Technician is checking air conditioner ,measuring equipment for filling air conditioners.
Generally, being an HVACR professional means having expertise in the fields of residential or commercial heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration. In the macro sense, you will be helping homeowners and business enterprises manage the heat by keeping them cool — but not too cool, just enough to keep them cozy and comfortable.
However, once you pass the licensing exam in Arkansas and actually become an HVACR professional in the state, clients won’t likely be calling you in to actually ‘manage’ their systems. More often than not, you will be contracted to solve very specific problems, mostly because people tend to ignore their major systems until they start noticing actual problems with it.
In effect, you have to be prepared to provide very specific services such as the following:
1. Fixing a smelly AC/fridge
One of the most common complaints you will get is from unit owners who don’t understand why their cooling machines are emitting an unpleasant, sour smell. It will be your job to determine where that smell is coming from and how to remove the same. Sometimes, it would just be an issue of clogged and filthy filters. In that case, you’re in luck. But if you’re dealing with a ducted AC, the issue is probably mold. When it comes to fridges and freezers, though, it might be more challenging to identify what’s causing the smell, but it will be a lot easier to remove.
2. Determining the right equipment size
Much of the decision-making that revolves around the purchase of heating and cooling systems is knowing the correct size to buy for the space they have. There are a lot of options out there in the market for them, and they would need your expert guidance to show them in the right direction. You must also take this opportunity to offer more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly options to get the best bang out of your buck.
3. Installation works
Obviously, after helping them pick out the right equipment for their house/office, clients will also count on you to take care of the installation for them. This entails more than just the act of installing the system/unit. You will have to provide sound advice on where to position the equipment and how to maintain them for optimal performance and energy efficiency.
4. Advise in picking out a humidifier/air purifier
In the era of the coronavirus pandemic, humidifiers and air purifiers have become more popular. Since this also serves to improve the quality of air indoors, it also falls within the ambit of your expertise as an HVACR professional. Therefore, it’s good to learn about the different kinds of humidifiers and air purifiers and have top recommendations for clients, may it be portable or wall-installed. Naturally, you will also be asked to do the installation yourself.
5. Cleaning vents and ducts
Vents and ducts are like the central nervous system keeping your heating and cooling systems working. However, homeowners are notorious for knowing virtually nothing about these parts of their house, so you brace yourself to face many kinds of horrors when dealing with vents and ducts that people have not cleaned for years.
6. Optimizing performance
Many people attempt to install their own HVACR systems without advice from experts or professionals, which could lead to some nasty, if rather avoidable problems down the road. For most clients, this is where you come in. You have the unenviable job of optimizing the performance of other people’s HVACR units even if they have not been ideally installed.
Sometimes, a few tweaks will do the trick, but other times you have to undertake the more difficult route, which is overhauling the system and reinstalling it in such a way that it can perform better.
That wraps up our list of the most in-demand services HVACR professionals must be prepared to provide. Once you’ve got all these skills nailed down, then you’re ready to get licensed and run a profitable contracting business in Arkansas.