HVAC Schools, Colleges in Georgia

What is an HVAC/R technician?
HVAC/R is short from for Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigerator and an HVAC technician’s work is too carry out all maintenance activities like repairing, installing and maintaining heating, refrigeration and air conditioning systems. HVAC technicians in Georgia specialize in either heating, air conditioning, or refrigeration work and installation or maintenance and repair section.

Why Become an HVAC/R Technician in Georgia
The career of an HVAC/R has the greatest factors that promote job growth, and this is why most people in Georgia study and train as HVAC technicians. A 21% growth has been projected in the field of HVAC, which is a great percentage of job growth and with the kind of demand on the market, HVAC technicians will have more job security and a huge growing salary. One of the reasons for the massive job growth is the new technology being innovated almost every day in the present world. The old HVAC equipment is becoming less and less efficient than today’s models. Such older equipment, in turn, will cost consumers more money to run the systems; it will offer less comfort and increase environmental pollution. The consumers will, therefore, have no option but to purchase newer HVAC systems to save the environment and more money while increasing comfortability.

It has become a general knowledge to consumers that it is essential to keep their HVAC equipment maintained to increase their efficiency and their life span. This means that there is more job opportunities for HVAC/R technician than there was in the past and technicians will be more occupied with jobs. The commercial and residential building construction is another reason that will drive an increase in employment. Sophisticated climate-control systems are growing in number and therefore is the demand for qualified HVAC/R technicians in the industry. There are many principles that outlaw the release and manufacture of older types of refrigerant pollutants that will cause the need to modify or replace the existing air conditioning systems. A growing emphasis on energy efficiency and reduction of all kinds of pollution that might threaten human and animal life is also likely to increase the demand for HVAC/R technicians. Because climate control systems will have to be retrofitted, entirely replaced or upgraded.

Being an HVAC/R technician means that you have a great earning potential, the extra hours also pay an added advantage during the peak seasons where there are extreme temperatures that give technicians opportunities to work more and get extra earnings. If you get to work as an HVAC/R technician for a much bigger company, there is a possibility that you will make a likely salary of over $80,000 per year.

HVAC/R companies in Georgia and through the entire, US are out seeking for qualified HVAC mechanics and the new-bees to train. Technicians have a good job security because, in every home, school, hospital and business, HVAC services will always be required from time to time to keep their systems in good shape and functioning despite the economic conditions. Therefore, an HVAC/R technician has no need of being worried about their jobs being overtaken by the new technology machines. The demand goes on growing and becoming an HVAC technician is the right choice of a career path that gives you the chances of being employed any time in the present day world.

Most technicians are retiring fast, and there is an urgent need to replace them with the new minds to facilitate growth in the manufacturing industries in the United States of America and across the globe. Becoming an HVAC/R technician provides you as a committed and hardworking technician an opportunity of making potential advancements with your field. You can begin as a mere field technician but grow up the career ladder to a more managerial position and earn more money than you started off with. It all depends on your commitment and passion for the profession as you can advance from service technician to installer, a distribution manager or an operations manager.

Georgia HVAC/R Educatinoal Requirements

A professional HVAC technician should have undergone some formal training for it to be easy to be employed, as that is the key quality that most employers look for. It is not necessarily for one to go to class and follow instructions but one can also acquire the skills needed for just being an apprentice that should take a period of between three to five years. Local state unions jointly sponsor the apprenticeships in Georgia and classroom instructions are conducted in both trade schools and technical universities or also at community colleges in Georgia. However, with the growing demand for HVAC technicians, the training can take as short as a couple of months.

In Georgia, an HVAC technician should be licensed through the process of having passed a written test. One may seek certification to operate small, low-pressure or high-pressure electrical devices by taking an examination directed through selected governmental and educational centers or any industry organization. Among the topics covered are proper disposal of appliances, leakage identification, and allowable annual leak rates. The US Environmental Protection Agency needs all technicians who work with or buy refrigerants to be licensed in proper refrigerant handling. HVAC who have had prior experience in handling refrigerants should be specifically certified to do so. An HVAC technician needs to have certain qualities and skills to success in this kind of profession. Soft skills are essential in this line of work, and one needs to be careful and patient with their work.

Should be a critical thinker for him other to weigh the various solutions applicable to a certain problem and choose the best one that will give satisfactory results. An HVAC technician should possess good listening skills to understand the problems on which they are supposed to work on and solve. Good tie management is required of an HVAC technician in Georgia because at times the schedule can get so tight and busy. They, therefore, have to strive harder to meet those demands.
Finally, an HVAC technician should have good communication skills regarding conversations; this will make it easy to give clear instructions to their partners or their clients in their line of work.

Facts about HVAC/R Technicians in Georgia
HVAC/R technicians in Georgia typically work for 40 hours weekly and on some occasions work during the evening or on weekends, however, in peak seasons they are forced to work overtime and irregular hours. Some HVAC technicians are self-employed, and only almost 4% technicians work less than the full-time of 40 hours per week. HVAC technicians typically work indoors and sometimes outdoors on equipment that needs them to be outside. They travel to various locations making service calls during such days. Working as an HVAC technician is not any simple job like the white collar jobs a majority of people specialize in. It can get so uncomfortable and sometimes even dangerous because a technician is forced to spend time working in cramped and small spaces in unventilated buildings. On the other hand, the refrigerants that are usually used in the task of cooling systems have probabilities of causing accidents and are hazardous. On some occasions, technicians suffer from strains, burns and even shocks while handling the equipment if they are not extra careful enough.

Salaries in Georgia for HVAC/R Technicians
The average HVAC Technician in Atlanta, Georgia earns about $20.31 per hour, however, with quality customer services, controls, welding, commercial and system troubleshooting services, the payment can be increased. Below are the annual base salaries of a HVAC technician as per 30th January 2017 in different cities of Georgia; Albany, $39,353, $39,590 Athens, $42,139 Atlanta, $39,156 Augusta, $38,385 Columbus, $40,482 Macon, $41,204 Marietta$40,782 Roswell, $39,597 Savannah, $36,835 Valdosta. According to statistics from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2015 HVAC technicians made a median annual salary of $45,110. There was a prediction that the job growth rate for HVAC technicians would be 14% between 2014 and 2024, which is higher compared to any other occupations.

What Employers Look For In HVAC Technicians in Georgia
Education- employers will first demand to see your formal credentials in the form of a certificate, diploma or degree in HVAC. A certified technician has more privileges and a wide opportunity for being employed that the one with no certification at all. With the credentials, you can be easily promoted to higher job positions like the supervisory or sales and marketing positions or even a building superintend. Skills in troubleshooting- when a customer makes a call to an HVAC technician about a problem thy have, he or she will not be able to accurately determine what kind of problem it is. They will, therefore, be required to troubleshoot and decide what the issue could be. It includes asking the owner specific questions and then inspecting the system to determine the issue. Employers look for HVAC technicians with good understanding, building plans, good knowledge in working with pipes and wires, know how to use power tools and have a good comprehension of science and math.

Time management skills- this is a soft skill that employers look for in HVAC/R technicians. It is the ability of effectively managing a schedule while at the same maintaining an organized pattern. In a day, a technician will receive multiple calls from clients, and they are required to finish every single task efficiently and then immediately go to the next until all orders of the day are made. Customer service skills- as a technician you will mostly work directly with your clients at their homes or places of work. It is therefore very essential to have exceptional people skills to interact with the property owners, property managers. Developing controls requires a certain level of diplomacy that a professional technician possesses. Mechanical skills- these are the type of skills acquired in training schools and a professional HVAC/R technician should, therefore, be comfortable enough working with mechanical systems. He or she should be able to reassemble, repair, assemble and program HVAC systems. Physical strength- a technician will have to work on their own most of the occasions and it is an advantage that one has physical strength that will enable him to lift equipment, objects, and heavy parts. It does not matter whether you will be working in a team or individually, but it is equally important. Detail oriented nature- there will be a lot of taking notes in the line of profession. Therefore, a technician should be organized to maintain accurate records or every visit they make to customers, the tasks that were accomplished and the equipment used to perform the job.

Duties of an HVAC technician in Georgia

Oversee installations- an HVAC technician is in charge of installing home heating and air quality systems and refrigeration systems. They have an option of either specializing in just installation, repair, or both, and in certain types of systems or equipment. Troubleshoot and repair HVAC/R equipment- after the installation, they have a duty to occasionally go back and check up on the systems and perform any necessary preventive maintenance services and troubleshoot the system as any need arises. They do so by fine-tuning system settings and conducting performance tests with the aid of specialized tools they carry with them. Provide excellent customer services- an HVAC technician will review specifications and explain to customers the options of a variety of products available. Provide technical support in the field- once an agreement between the client and an HVAC technician has been reached, he or she will go forward to establish the system.
Work together with sales and engineering to develop product designations adaptive to customer needs and market opportunities. An HVAC technician may sometimes be responsible for selling maintenance contracts to clients. Outline design and install low voltage wiring, run after hour’s calls whenever it is needed.

HVAC Vocational and Trade Schools in Georgia

Start training in one of the numerous technical schools in Georgia for your career of becoming a professional HVAC/R technician. Services in heating, air conditioning, ventilation are needed all throughout the seasons in homes, businesses and industrial sectors. A proficient HVAC/R is needed everywhere despite the weather or the place. The colleges mentioned below have been recognized for their air conditioning, heating, ventilation education and training through the USA. A standard HVAC curriculum includes maintaining and finding automatic control parts and understanding their application to the combustion theory and efficiency testing. Servicing and maintaining heat exchangers, thermostats, blower motors, and fans. Training programs on energy efficiency basics, emerging fields in the market such as geothermal and solar energy. Troubleshooting commercial refrigeration control systems are also taught including replacing compressors, refrigerant piping, plotting air conditioners and replacing heat exchangers. Later on, trainees are made to put their HVAC skills to the ultimate climate control test in simulated greenhouses to test their understanding and knowledge they have acquired about the HVAC/R field.

Georgia HVAC Technician Schools & Training Classes
The state of Georgia has several colleges offering HVAC/R training programs. Today, manufacturing companies are only looking for qualified and trained HVAC/R technicians to work with. Therefore, one only has to make an informed decision about where they want to get their technical education from after reviewing the tuition information degree and program options in different institutions. Some of which are mentioned below. Either aspiring HVAC specialists can get further education at the diploma or certificate program levels, and students get to learn through classroom instructions and the experience in laboratories.

Lincoln Tech

Lincoln technical school was established over 70 years ago and has been serving as a technical institution aiding students to succeed in their individual careers by providing them with professional training that includes had on training. It has been approved a six-year HVAC Excellence Accreditation. They are one of the training institutions in Georgia that have laid the foundation of the state’s educational for industries established on a constantly evolving technology. At Lincoln tech, they offer courses that are flexible and designed to develop with the changing environments and expectation of the present day job markets. Their HVAC programs emphasis on energy auditing and eco-friendly measures that address energy loss and they have the best Instructors who have seasoned teaching skills, job site experience, a strong passion for their work and subject matter expertise.

Employed HVAC technician in Georgia have the chance to go through further training during the night as the Institute offers evening classes for those with busy schedules and daytime classes too. There is career training for other fields apart from just HVAC like Spa and Cosmetology, auto and diesel technology, electrical, health science, welding, culinary arts, manufacturing and business, and information. At Lincoln Tech, students learn by doing practical tasks, the training programs put a lot of stress in making sure the trainees receive first hand and interactive learning activities. This gives them valuable on job experience as they get to do the job before they even go out and look for jobs, giving them an advantage over other students from other training institutions.

Certificate degree, diploma degree, and associate degree programs at Lincoln tech aim at accelerating trainees’ education and therefore their entrance chances into the job market. They have a learning setup that resembles the job field environment; the classrooms are set up with labs equipped with walk-in freezers, central air systems, household furnaces and other facilities to stimulate duct work. Additionally, modern technology in the form of thermal imaging cameras used to check for energy efficiency have been employed for a better learning experience.

Athens Technical College
It is located in Athens, Georgia and is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia established in 1958. The school offers diplomas, associate degrees, and certificates in business, technical, manufacturing and health related fields. The air conditioning system maintenance technical training teaches students about refrigeration systems, and the air conditioning electrical technician programs focus majorly on electrical concepts and theories applied in AC systems. They offer 12 credit programs and the following course topics AC/DC theory, refrigerant recovery. Refrigerant tools, safety, charging, compressors, code requirements and more items. Programs offered at Athens Technical College aim to prepare students for the entry-level positions in the industry of HVAC. These programs prepare students to work as HVAC technicians and assistants for installation, air conditioning repair businesses. At Athens College, trainees learn the necessary air conditioning processes and the electrical components. The courses offered include sectors about systems components, troubleshooting air conditioning systems, refrigeration basics, gas heat and heat pumping among much more. At the same time, students are learning and taking classroom instructions they also carry out practical applications to have the knowledge of how to operate in a professional HVAC/R setup. Furthermore, students are taught about interpersonal relations and the skills that a good HVAC assistant should to be successful in their profession.

Central Georgia Technical College
The college is located in both Macon and Milledgeville, Georgia; it was established in 1962 as Macon Area Vocational Technical School. It is also a unit of the technical college system of Georgia and offers education to the eleven county service area in the central Georgia. It awards technical certificates of credit, associate degrees, and diplomas. Its primary campuses are in Macon, Warner Robins, and Milledgeville where a variety of programs including HVAC training programs are available and all awarded with technical certificates credits, associate degrees and diplomas like the central university. For aspiring HVAC/R technicians, the college offers two 12-credit programs that are the air conditioning technician assistant and the air conditioning electrical technician. The air conditioning technical assistant program is based on the refrigeration system, its major parts and other equipment used on the refrigeration systems. Another program the school offers is a diploma in Air Conditioning Technology where the aspirants are needed to have high school diploma. The other program focuses on teaching students matters about the electrical sections used in the refrigeration systems. After completing the three-course programs offered at Central Georgia Technical College, they will have known and familiarized themselves with how to maintain refrigeration systems and at the same time implement industry standards and practice proper safety measures.

HVAC Resources in Georgia:

http://sos.ga.gov/index.php/licensing/plb/15 - Georgia Board of Conditioned Air Contractors

https://www.contractor-licensing.com/georgia/conditioned-air-license.html