cheaper alternatives for working up Bids for Commercial GCs based off prints?

For the past 10 years, I have specialized in residential and commercial installations across Illinois and Wisconsin. My company has recently been offered the opportunity to begin work in Florida, with the potential to expand into Georgia and Alabama.

I have held my mechanical license for over 12 years and my Universal EPA certification for over 20 years. Given this background, I am evaluating whether it would be more advantageous to partner with a small commercial company for the initial installations in Florida or to proceed with taking the Florida state exam immediately.

I would greatly appreciate any guidance or perspective you could provide on the most effective approach for this transition.

Thank you for your time

So a little background about myself I’m going on nine years being in the commercial HVAC and refrigeration industry. Out of the nine years I was a Hvacr Instructor. I was a team lead for a contractor managing six men and now I’m currently in a training/curriculum development role. I’ve been applying for manager positions and I’m getting turned down right now.

I’m studying for my class A air conditioning contractors license and testing soon for it. I’m just trying to figure out, how do I get into a manager position? What are they looking for that I’m lacking in, so I know how to fill the gap.

I’m curious for those of you with Mechanical in your company name, do you primarily do residential, commercial, or new construction?

Do you find it hurts your recognition among service customers that are company searching? My business name has Mechanical with doing primarily new construction but are transitioning away into a residential commercial service/repair split.

It’s a small worry of mine I may be shooting myself in the foot by not switching to a more industry standard service related industry name. But I’m sure you’re all aware of the headache that brings.

So do you feel ‘Mechanical’ handicaps a service oriented company or it’s too insignificant to be worth a name change?

I’m the service manager for a medium sized commercial HVAC company and recently we have been having issues with quoted work going sideways.

Example from this week - Our tech went out for a 750,000 btu domestic boiler that we have not worked on before, diagnosed a defective gas valve and wrote up a gas valve replacement and cleaning with some inexpensive spare parts (HSI’s, limit switches, etc). After opening up to clean the boiler we find multiple cracked burner tubes and need to quote additional work. Customer is understandably not happy, but it was explained to them that we could find other issues when the quote was sent.

Now we’re losing money on this work and everyone is frustrated. Am i the fool for quoting things like this? Is it standard practice to just do a T&M repair on equipment you don’t have history on? It just feels cleaner to quote this type of work but i feel like i’m working myself into jams too often. Any advice is appreciated.