HVAC Education Program Outline

An accredited program will teach students about the field of heating and air conditioning and will provide the student with a structured learning approach to the applications they will need to create and design new HVAC systems, retrofit installed systems and how to preform general repairs and maintenance.  Once the student has completed a program they will need to take the state licensing exam in order to work as a professional in this field. The HVAC student will need to work as an apprentice for a period of two years before qualifying for a license. During an apprenticeship, the student will be compensated at half the wages of a licensed HVAC tech and will be required to work under the direct supervision of a certified tech in order to have the training tech check off competency lists regarding tasks the apprentice must successfully carry out in order to make a passing grade.  

Online HVAC schools will offer the same courses as the in-class courses; however the student will have no assistance from the school in terms of finding an available internship. The online courses will allow the student to complete their coursework on their own time; however, most programs will give the student a time limit of two months to complete each section.

HVAC Degrees, Apprenticeships and Certificate Programs

In this field there is also the facilities management certificate course that will focus on teaching students how to maintain ventilation systems, perform proper HVAC practices, control installation and refrigerant handling and will require the student to have past experience working with refrigerants.  The student will also need to have their own HVAC tools such as a tape measures, hammer, wrenches, pliers, tube cutters and thermometer.

The associate’s degree in applied science will teach students about controlling environments through cooling and heating ventilation techniques. The student will learn how to repair, install and maintain cooling and heating systems with the use of environmental gauges and tools.

The apprenticeship for the HVAC tech obtaining their associate’s degree will allow the student to gain field experience and require them to spend 144 hours of classroom instruction a year and a total of 3 to 4 years dedicated to a compensated apprenticeship.

The HVAC Education Requirements

An HVAC certification program will teach students how to read blueprints, temperature control, equipment design, how to maintain and repair heating and cooling systems and how to install them. The following is some of the core courses you can expect in an accredited program: fundamentals of HVAC technology, pressure, heat energy, personal protective equipment, hydronics, oil heat, gas heat, personal safety, electrical lockout, electrical tag-out, what is energy, intro to the industry, parallel circuits, magnetism, transformers, power wiring, residential heat, electric motor theory, diagnosing motors, three phase motors, system properties and air flow measurement.

The Required Apprenticeship and Work Environment

Most states will require the HVAC student to have worked one to two years as an apprentice under the supervision of a certified HVAC technician or contractor.  Some apprenticeship programs can last four to five years and will teach the apprentice how to incorporate and blend practical learning practices with theoretical practices. An apprenticeship program will commonly be provided by a professional union.

After a student has graduated from an HVAC program they will need to sit for their licensing exam which will contain questions about system installation, repair and maintenance and electrical codes. For those HVAC techs that want to work with refrigerants they will need to take an additional exam for certification.

As a professional technician in this field you will work for the city, or you can work for a large or small heating and cooling company. In the field you will work on repairing and installing systems in residential homes, offices, factories or hospitals.

The median salary for the HVAC technician in 2011 was 42,000$, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with the top ten percent of technicians making 65,000$. The national average salary for this field in 2010 was 25,000$. Working as an apprentice you will earn fifty percent of the salary that the licensed HVAC technician will make. The salary for this field will be based on the level of education, union affiliation, the company they are employed with and which state they live in.   Those technicians that have worked in the field for more than three years may also decide to open up their own HVAC business.

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