How Much Does an HVAC technician make - HVAC Career and Apprenticeship

HVAC Career

The attic feels like a furnace, the thermostat is clueless, and the AC just quit on the hottest day of the year. Enter Carl Fagerstrom—part electrician, part plumber, part detective. 

Carl pulls back the curtain on the HVAC world with insider tips on keeping your home safe, cool, and filled with clean air. But beyond the tools and filters, Carl shares real career insight: why HVAC is “the king of the trades,” how clean coils and proper filtration can make an 18-year-old system run like new, and why carbon monoxide monitoring isn’t optional.

In an era of AI and automation, this hands-on career is still in huge demand—and Carl’s story offers career advice you won’t want to miss.

A-Team website: https://www.ateamcomfort.com/

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Music credit: Kate Pierson & Monica Nation

Transcript

Carl 0:03

I had to have a training on how to survive attics because if it's 100 degrees out, that attic could be 160 degrees. You go up there and you just start pouring sweat. Plus, your brain goes into like survival mode or shuts off.

Choosing HVAC via Trade School

Mirav 0:20

Hi, welcome back to How Much Can I Make? I'm your host Miravozeri. Picture this in the middle of the summer, the heat is relentless, and of course, that's when my AC decides to quit. Total meltdown. So I call for service and in walks Carl Fergor. Not only did he get my system working again, but the way he solved the problem was so smart and creative that I thought, okay, this guy's gotta be on my podcast. So today we're diving into what it's really like to be an HVAC pro with Carl himself. Carl, thank you so much for doing it. Happy to be here. So let's start with did you always know you want to get into HVAC?

Carl 1:02

No, I I really didn't. Actually, the reason why I got into HVAC was because I didn't get into the aviation program. What do you mean? Yeah, I I wanted to be a pilot, but I signed up too late, so the class was already full. I was like, well, my mom really was pushing for me to go to the Bosey's VOTEC program because I don't know, she probably saw something in me that I'm probably better off working with my hands. What's Bossies? The trade school? Yeah, the trade school in high school.

Mirav 1:33

I want to know all about the trade school. It's really, really hot topic right now.

Carl 1:37

Yeah.

Mirav 1:38

Would you recommend for people to go to trade school?

Carl 1:40

Absolutely. A lot of those jobs are hard to replace you, especially with all the AI stuff going on right now. They're not coming for our jobs, that's for sure.

Mirav 1:51

How did you decide on studying agevac?

College Path and First Job Hustle

Carl 1:54

My cousin was already in the program. He was a grade above me, so I was like, oh cool, I'll go hang out with my cousin and get to learn about air conditioners. I was like, I had no idea if this was ever gonna be what I really wanted to do. But then, you know, they pull out blowtorches and you're like bending metal and doing all this stuff that I was like, I'm in school right now and I'm getting to play with a blowtorch. You've you've got my attention now. And it was also cool because you're opened up to other schools. What do you mean? And all the neighboring schools all go to the same class, so you get to meet new people. How many years was the program? Uh, two years. I did it. Both years I took the afternoon class. So I would spend each morning at school doing normal high school stuff, and then you would go to lunch, and then you would get on a bus and go over to Port Ewan and get to learn about HVAC, and it was cool. You also like once a week they would let you uh for a dollar get your haircut by the Cosmo girls. I was getting some of the best haircuts of my life at the time. That was part of the trade school, yeah, yeah. So that they could work on actual clients. It was good for them too to get that experience.

Mirav 3:09

Absolutely, I didn't know. That's very smart. Yeah, it was really cool. So, when you enrolled, did you know you're gonna go to HVAC or you thought about something else?

Industrial Systems Reality Check

Carl 3:17

Well, I mean, the other options were like nursing or culinary, and I don't resonate with that very much. So I didn't want to work on cars because I know my uncle did it and it didn't look like the lifestyle that I would have wanted. And the HVAC guy just seemed pretty laid back and chill. And I'm pretty sure he was the one who told me, he's like, the smarter you are, the less work you'll have to do. And I thought I was pretty smart, and I was like, but I if I stay with this, I would love to not be doing backbreaking work for the rest of my life because I got other interests and stuff that I want to do, and I want to ruin my body. Yes, I love playing music. That's a that's been a big part of my life for the past decade. Why did you choose trade school versus college? Oh, I actually went to college also for HVAC. Hudson Valley Community College was rated the number one HVAC school at the time. Plus, at that point, I was like pretty invested in HVAC. Like I had started buying my own tools. They're telling me, hey, everybody, everywhere wants to be hotter or colder. I was like, oh, I could take this and go anywhere. So that was very appealing to me. How did you get your first job out of school? So out of college, my number one priority was a place to live. So I had heard from a friend of a friend that if I got a job working at this uh establishment nearby that they have housing, this certain job there would have your best chance of getting a dorm room on their property. But that's what I did. So I started washing dishes with the idea that okay, they have a maintenance department on staff here. I'm just gonna start like trying to rub elbows with those guys, let them know, like, hey, I'm your guy, like, I've been going to school for HVAC for like four years. I don't really have the work experience at all, but I have book smarts for right now, and I was pretty much poo-pooed away. Like, we don't think you're gonna handle what we have to deal with here. And long story short, they were so right. I did eventually land into their maintenance department where I did start to talk to their HVAC guy on site, and I was, you know, able to ask him more involved questions, and every now and then they would be like, Oh, you're gonna be our guy to go help him out. If I was by myself, I would have not had a clue of what I was doing. Yeah, this was industrial state, like you have residential, which is homes, commercial, which is larger buildings, then these would be considered industrial-sized.

Mirav 5:57

You were not trained for that in school.

Breakthrough: Networking into a Tech Role

Carl 5:58

I I have the certification, but when you're looking at it and it's right in your face and you have 16 compressors for one unit, it's massive, and it's pumping glycol instead of refrigerant for every room and all of the other rooms connected to it. It was very daunting. How I really got out of there was really funny. I was the only one trusted with the company vehicle at the time off property because our parts guy was on vacation, and they were like, Carl, run down to New Paltz and go buy this from Yon Supply. But while I was there, this guy came in and everybody behind the desk was like, Oh, hey, hey, so good to see you. And he was just like, the man, he was a local owner for a company. Okay, and it was so funny. He's like talking to the other guy while I'm talking to the woman over here, and he's like, way too loud. If you hear of any young guys trying to get their feet wet in the HVAC business, have them take my card. And I just like look over at him. I was like, let me get one of those. And so you ended up with him. I did. Watching and learning was very important, and doing it wrong a few times will definitely teach you the most. I have learned the hard way so many times. It's uh it's important though for this field because you will learn from your mistakes and you learn not to ever do that again.

Mirav 7:29

Right. Do you feel that the school prepared you well for the market?

Leveling Up at A‑Team

Carl 7:33

Yeah, definitely more than if I didn't for sure. They taught me a lot. Even like life's life things to apply to this. One, Mr. Smith, I'm sorry if you're listening. Uh, I I didn't listen to you when it came to the music stuff. He was always like, there's there's always gonna be time to play music later, guys. Look at me, I'm 45, I still play with my band, but do the HVAC stuff first. Get all of that done. That way, you know, you get to this level where you won't need other people to help you, and then go be a musician. Like it'll be there for you. And I was like, cool idea, but these guys asked me to be in their band, and I think I'm gonna do it.

Mirav 8:18

So now you work with A-Team, a company that I used a lot, and you repaired brilliantly a few things for me. Do you like being at A-Team?

Carl 8:26

Ever since I got here, my level of expertise has skyrocketed. Why do you think that is? I think it's because of being forced to adapt with all of the different kinds of things that I am seeing.

Mirav 8:41

You changed water heaters for me, things that are not HVAC. So, did they teach you plumbing also in school?

HVAC: The King of the Trades

Electrification and Control Boards

Carl 8:47

Or so that's why they they call HVAC the king of the trades. Because to know HVAC entirely, you do have to be an electrician. You do have to be a plumber, and yeah, you have to know all the HVAC things too, and probably a little bit of carpentry every now and then, especially when it comes to measuring and you know, measure twice, cut once. That would that definitely applies to us as well. How did the industry change since you started to know? Everything has a control board in it nowadays, and they're really pushing, especially in our state, to get away from fossil fuels. So that means only electric units. They're I think even saying that you can't install like oil units anymore. Really? Uh on on new construction, I believe, is the stipulation there. Yeah, it's uh it's tough because gas and oil, when they have something that's wrong with them, they're pretty easy at letting you know what it is because there's the sequence of operation.

Mirav 9:49

Okay.

Carl 9:49

With the electrical stuff and more of the control board stuff coming out. I just would need probably a little more training on the intricacies of what's going on with the control boards. Some of them have three control boards in them now. A lot of the time, I do end up resorting to calling tech support, which truthfully, your phone is your number one tool.

Mirav 10:15

Talking about tools, do you have to get new tools as new things go on?

Carl 10:19

All the time. All the time. And they are not cheap. A lot of people do not realize this. I I do this fun thing sometimes. I'm like, how much do you think this tool is? It's a Schrader core removal tool. Its only job is to pull out this tiny little thing right here. They're like, I don't know, 20 bucks? $110 for this little piece of brass.

Mirav 10:38

Do you have to buy your tools or the core?

Side Gigs, Music, and Preferences

Carl 10:40

Yeah, all your hand tools, your refrigeration gauges, and then the boss will supply some of the more uh extravagant tools, like if you get pro presses. Those pro press tools are like four thousand dollars sometimes. A lot of people do not realize how much money we have to invest in ourselves for this job. They obviously see the end product, they're like, you were here for half an hour, why am I spending eight hundred dollars? I'm like, unfortunately, just be happy that it only took you 30 minutes to get your air conditioning back. I'm sorry it costs so much, but but so your tools are your tools.

Mirav 11:16

If you move to either another job or start your own business, by the way, are you dreaming of starting your own business?

Carl 11:22

I like where I am right now because every now and then I'll I'll do stuff on my own for my friends or their families. That's good enough for me right now. It's like a side hustle. Exactly. It's nice when you see just like all that money goes right to you and there's no anything in between. But I know that the the jobs are so few and far between for me. I'm focusing more on music and stuff like that right now because it's so much fun.

Mirav 11:49

What's your favorite thing to repair or the the job that they will send you on?

Toughest Conditions: Attics and Crawls

Carl 11:54

Personally love working on air conditioning because one, it's usually the cleaner of all of the things in the HVAC. Like I'm not crawling around or getting soot or anything like that on me. Plus, I got this nice red button up that I like to keep clean. I hate doing laundry, so HVAC uh AC repairs are usually my favorite. What's the toughest part of your job? Crawling around in attics and crawl spaces. You know, winter when somebody's furnace is underneath their house, it's freezing, cold, wet, plus the spider webs, like nobody goes and hangs out down there. And then attics. Like, I had to have a training on how to survive attics because most people don't have you know the attic fans, or if they do, they're probably broken. You know, if it's a hundred degrees out, that attic could be 160 degrees. You go up there and you just start pouring sweat, which is another issue because if you're all wet, you're conductive, uh even extra. And you know, I'm like touching electrical components, like trying to not sweat on things and get them wet. Plus, your brain just is goes into like survival mode or shuts off. I've had to evacuate and go outside and just like if the customer comes out, it's like, hey, the option is I stay up there and possibly have heat stroke, or I have to spend a couple minutes of it going down. I think the rule is like you're only allowed to spend five to ten minutes up there if it's that hot before they want you to get out, get a drink. Yeah, and you know, if the attic's 120 degrees, like they're like no more than 30 minutes.

Mirav 13:35

And wow, I know I so the physical challenge is the big is the big challenge.

Maintenance Wins: Filters, IAQ, UV

Carl 13:39

Yeah, yeah. What about the reward? The reward, uh seeing a customer that was like, I love you. You me? Exactly, you brought me my heat or my air conditioning. Like, I that's the best part for me. The worst part is probably telling them how much it's about to cost, or I already already got that out of the way, but they're still usually like, oh man.

Mirav 14:02

Yeah, I did tell you, I love you, I love you because I know. So, what tips can you give us to avoid those charges? Check your air filters, clean your air filters.

Carl 14:13

That is really important. It's it's literally the first line of defense for your HVAC system. If you do nothing, at least do that. Really? Dirt, 90% of my problems. Just keeping the things clean is how you get those 18, 20-year-old systems and they still work like they're less than five years old. That's why we're huge on selling like indoor air quality and like the the upgraded filters, because the better the filter, the better your unit. And you know, if you use like cheaper filters, there's nothing really wrong with that, but whatever gets by, I mean, that's getting thrown away, thrown into your airspace, which means your lungs are now your filters. Oh. Like that's how it works. If you're not pulling the dirt and dust and pollen and debris and allergens, uh get stuck on the filter, they get by, they get on your blower wheel, and then they just get thrown into your space. That's also why we like the uh UV lights that we install. You know, it kills for for water system. We make them for air too. Oh, really? Yeah.

Mirav 15:14

Why do you need it for air conditioner?

COVID, Filtration, and Containment

Carl 15:17

Well, it kills and neutralizes all the bacteria. I have a whole list of the things, it's like tuberculosis, staph MRSA, uh airborne pathogens. If you have allergies, like this is the the move. Indoor air quality is like becoming more and more on people's mind. Especially after those fires happened in Canada, that's what really sparked a lot of this. Because you could see like orange in the sky.

Mirav 15:45

I thought you were gonna say a bit because in cooperation, like I worked at CBS News, and all the windows were closed and the air conditioner was working, and I was sick every year, twice, three times.

Carl 15:56

Yeah, it's indoor air quality. Um I was working at the other establishment, it was during COVID, and it was elderly facility slash hospital and like retirement home. I was changing filters every month instead of the recommended six months because we just wanted to make sure that we were doing more to protect them at the time and you know, setting up COVID wings. I had to install uh louvers that would shut off the air from the other sides of the building so it didn't get traveling through the air to the other rooms that they were in. And after I did that, they did say they noticed like a significant decrease in spreading the wow, yeah.

Pay Growth, Demand, and Careers

Mirav 16:42

When when somebody starts in HVAC, what can they look for as far as money? What is the potential earning?

Carl 16:49

I think a lot of people say they're green. Being green is they don't know nothing. Maybe they maybe they went to school in Bose's. We would still consider them green. Between 18 and 22, I would say. A lot of to start. That was the appeal for me when I was in Bose. But the uh room for growth, if you apply yourself, is astronomical for this field. Tell me about it. Well, I I took a four dollar an hour pay decrease to come work for A Team because I knew I was gonna show this guy what I could do, and within three months, I was making uh what four dollars more an hour than so I almost increased you know ten dollars an hour in three months. Wow, but I'm different. I am Carl, five star Carl. You are five-star Carl. I love myself very well, and I was taught a lot of really good things that helped me. Uh, plus from my pro prior experience.

Mirav 17:48

Are those the H5 jobs are in demand?

Smart Thermostats, Wi‑Fi, and AI

Carl 17:51

Oh, so so very much. Yeah, I think we could stand to hire three people right now for our for our job right now. You know, we would love another like two-year tech or another install person right now. We are getting backed up a little bit.

Mirav 18:08

I know technology got into your field too, and everything has Wi-Fi. Do you repair that also as well?

Carl 18:15

Yeah, I hate that because I personally I don't use Wi-Fi for any of mine at my in my life. I usually try to recommend that to people, just save them a couple hundred bucks. Try to figure it out on your own with your phone, because that's all I'm gonna do. And I'm not even lying, like, I've I've done that like seven times now, where all I did was look it up on my phone and followed the instructions. And if it comes to it, call their tech support. Like, they have thermostats that play music now, and I just don't understand why. I'm like, if if you have money for a thermostat that can play music, I'm pretty sure you got money for a sound system that can just be left away from all of that.

Mirav 18:59

I know. Now, what about AI? Do you use that on your job?

Carl 19:03

Yeah, yeah. There are actually a couple of programs that do have AI that we use, whether it's even just standard Google answers, we also use a uh Blue On, which is an app that is made for technicians, and it has like I'll type in air conditioner coil frozen, and it'll just top seven reasons why your AC is frozen.

Mirav 19:26

Do you have any kind of funny story about the customer that you've been to?

Carl 19:31

Oh, yeah, I'm sure I've got some good ones. Oh, my man Ray. You know, it's like February, it is cold. He calls, hey Carl, man, you're my man. I got no heat down here. The thing's smoking like a mother. I was on call that night because it was it was uh I'm on call right now, so you on call?

Mirav 19:55

That you have somebody on call or every day?

Carl 19:57

Yeah, yeah, it's important to have that. That's we're a 24 hour service, you know. You never know when somebody's stuff is gonna break.

Mirav 20:04

I know, and actually the boss, I just want to say, has a segment with us about plumbing. Yep, he started as a plumber, but he's highly knowledgeable about everything.

Safety: CO Risks and Detection

Carl 20:13

He's insanely smart, and it's it's great to have somebody like that as your boss. I've seen so many different companies where it's just like a bro who just thought he could buy an HVAC company and offers nothing. What's the hardest job you ever did? The hardest was probably the same one when that was. Is that right? Yeah, right. I mean, I turned his his oil boiler on for a second just to see what was going on. Instantly filled his basement with black, deep smoke. Were you freaked out? Absolutely. I was very scared, and I tried for I think three hours trying everything. I was like, alright, I gotta open this thing completely, and that's when I found that his heat exchanger was leaking water into the chamber. Is that dangerous? Very wow, yeah. Carbon monoxide uh is a very real danger. That's why we offer carbon monoxide testing for our A-Team Comfort Club members because of how important it is to catch that. Uh carbon monoxide is a colorless. Have you run into a situation where uh that was when I lived at that one place I got security? I was like, yeah. They're like, hey, does it smell like carbon monoxide in here? They woke me up from a nap and I was like rubbing my eyes, like carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas and can only be detected by a carbon monoxide detector. And they're like, Oh then you need to get out. And that's when I realized why they called my room the raccoon room. Well, the raccoon family had died underneath my room. Because of carbon. That's uh my hypothesis. Yeah. Yeah.

The Next 5–10 Years

Mirav 21:58

Where do you see the HVAC industry going in the next five to ten years?

Carl 22:03

Uh it seems like it's definitely moving towards more electric driven. They're trying to get away from the fossil fuels, it really seems like digital everything, touch screen everything, Wi-Fi enabled everything.

Mirav 22:16

So that is just more prone for failure and correct.

Gratitude, Service Plans, and Outro

Carl 22:20

You're putting control boards in everything. Your thermostat has a control board in it now. Do you love your job? I do. I do. Uh it's definitely not without its challenges, bad days, or anything like that. But at the end of the day, I do love it. Seeing the customers happy is definitely a huge bonus. It's very cool.

Mirav 22:38

Alright, and on that note, thank you so much for participating and giving me your time. You could have fixed another air conditioner for somebody for a lot of people.

Carl 22:47

For like 20 minutes, I think they'll be fine.

Mirav 22:49

Okay. Well, that was very interesting. I learned about HVAC.

Carl 22:53

And then I'll see you for your fall annual service where we'll change everything, get your filters changed, clean up your coils.

Mirav 23:01

Ay, ay, ay, okay. All right, I forget probably. Okay. That's a wrap for today. Big thanks to Carl for saving my summer and stopping by to share his HVAC story. If you like the show, please hit the follow button. And until next time, stay warm or cool, depends where you are.