Honestly didn't think I'd be asking this after 22 years. Half my calls down here involve heat pumps now. A lot of the raised houses went all-electric in the Sandy rebuilds, and I've been doing the circuits and handing the customer off to an HVAC guy I've known forever. He's retiring in the spring.
So I'm weighing getting the HVACR license myself versus hiring someone who has it. Anyone here hold both an EC and an HVACR? Could I even meet the experience requirement at this point, or am I starting from zero? Kash, I'm looking at you.
HVAC contractor, owner · 25 years · Middlesex County, NJ
Mentor
Happy to help, with the usual caveat that the board's page is the authority, not me:
- Your electrical years almost certainly don't count as HVACR experience; as far as I know it's trade-specific
- Hiring or partnering with a licensed Master HVACR Contractor is the faster route, and plenty of shops do it
- If you go for it yourself, there's a business and law part on the exam, which you've already been through once for your EC
- Price the insurance before you decide; adding mechanical work changes your policy
This is interesting to me because I still haven't picked a trade. If a guy who's been an electrician this long is moving toward heat pumps, should someone starting out just pick HVAC? Or is electrical smarter since the heat pumps need it anyway?
New to electrical (career switch) · Essex County, NJ
Career switcher here too. The shop I'm helping at does the electrical for two HVAC companies, and both of them are always short. I'd assumed the license side was simpler than this.