Specializing in Service After Taking HVAC Courses Online

May 10, 2010
Katrina Dayrit

Certified HVAC Service Technicians at Work - K.Muncie

To become certified as service technicians, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning workers need to pass an NATE core exam and a specialty test.

Upon completing the requirements of HVAC courses online, technicians often choose a field of specialization. Specialty in this line of work is either on installation or service. When a specialty has been chosen, technicians can choose to take certification exams. In the United States, the most popular certification agency is the North American Technician Excellence (NATE).

Choosing HVAC Courses Online That Cater to Aspiring Service Technicians

HVAC courses online cover topics that all heating, ventilation, and air condition technicians should know. There are general courses that cover all aspects of service and maintenance work while there are also additional classes offered specifically for those who want to specialize in this field.

Aspiring service technicians should choose HVAC courses online that educate and train them for all knowledge and skills required for proper service and maintenance work. Such skills include everything that installation technicians do as well as how to power and adjust control settings in order to cycle units and equipment through appropriate sequences (i.e. heater, cooler, blower).

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning service technicians also need to be able to determine whether or not a system or piece of equipment is performing adequately. That is done through proper acquisition or readings that need to be evaluated and interpreted. Whenever necessary, service technicians also need to perform corrective actions.

Getting Certified as a Service Technician After Graduating From HVAC Courses Online

An NATE Core Exam is available to those who want to become certified service technicians. That exam is to be taken along with a separate specialty test that covers the candidate's expertise. The specialty exams offered by the NATE for certification are:

Air Conditioning Service
Air Distribution Service
Air to Air Heat Pump Service
Gas Heating (Air) Service
Oil Heating (Air) Service
Hydronics Gas Service
Hydronics Oil Service

For those who choose to specialize in the refrigeration, two other specialty exams are available. They are the Light Commercial Refrigeration Service and the Commercial Refrigeration Service exams. To prepare for these tests, it would be beneficial for candidates to obtain formal education from HVAC courses online that cover the field of refrigeration.

Work experience prior to certification testing is not required but would prove to be an advantage. In fact, the NATE recommends that candidates have at least two years of work experience in their chosen field of specialization before certification testing for service technicians.

References:

North American Technician Excellence. " Knowledge Areas of Technician Expertise." Accessed May 2010.

North American Technician Excellence. " NATE Certification 101." Accessed May 2010.