Retired HVAC Technician Shares it All!

In this video I interview a retired co-worker of mine that I used to work with. He was primarily a HVAC technician but has experience in a wide variety of career fields doing both installs and service work. I met Peter while working for a gas company where we were repair technicians that serviced not only air conditioners and furnaces but also all the other household appliances. Along with miscellaneous gas company tasks involving gas meters, gas leaks, and carbon monoxide emergency calls. Whenever I got stuck on a heating or cooling call, Peter was the senior tech I would call to come bail me out. He is the man who taught me a lot of the things I know when it comes to HVAC experience. Much respect and appreciation to him! Enjoy the video!
⭐ Other Videos to Watch:
When Should Furnace and A/C be Replaced:
• When Should Air Condit...
Why Not to Buy a High Efficiency Furnace:
• Don't Buy a High Effic...
Do Furnaces Need Yearly Inspections:
• What Happens if You Do...
Don't Get Air Conditioner Tune-ups:
• If You Knew This, You ...
What is the Best HVAC Brand:
• Best HVAC Air Conditio...
Why High SEER A/C Won't Save Money:
• A High Efficiency Air ...
HVAC Starting Salary and Average Pay:
• HVAC Technician Starti...
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This video is for educational purposes. All appliance and HVAC repair work should be done by a trained professional. Word of Advice TV is not responsible for any possible damages or injuries caused by the use or misuse of the provided information.
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#furnace #airconditioner #appliancerepair #heating #airconditioning #hvac #wordofadvicetv #podcast

[@WordofAdviceTV]

⭐ Other Videos to Watch: When Should Furnace and A/C be Replaced: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGjZhoKviLSKmK8 Why Not to Buy a High Efficiency Furnace: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZWaaWanqJifl6M Do Furnaces Need Yearly Inspections: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6umqYShhZ2Vbck Don't Get Air Conditioner Tune-ups: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKKxpHiwl8SSp9U What is the Best HVAC Brand: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eaqXZ6yKl9CBnqs Why High SEER A/C Won't Save Money: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3bSZKqrZpJ9bKs HVAC Starting Salary and Average Pay: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJOUZXWGr8iEbck

[@Honestandtruth]

Must Save money in Early life. It's a Must do. Regardless how much we make

[@Otis884]

35 years working with my hands before I retired. Never made big money working as a maintenance mechanic but loved working with my hands. Pete's story sounds like mine.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

That seems to be a common trend. Part of the reason many people in the trades for decades is because they simply enjoy working with their hands. Thank you for the comment!

[@psytoxastube2520]

Installers makes a lot

[@jollygreen4639]

I was a maintenance mechanic since I was 18. Got interested in HVACR in high school trade school and decided to pursue it as my career. Worked five years at a large hotel doing everything, with my emphasis on HVACR. Then I got hired at a community college, civil service with a state pension, until retiring from there at age 55. (Also had a PT job as a motorcoach bus driver for 36 years before spine issues forced me to give that up). In both of those jobs, I was in either one building or 10 inter-connected building at the college. I knew those places inside out. I knew any unusual noises that the boilers, chillers, air handlers and the HVACR equipment, from small display coolers to walk-ins to rooftop A/C units. That’s what I loved. I know I would never enjoy being a service tech, going on call to different places. That was not me. I just turned 64 and although I don’t do the trade anymore, I love watching videos of different people on KZbin and keeping up on things. I don’t regret my decision in high school to get in the trade. Not at all.

[@kele1264]

AWESOME interview! Thanks for sharing all this with us. Thank you, Peter, for sharing your expertise with us. It's wonderful that you took the time to sit with a younger person in the field and share your perspective on technical and business issues. Anything and anyone who helps Jay, also helps all of us. I appreciate both of you, and wish the best for both of you and your loved ones. Have a great weekend!

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you very much! I appreciate the kind words about the interview and agree that it was awesome of Peter to take the time out of his day to do this with me! Have a wonderful weekend as well!

[@johnharlan100]

Really enjoy your videos. I’m not even a technician or mechanically inclined. You’re very kind and respectful and make us laugh.

[@dynamicb7178]

I really like how you put up examples as he is talking.

[@Infowarrior-45]

Residential vs commercial? If I never had to do residential again it'd be fine with me! I like commercial, because 95% of the time, you're on the roof, alone. With residential, you have those homeowners that wanna stand right over your shoulder, asking questions or questioning every move you make. Not to mention, when you find a bad part on residential, the homeowner wants to know why they can't get the part on Amazon and you install it vs in commercial, they say fix it, regardless of cost.

[@cpaul57]

True dat. When you work in commercial buildings, you do run into a lot of splits systems too. Addtional commercial, in my opinion is more technical in which the pay is better.

[@2Ahthelphi]

find a company that has good management and still with them. everything else will fall into place with good leadership

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Sounds like a good option, thanks for the vote for this career path!

[@sglacf]

Good points in this video, im Ukrainian American started electrical contracting firm in wa. Good information. Thank you!

[@HomieG-fl9wk]

Great stuff. These veterans, they just have work ethics not easily found today.

[@LunkerFishing]

I was in another kind of business but today I have been retired for 21 years. No regrets.

[@TrueBeliever6491]

Fascinating. Yes, things have changed over the past 20 years. People will sue over a scratched floor and sometimes they plan it that way. Sad that society has changed like this.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

I can only agree. Thanks for stopping by for the video and leaving a comment!

[@realSamAndrew]

Yes, and also, today we have social media and yelp reviews where people expect service providers to kiss their you know what or they will leave a bad review.

[@zahedaminullah6934]

I enjoyed watching this video and seeing what the experienced legend had to say! Good for anyone joining the field and what to do and expect

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Glad to hear it, thank you! Peter was a great man to learn from, legend seems like a fitting term! 😎

[@zahedaminullah6934]

@@WordofAdviceTV looking at the tone of his voice and expertise, for sure

[@dthurston87]

I'm just watching this now and it's such a great video. I have always enjoyed working with my hands and figuring out how things work, though I never went into any technical profession, Instead I went into education as a paraprofessional. During the pandemic I ended up thinking more about my career choice due to having two kids and just uncertainty of what was going to happen with my job, so I looked into an online hvac class. I completed the class get the certification and was directed to go and take the final test to get my hvac certification however I never ended up going and doing it. I started second guessing my ability to do the work even though I'm good a problem solving figuring out what might be wrong and fixing it I just worried about not being knowledgeable enough to do it. Think I was just intimidated by a lot of the electrical stuff

[@Ratlins9]

Superb video, thanks for making this video with a good friend and coworker. Good list of questions asked and answered.

[@bigd3104]

Bookkeeper/office manager for billing, invoicing, credit management, purchasing, inventory control, scheduling and record keeping would be best, in my opinion, for a successful independent contractor. This lets the technician(s) grow the business and let's the office manager/bookkeeper insure the profitability of the business. And of course, a very good CPA for tax purposes to make sure you keep the money you earn and not unnecessarily pay more to the IRS than necessary. I've seen MANY contractors that do all of their "office" functions on the dash in their service van. Of course, they can be profitable that way. But, how much MORE profitable could they be if they had an office manager handling the day to day responsibilities of managing the business side of the company. Again, just my opinion. Love your videos! You're a credit to your profession. Thanks!

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Sounds like a solid suggestion! If one can afford a bookkeeper, it would be a good way to do it. Thank you for explaining and breaking it down like that. Glad you enjoyed the video, stay blessed!

[@allentempleton2429]

I was a commercial tech. The problem with doing this type of work is any physically demanding construction work is that generally you don't retire from the job the jib retires you. By the time I reached 62 I was so beat up that some things were agonizingly painfull. I have friends who work at non physical jobs who are older than me and still working. Had I been OK I would have loved to have continued working. I loved working with my hands and fixing things but now we need money and I regret not being able to do the work know. People doing this type of work should make significantly more money due to the fact that many of us end up with broken bodies .

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Sorry to hear that your career was cut short.. Now that you say that, I recall that most of the commercial HVAC professors at college were there because of bad knees, elbows, or back. Since the work became too much for their body, they became teachers instead. Thank you for sharing your experience with this too!

[@Comm0ut]

Ages destroys office workers too. It's inevitable.

[@allentempleton2429]

@Comm0ut please think about that . Of course everyone gets old and will eventually get sick but the ability of people who don't work physically to continue working after an illness or operation is much, much higher. I had a shoulder replacement and was out for 9 months. My friend who works in an office

[@rav4hybrid]

I never encountered someone that shares my same view as the maintenances are many times not so necessary. I agree with everything you said on that. Loved this interview!

[@JohnDoe-ej1lw]

Really great interview...lots of knowledge.. Thanks jay...

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you! Glad you liked the video!

[@rzh3443]

I got the joke. We had one of the first Lennox Pulse furnaces. Although noisy, even with the mufflers, it was extremely efficient and lasted over 15 years when heat exchanger recalls began. Lennox provided a new furnace basically free. Good point about saving early and often.. You can get management advice cheaper with some of the larger investment companies like Vanguard, Fidelity and T Rowe Price. Being both patient and diversified is the key. Great interview Jay.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

I only got it while editing the video. 😅 Glad to hear others got it right away! Peter will probably enjoy this comment. Anyone who like the Lennox Pulse automatically gets bonus points. Thank you for the management advice suggestions!

[@user-su5ft8lc9q]

Honesty is #1

[@timrob0420]

Some manufacturers like Trane and Rheem require routine maintenance inspections to keep the extended warranty valid

[@bunnyman6321]

Thanks for sharing this

[@andresbarragan8595]

FROM CHICAGO THANK YOU SO MUCH VERY HELPFUL TH VIDEO IM YOUR #1 FOLLOWING YOUR VIDEOS GOD BLESS YOU and YOUR FAMILIES

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you for the greetings from Chicago! I appreciate you stopping by for every new video, may God bless you and your family as well my friend!! Aloha from Hawaii!

[@jaimegonzalez6926]

Very good stuff you can get out of such good interview.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Glad to hear you liked the video, thank you!

[@Samlol23_drrich]

A business is a business. Headaches; regulations, staffing, customers add many many more . It's very hard to do the right thing for customers and still run a profitable business. Not impossible, just difficult

[@gilbertopatino2616]

Hi jay nice to see you again 🤗and thank you for your time,and your awesome videos 👍

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the video, this one was all thanks to Peter!

[@otherphones9619]

Best job I ever had

[@WordofAdviceTV]

No regrets here either? Good deal!

[@zenderxt]

I wish more people had this guys mentality when it came to their job. I know there are always terrible places to work out there, but this new generation of people who seem to preach not caring about the place they work, and jumping ship on jobs every 6 months. Honestly when I have a resume come across my desk and they have had 10 jobs in 5 years, it goes straight in the bin.

[@watchyoutube9553]

🤷🏾‍♂️ some places are 💩 and folks just employee number nobody got time for that when it’s places that will treat u with value and I can bet folks who do what u said some missed out on some good ppl

[@johnd4348]

Equipment may have been easier to work on 20 years ago, but there is way more info now. Information at your fingertips off your phone. 20 years ago we had nothing.

[@israkin]

thanks for all the good content you put out! I have a question for you. I was watching one of your furnace maintenance videos where you explain that a flame sensor has to sometimes be cleaned for it to work properly. Well, i accidently cleaned the ignitor insted of the flame sensor and by golly my furnace burners started to work. Does this mean that BOTH the ignitor and flame sensor need cleaning periodically?

[@allanbrito13]

Don't clean a hot surface ignitor. Its just a wear and tear item that doesn't need servicing

[@WordofAdviceTV]

I second what @allanbrito13 already said. Only the flame sensor and perhaps the burners need to be cleaned. The hot surface ignitor might even break if cleaned.

[@harrydickson4575]

Excellent 👍👍👍

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you Harry! Sending you blessings from Hawaii my friend!! 🌴🌴🌴

[@ebelray6890]

4.25HP shop vac! Where can you plug that in? Need a special 30amp receptacle or maybe a 220v thing?

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Haha that's a question for Peter. Though I'm thinking the amp draw is actually not that bad.

[@realSamAndrew]

I did find one of his comments amusing. He says it's always going to be a more or less comfortable temperature inside a house. Has he never been in an attic in the summer or a condensing unit outside ?

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Lol I am sure he experienced his fair share of hot and cold scenarios. 😄 But overall, it's much better than being on a roof.

[@exmuslim1330]

can you create a video, how to get the part number and the best websites to order parts for furnaces and how to order equivalent part if we can't find the original part?

[@WordofAdviceTV]

I talk about that in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJKmn6JuYtuFpNk The best and most accurate method would be to call a parts shop like I did in the video.

[@rolandoperez803]

The gas company I worked for would not allow me to check for co2. If customer would ask for the test they would referred them to an a/c co. I would check for draft flow but that was just about it. I was always very concerned. I didn’t want a sick or dead customer on my watch

[@WordofAdviceTV]

That's interesting because if there is a carbon monoxide emergency call, it's usually the gas company that comes out, not an HVAC company. That's quite a bit different than where I come from, thanks for sharing!

[@Leo-yn5fx]

yes

[@wwbit]

Invest in index funds like vanguard rather than pay a money manager a percentage to do the same thing.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you for the suggestion!

[@kristenmarie9248]

If things slow down, and the economy tanks, any trades business is going to suffer. I worked in the trades in 2008, and got cut to part time because customers were not paying. I had to leave, and find full time in another career. The business eventually failed. 😔 In that economic downturn, even Dentistry had to lay people off! 😳😔

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Yeah, I remember 2008 was rough for many people. Thank you for sharing your experience with that!

[@chriscox8696]

Has anyone out there seen a slowdown in work lately. I'm a residential hvac installer working for a large company in the midwest and I have seen a major slowdown in this economy. Wondering if others are experiencing this as well. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

[@charliec259]

Yup here in canada it's pretty slow...but it's warmer as well........prob the worst year so far for residential work

[@davidmckinney6577]

Hello 👋 my good buddy Jay good seeing you again I'm watching this video from my brother house my pinched nerve came back and got me again two weeks and I woke up with it hurting and I'm finally getting a little bit better I've been doing exercises trying to relieve the pressure from my pinched nerve..I can stand up about ten minutes straight now before I couldn't . I've got a ton of leaves 🍃 I got to get raking once I get better. It has been uncertain times I almost lost my oldest brother to a widow maker heart attack it came on him sudden and he went to the hospital and they airlifted him to Lexington hospital forty miles away and he was extremely lucky if he would have waited before going to the hospital he wouldn't be here ten more minutes. And if he hadn't of took a aspirin before he went to the hospital the Dr asked him if he took anything and he told him aspirin and he said well that's probably what saved him. I hope 🙏 everyone is going well in your family I love the long interviews like this ❤️. Take care good buddy and tell everyone I said hello 👋 and I love you guys hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Aloha David!! Good to see you in the comments but sorry to hear about the recent health developments for you and your brother! Praise the Lord, both of you seem to have passed the worst of it. Your brother's story almost sounds like a divine intervention. May he fully recover from this heart attack and may your pinched nerve loosen it's grip on you my friend! So you can go fight back those leaves. 😄 Glad you enjoyed the interview, I'll pass on the greetings! Sending love, sunshine, and greetings from Hawaii! May your Thanksgiving be peaceful and blessed this year as well!

[@Comm0ut]

He was able to retire which is a GOOD thing.

[@johnnyjackpots505]

Question for Peter. What is a good retirement age for HVAC technician?

[@Growzarktrail]

He said he wanted to retire at retirement age, which is generally 63-67 years old. When he reached that age, he retired. I think that is the answer you are looking for.

[@johnd4348]

You get up one day and you have enough money set aside to live on. Also, when you get uo and its just not fun going to work anymore.

[@darrylstevens2556]

A savings account & a money manager is a sure way to lose your money. Unless they are a fiduciary they have no skin in the game. A index fund from either Vanguard or Fidelity will save you that 2% management fee. Business 101.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Thank you for explaining that a bit more!

[@rolandoperez803]

When you start a small business is hard to keep employees. You can’t afford to give benefits as big companies. So your employees get their own benefits. You know what I mean.

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Yes, that makes sense. It's rather hard to start a successful new business.

[@johnd4348]

30 year hvac tech, Would not do it if i had to do it over. Most unappreciated job I ever had. Bad owners, bad service manager. Lots of bad customers. No one is ever satisfied.

[@Sonia-wd1qo]

Pray for GAZA kids

[@alanjackson4397]

Got it

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Good. 🙂

[@cpaul57]

If I can do it all over again...go to college

[@user-su5ft8lc9q]

Well we've lost a lot of money lately.

[@heatncool]

He sold his business.. 5k 😉

[@AMERICA_F1RST]

You can't pee soup lol

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Haha yup, I got it by now 😄

[@AMERICA_F1RST]

@@WordofAdviceTV keep up the good content brother

[@waltparks9105]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😅

[@WordofAdviceTV]

😄😎👍

[@raulrobles2961]

If he would have taken business classes he wont need to become a technician. He would have technicians working for him while he runs the company. I'm sure he would find something else he would enjoy doing. Also never trust another person handling your hard-earned money. It's always best to invest in real-estate

[@WordofAdviceTV]

Yeah, Peter concluded the same thing. There's a chance that once you go business, you never go back. 😄 Thank you for the tips!

[@realSamAndrew]

"It's always best". No investment is always best or right for everyone.

[@raulrobles2961]

@realSamAndrew I agree to disagree. Investment is how you get ahead in life and anything you do. Every company you see has invested . Any job you worked at has been invested by someone. Every building, bridge road everything. Would be foolish for one not to invest in anything

[@realSamAndrew]

@@raulrobles2961 I love it when people argue something that they imagine I said when I never said it. Where did you see me say never invest in **anything**?

[@raulrobles2961]

@@realSamAndrew no you didn't say that. Im just saying I think it's best for everyone to invest in something that's all