HVAC

HVAC joins two occupations in O*NET: heating, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics and installers, who install or repair heating, central air conditioning and refrigeration systems, and sheet metal workers, who fabricate and install ducts and other sheet-metal products.

The mechanic’s core tasks begin with testing electrical circuits and components for continuity and end with adjusting system controls to the manufacturer’s settings, so the trade’s kit spans electrical test instruments, refrigerant gauges and vacuum equipment, and tube-working tools for copper. O*NET records 259 tool commodities for HVAC mechanics and 165 for sheet metal workers. Under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Section 608 rules, anyone who could reasonably be expected to violate the integrity of the refrigerant circuit, which the agency says includes attaching hoses and gauges and adding or removing refrigerant, must be certified.

O*NET OnLine, the occupational database of the US Department of Labor, reports for Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers (49-9021.00), 440,900 people in 2025, a median wage of $29.33 an hour ($61,010 a year), projected growth for 2025–2035 described as much faster than average (7% or higher), and 40,600 projected job openings; for Sheet Metal Workers (47-2211.00), 131,100 people in 2025, a median wage of $29.71 an hour ($61,800 a year), projected growth for 2025–2035 described as average (3% to 4%), and 9,800 projected job openings.