Where did all the GOOD HVAC Technicians go???

Good HVAC technicians have been harder and harder to come by, along with high workmanship rapidly falling. In this video, I'm going to explain how this trend has slowly taken over the HVAC industry. Enjoy!
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[@joshsansone5113]

I learned the hard way with HVAC. As a young no nothing 22year old when I purchased my first home (foreclosure on a 6 year old home) the AC was not working. Called out the first company that popped up. In the area this was a large company. The guy was there no joke 15 minutes and charged me over $900 saying it had to be coded as a electrical issue and that was base pricing no matter how much electrical work he done! Fast forward a few years the coil froze up. I'm sure it had a leak and could have been swapped out or at least offered that option well I was sold on needing a whole system. This was installed by a different contractor. It ran without a hitch for 5 years and then was making a noise at the outside condenser. Again although a little older I still knew nothing HVAC related. (It could have been a simple fix, fan issue, or possibly a compressor issue). The company who installed it was out of business so onto a new contractor. I was not told the issue or given options other than hey you need to swap out the the condenser/EVAP coil AGAIN. After that I said no more. Started with the school of KZbin. Went and got my EPA cert. Slowly started accumulating HVAC related tools and monitors/meters etc that I would find deals on. Since then I was able to diagnose and replace a bad furnace fan capacitor. When I was doing that job I cleaned everything including the evap coil. Took out the blower motor and wheel and cleaned it. Put everything back in its place. About a year ago I had a bad board. I was able to diagnose the faulty board, buy the replacement, and swap it out myself. A little off topic but a year ago I wanted to install a water softener that I had already purchased. Extremely simple install 10' along a wall and back. I had three quotes that ranged from $1,200-1,600 to do the work. I spent right around $300 on the fittings, tools, and pex piping needed for the job and had it done in a few hours. I understand companies need to make money however I am not paying for all the overhead etc you have. I'll pay a fair labor rate $100-150hr depending on area, a service call fee, and a small mark up on the part. I would have given any of them the job for around $750. Recently I took my car in for an ecm update. Was told I have a leaking valve cover gasket and the job was $1,600. I kindly declined bought the gasket for $50 and took three hours of my own time to change. If you buy the right tools you can do just about anything. Know your limitations. Find a small local highly rated family HVAC company. I have found those offer the best service. Great video!

[@TM_Stone]

Great advice. I pretty much do the same. If I can fix it myself and it's within my limitations, I'll take it on. I'm having my 16 year old system replaced now since the Texas heat will be here before I know it. I received numerous quotes from family and/or smaller companies and settled on the one that felt the best. I told every person that came out that I wasn't an HVAC tech however I know way more than the average homeowner so don't BS me. They respected that.

[@relaxingnature6766]

Oh jeez, I have a company near me (WI) that charges similarly to your first Hvac experience. I understand SOME pricing, but Jeez Louiz!!! A customer should not be paying what you did. In my opinion, the BEST way to find a good company are from references, more references the better. Usually the big companies are the worst for price and do ok service. I know the economy is in a bad spot ATM but dang, what is wrong with companies??? Honesty is lacking

[@relaxingnature6766]

The more you can do the better, very happy to hear you did most of the work alone. Also, I think the fixed price system has infected most companies now a days. A capacitor change out used to be $120, but now $300 because of fixed rates. Control boards $500 but now $1000. It’s ridiculous

[@danlah1303]

Pretty soon the hvac company will be asking “will your spouse be available during your appointment”. That’s a classic tip-off 😂

[@matthewbyrd398]

Yup. I worked for a company that did that EXACT thing.

[@dankelley9361]

Great frank & honest conversation on where this country is heading. If you need help, talk to neighbors, ask as references, check the BBB rating on companies & if the cost of service or the repair seems excessive, get at least one to two more quotes! It’s your time & money, spend it wisely!

[@testos2701]

Well, I retired as an electronics, communication, network technician, took me quite a few years of education and training to keep up with technology. But I saw a trend in the manufacturing processes. Almost everything became disposable and real techs became part changers. Their training just went down the drain. That is when I decided to sell everything and retire. Now just about anyone could change a part, but ultimately its the consumer paying for the cost of their mistakes. I noticed the quality of the parts was sad, prices for buildings, ads, personnel went up so the bottom line was you had to increase your revenue somehow. This is everywhere today, up-sell is the name of the game if not you will be left behind. Great show!

[@findingneutral]

Your HVAC shared knowledge is worth gold. Much thanks for sharing it with us all.

[@RetiredSignDude]

Just viewed your website. It is totally, utterly and absolutely GREAT.

[@kennyjohnson6875]

The quality of our entire work force has been depleted . As you very well know ! Thanks for the video !

[@stefan_gordik]

finally a valuable HVAC video. no B.S, straight to the point

[@Jaxdrill]

I feel like this is part of the reason I don't even reach out to almost any of the businesses around me, don't want them just trying to sell me a new system rather than just do the maintenance/tune up..

[@thoughtfulhistorytoday7214]

Thank you for your videos. This particular one as well as some of the comments make me want to ditch central air and go back to window units. I have owned homes with both and window units knock down the temps much quicker and I didn't have to deal with AC contractors.

[@tjrooger1092]

You didn't need to even talk about the labor shortage. The first part is absolutely the reason. I worked for a good HVAC company in Austin. It had a one word name. They used to get paid straight by the hour. Then that company was bought by some Brothers who switched to a commission based pay system. Half of the existing tech team was let go or quit. They poached some service experts from another company to be the new top techs. We were essentially forced to recommend replacing something at every call we ran.

[@atlasacrepair]

You're so right and it's terrible. Too many companies are being bought out to simply turn them into sales machines, totally disregarding the homeowner's actual needs. Yep, leaving the good techs with the option to either sell or leave. I think that's how we've gotten so many great technicians...they don't want to sell, they simply just want to fix things...which is exactly the solution we want to provide. If you're still in the Austin area give us a call or apply atlasacrepair.com/hvac-jobs-san-antonio/

[@DEValentine]

You guys are the best.

[@hezayat]

Thank you for the information. I'm actually submitting a request for a quote from you right now.

[@jbwjr54]

Great video. I only have one complaint and it’s the audio. I have it as loud as it will go on my phone and also my Bluetooth speaker system and it’s not very loud. I don’t know if that’s just me or maybe something on your end. Just FYI. Thanks for your great information!

[@realSamAndrew]

You're right.

[@milankhanal2460]

@Atlasac, After I watched your videos, I was impressed and immediately called your company for diagnostic and replace thermostat (he changed some wirings too).After the replacement , my HVAC never shuts off and he was sent back to fix. Still same issue after 1 week. I have called twice again and now I seem to be on do not respond list. I keep hearing, someone will get back to you to setup time for the fix. So here I am stuck with bad AC when temps are hitting 100 degrees. Great video but doesn’t deserve the A+ on BBB.

[@Mo4Honesty]

Did you ever get a response or the problem resolved?

[@ovrjoyd]

I worked for an HVAC company for many years, and everything you said was 100% true. I was in web development, but my work area was shared with the manager and senior tech staff. I remember hearing all the mandatory sales meetings., and they only involved upsells, not being accountable, or providing excellent customer service. Not many HVAC companies have more than a 2 of 5-star rating, and it is easy to see why. I wish you were located in my state. I need a coil cleaning and know what it involves and how they can "accidentally, on purpose", or inadvertently damage my system, so I am terrified. My old boss sold the company and cashed out, so I no longer have anyone I know who will be accountable, which is terrifying.

[@michaelsullivan479]

Thanks Frank, you provided a compelling argument to buy window units. Read some of the comments below. If your business operated in New York, Florida or So Cal, you would not survive as a business especially in California.

[@jeffharris2852]

I’ve worked for a company that put me on call for the whole week through the weekend with my regular 8-5 schedule lol 10-12 calls a day not including how many units each house had lol the maintenances was just ridiculous and selling memberships all day long I would go home until 10pm every night and that was a early day lol.

[@williepelzer384]

Like ALL the trades we retired🎉😢

[@markkarczynski9330]

Shameful, I look at it this way , if the tech can't fix or diagnose the problem, i will not pay him. Thanks for the heads-up .

[@2rodcampedison648]

Been in trade for two years now. And there is no technical training, just sale training or meeting. You really have to educate and train yourself and hope you have a senior tech who is willing to pick up your phone calls. And I have seen a lot of smart up n coming apprentice get let go because their revenue wasn’t cutting it. And, other apprentices less technical but with better revenue was kept. I will finish my third and forth year with a different company and then go work for the state for city. And this trade is rough, unless you have a tough skin you won’t make it. I think the chart is an accurate representation of this trade dying out of new technician

[@Lenir_Myst]

It's called integrity I'm a one man operation in Michigan and I've always said there is enough legitimate money out there that I don't need to run these sales scam's

[@apprenticephil649]

Air conditioning diagnosis isnt difficult. Theres just a alot of smoothbrains and scammers out there

[@6barry66]

I listen to your comments and I washed your entire video. You asked the question where did all the good technicians go. And the answer is we are still here the problem is no one wants to hear from us they only wants sales sales sales. Right now it is extremely difficult if even possible to find a job as a technician and get paid for my technical ability as opposed to my sales ability. I see you are from Texas I am from New Jersey but based on all the videos I've seen online it's the same no matter where you go. If you look at the job postings online they ask for experience technicians minimum 1 year experience. One year experience is not a technician technician start at about 5 years. So don't even waste your time nowadays going to school and learning about heating and air conditioning because no one gives a s***. I looked up job postings in your state as well as many others thinking that this was unique to New Jersey but it is not it is everywhere. The Simple Solution is our industry needs to be regulated and we need to be unionized and have a complaint system enforce so when contractors put pressure on us we can quickly deal with it. Also I have been working for forty years and while I have gone to training classes they're the same few classes over and over again how to check a capacitor how to check a motor how to check a fuse how to check a thermostat we already know those things if we went to school. What we don't know is things unique to each manufacturer this is the information we need in training classes and they need to come from the manufacturers themselves not these third-party organizations like Nate. I have two Nate certifications and they only last for 5 years and then you have to take them again. Most of the information imparted while useful to know does not help us day-to-day. And my guess is if you want to stay in business you're going to have to do the same thing. If I had to guess I would say that about ninety to ninety-five per-cent of all heating and air conditioning contractors are basically dishonest scammers. And the easiest way to spot them is to just check the turnover rate of employees. Most of the places I work are at least 50% turnover per season. And none of them are a guaranteed 40 hour week job. So to recap the problem in our industry is hvac contractors not employees.

[@Tradesmen]

True 50/50 after costs is what I offer as long as you can commit to my Oath of brotherhood to pass forward our skills, knowledge in the Trades(Including Hvac), and 50/50 culture to future generations to come. Big companies get salesman, leftover assholes no one wants to hire, and half techs. A good tech is only hard to come by because he's too busy getting everything he deserves.

[@Mo4Honesty]

​@@Tradesmen50/50 makes sense and I'm surprised it's not more common. Good on you.

[@matthewbyrd398]

The “selling tech” is the absolute WORST trend to happen in the residential market.

[@TheMinecraftACMan]

People's unwillingness to learn anything about their own equipment puts them on the back foot when dealing with a trained bullshit artist.

[@contax50mm]

I had so many bad experiences. Many companies were trying to defraud me.

[@troyjackson3164]

The good experienced ones retired or on ssdi from injuries.

[@projectqueen610]

I had a guy come out and changebout my blower motor and charged $550.00...it litereally took 30 min. And the part was under warranty. Is this standard or did I get ripped??? .seems excessive and I did complain. BTW: This was not an after hours repair. I could have done more homework, but I was without heat and all the techs charge $100.00 just to show up.

[@edwardgarza5104]

It all depends on the companies over head, they had to make at least 2 trips to your home. Some companies are already charging you 2 service call fees there. also know supply stores charge a shipping and processing fee for taking in that warranty motor and bringing in the replacement motor, typically $50. My opinion a fair price for a job like that $300-$400. Again it all depends on the companies overhead. Also don't fall for the cheapest service call rate. Most companies charge a low rate because they know homeowners are calling around looking for the lowest rate and once they get you to bite they will up sale there parts to make.

[@HonshuHigamori]

Depends on the specific motor but most baseline costs of a blower motor for a simple residential furnace will range around the $200-300 range, your cost. Any company is going to charge you for labor (which includes finding, acquiring, transporting, and installing the relevant part), a trip charge, and mark up. Frankly I think it sounds pretty reasonable.

[@BlahBlahManYeah]

@@HonshuHigamori this likely was a capacitor that starts blower. I doubt technician would conveniently cary spare blower motor that would be right fit and was able to address all in single 30 mins visit. This was typical capacitor up charge.

[@HonshuHigamori]

@@BlahBlahManYeah not impossible, but what I will say is that residential blower motors aren't exactly a rare change out, and they absolutely make general use blower motors that work for 99% of residential furnaces. If you have been told you always have to go OEM, that simply isn't true. Nor is the time frame particularly questionable; I can put my hand on a blower motor, feel it running super hot, confirm locked rotor amps, check the blower wheel to verify it's freely spinning, then check the run cap, see its reading normal UFD, and at that point we have successfully condemned the blower motor and it took me maybe 5 minutes. At that point its just a question of if I have the right motor on my van or not, and changing it out takes maybe 30 minutes tops depending on how badly the blower wheel is rusted onto the blower motor shaft and whether I have to bust out my hub puller. Is that a rip off? Sorry, but no, thats the price you as a customer are paying for my expertise, the numerous and expensive tools I bought to identify and solve your problem, and the time spent getting the correct parts onto my van to now make use of. Get it out of your head that you're paying simply for the technician's time on site. You're paying him because he can solve your problem. But honestly, the real root of the issue here is trust. If you don't trust the technician you called, I would recommend not calling him in the first place. I get that HVAC is a very one sided field where the customer knows nothing and the technician knows everything, but if he isn't trying to sell you a whole new furnace, you can probably trust him. I say that because residential companies are notorious for offering spiff bonuses based on furnace upgrades sold, so there's a financial incentive to try to condemn a furnace that is only failing because of a failed $50-300 dollar part. If he wasn't doing that, I would personally give him the benefit of the doubt. I get that none of this is widely known among homeowners and customers, and there's plenty of bad apples willing to take advantage of the barrier of knowledge between the technician and the customer. The best advice I can provide is to either be willing to seek out (ie pay for) a second opinion, educate yourself on the nature of your HVAC system so you can sniff out snakeoil salesmen, or simply accept that you are putting yourself at the mercy of someone else, and trust your own intuition and judge of character.

[@jericosha2842]

You didn't get ripped off at all. This is why being a good tech can really suck. We diagnose the actual problem, know what part to get, know how to install it correctly, have the tools, and can do it efficiently. We have to make sensible money doing it, so we charge accordingly. Homeowner now thinks we are scum because they Google the part price and think we should only be making 50 bucks for 30 minutes of labor. This is why it's so easy to lie to people and make them think they need a new unit.

[@jeffharris2852]

It’s due to companies not paying techs properly and keeping them on the on call phone lol we need more unions and top tier pay

[@jeffharris2852]

We change compressors and actually fix the units , pay could of been way better, who ever try to sell a new unit just because for some odd reason got look at weird Lol

[@erichorton1440]

HVAC tech here. They don't have a problem finding guys. They have trouble with paying someone a decent wage because they're cheap. Companies charge customers $150-$400 dollars an hour. They freak out when you ask for $35 and up. Make that make sense.

[@tomvana4270]

The good ones are retiring and the work force coming in sadly sucks for the most part. Kids don’t want to work now days. And tell them to leave their damn phones at home.

[@David-xy9yo]

I worked in the HVAC trade for over 30 years. Many HVAC companies are very self destructive. They constantly create problems in house. These problems are then handed to the service technicians to fix. THAT GETS OLD REAL FAST. The other issue is HVAC companies expect you to be available 24 hours a day. They overwork their employees constantly. Those are the two main reasons why I went back to school and am now doing something else. It was a good trade back in the 90s. But not anymore. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone until the trade fixes those two problems.

[@Mo4Honesty]

Please explain the problems they create in house. That part was unclear.

[@David-xy9yo]

@@Mo4Honesty Where do I begin? Okay for example continuously installing a particular type and brand of central air system that has been problematic over and over and OVER 😳 AGAIN. At some point you have to realize that it's costing you money in recalls and pissing off the customers and stressing out the employees that have to deal with the pissed off customers. STOP IT! Or the idiot sales rep who doesn't know what a tape measure is sells equipment that is too big to use in that application when the installation crew shows up. Or he sells a really complicated thermostat to a little old lady who is almost blind wearing Coke bottles for glasses. I could go on and on. I worked at 7 companies over 33 years and stuff like that went on at everyone of them.

[@Mo4Honesty]

@@David-xy9yo oh, I see. I thought you meant employee drama like making everyone argue with each other like a reality show drama 😀

[@David-xy9yo]

@@Mo4Honesty Nope I'm talking about problems caused by the owners of the company that they dump in your lap that you work overtime to fix. And it didn't used to be that way.

[@opsus2546]

@@David-xy9yolol your not wrong happening at the company I’m at now

[@luis1250]

There is no workforce shortage, there is just wage shortage.

[@user-wg2vw3mz1v]

More wahmens!

[@invisibles362]

They hire any guy's, show them how to install central and minii splits, the more they install, the more money they do, and the quality of the installment is poor. They don't care, because they are sales men, and not technicians. People believe sales men, not the technicians....

[@user-cl9ew4ie4g]

Hvac is more electronic computerized then before so all them old school techs extinct