HVAC Technician

HVAC/R stands for heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration. The technician works on the machines that move heat from where it is not wanted to where it does no harm.

The refrigeration cycle

Every air conditioner and refrigerator runs the same loop. A compressor squeezes refrigerant gas and heats it; a condenser sheds that heat outdoors and the gas becomes liquid; a metering device drops the pressure; an evaporator lets the liquid boil, soaking up heat from the room. The technician reads the loop through two numbers, superheat and subcooling, the way a nurse reads pulse and blood pressure.

Air conditioning and the skyline

Willis Carrier's 1902 system was built to control humidity in a printing plant. By the 1950s, central air conditioning, together with the curtain wall and fluorescent light, allowed the deep, sealed office floor. Without mechanical cooling the modern glass tower would be uninhabitable in summer; HVAC is one of the quiet conditions of the vertical push.

The law

Refrigerants damage the ozone layer or warm the climate, so the U.S. Clean Air Act (Section 608) requires technicians who open a refrigerant circuit to be certified and to recover refrigerant rather than vent it.

Learning it here

The HVAC/R program covers electrical fundamentals, the refrigeration cycle, gas and electric heat, air distribution, commercial refrigeration, heat pumps and controls. Credentials prepared: EPA 608 Universal, NATE, HVAC Excellence and NCCER HVAC.

Where it leads

Residential service, commercial and industrial refrigeration, building automation and controls, data-center cooling, and energy auditing.