HVAC Mechanic / Installer

Career Area: Maintenance, Repair, and Installation

Occupation Group: HVAC and Appliance Technicians

Salary

Percentile wages tell how much a certain percentage of an overall population in a geographic area or within a given industry or field makes. The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.

An example would be the 25th percentile, 25 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 75 percent earn more than the estimated wage value. At the 75th percentile, 75 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 25 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.

A typical HVAC Mechanic / Installer earns the following wages (national and state):

State

The average salary in North Carolina for those pursuing this career is $46,094

*The salaries depicted here are representative of the range of salaries posted in job listings over the past year. Living wage in North Carolina is $30,000.

National

The average salary in the United States for those pursuing this career is $50,478

*The salaries depicted here are representative of the range of salaries posted in job listings over the past year. Living wage in North Carolina is $30,000.

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

Installs and repairs heating, air conditioning, and ventilation units.

Employment Trends

The job demand and job growth statistics shown here were derived from job posts over the past year. Expected job growth projections are extrapolated from year-over-year job post listing history.

Job demand and job growth is expected at the following rates:

LocationGrowth
North Carolina4579+15.5%
Nationwide98382+12.6%

Skills

A professional in this position typically utilizes the following skills in the course of everyday work in this exciting and challenging field:

Baseline Skills

The following are baseline skills every HVAC Mechanic / Installer is expected to have in order to experience success in this field:

  • Troubleshooting: Troubleshooting or dpanneuring is a form of problem solving, often applied to repair failed products or processes on a machine or a system.
  • Communication Skills: The ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently.
  • Physical Abilities: Physical Abilities, which refers to the ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with the body, arms, and/or legs. These abilities often require strength, endurance, flexibility, balance and coordination.
  • Preventive Maintenance: Machine maintenance or the preventive maintenance (PM) has the following meanings: The care and servicing by personnel for the purpose of maintaining equipment in satisfactory operating condition by providing for systematic inspection, detection, and correction of incipient failures either before they occur or before they develop into major defects.
  • Organizational Skills: Experience with a systematic process of structuring, integrating, co-ordinating task goals, and activities to resources in order to attain objectives.

Specialized Skills

These skills are specific to working in this career:

  • HVAC: Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) is the technology of indoor and vehicular environmental comfort.
  • Repair: Restoration of a broken, damaged, or failed device, equipment, part, or property to an acceptable operating or usable condition or state.
  • Plumbing: Plumbing is any system that conveys fluids for a wide range of applications.
  • Customer Service: Working experience with the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.
  • Ventilation: Ventilation is the process by which clean air (normally outdoor air) is intentionally provided to a space and stale air is removed. This may be accomplished by either natural or mechanical means.

Distinguishing Skills

Any HVAC Mechanic / Installer that possesses the following skills will stand out against the competition:

  • Electrical Systems: Electrical system design is the design of electrical systems. This can be as simple as a flashlight cell connected through two wires to a light bulb or as involved as the space shuttle. Electrical systems are groups of electrical components connected to carry out some operation.
  • Cooling Towers: A cooling tower is a heat rejection device that rejects waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a water stream to a lower temperature.

Experience

This position typically requires the following level of experience. The numbers presented in the pie charts below were derived from actual job posts over the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Experience Required%
0 to 2 years43%
3 to 5 years50%
6 to 8 years4%

Many of the programs offered through NC State are designed for working professionals who need additional credentials to enhance existing work experience.

Students who do not have the expected level of experience may wish to look into internship and employment opportunities.

Common Job Titles

It is possible to find work in this field in positions commonly listed as the following job titles:

  • Hvac Technician
  • Hvac Service Technician
  • Service Technician
  • Hvac Installer
  • Hvac Career Training - Local Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Training

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring similar occupations, you may want to research the following job titles: