How to become an HVAC technician

How to become an HVAC technician, step by step

1. Finish high school or get a GED. Vocational classes, math and physics help.
2. Take a heating, air conditioning and refrigeration program at a technical school or community college, or get hired as a helper and learn on the job.
3. Pass the EPA Section 608 refrigerant exam for the equipment you will work on. Programs often include it.
4. Work alongside experienced technicians, moving from basic tasks to installs, repairs and diagnosis. Some techs do this inside a formal apprenticeship.
5. Get the state or local license if your state or city requires one. Your state's row below shows the rules.
6. Get the contractor license your state asks for, then start your own shop.

Apprenticeship and on-the-job training

Some technicians train through an apprenticeship, which usually lasts several years. Each year mixes paid on-the-job training with some classroom work on safety, blueprint reading, and heating and cooling systems.

Most new techs learn on the job. They start alongside experienced technicians on basic tasks such as insulating refrigerant lines or cleaning furnaces, then move to cutting and soldering pipe and checking electrical circuits.

A Registered Apprenticeship gives you paid work with a mentor, raises as you progress, classroom instruction and a credential recognized across the country.

Find registered openings near you in the Apprenticeship Job Finder. In each state page below, we note whether the state runs its own apprenticeship agency or works through the U.S. Department of Labor.

Trade school and other ways in

Trade school or community college. Technical and trade schools and community colleges run heating, air conditioning and refrigeration programs. They last from 6 months to 2 years and end in a certificate or an associate degree.

Straight from high school. Some employers hire people whose highest education is a high school diploma and train them on the job. Vocational education, math and physics classes in high school help.

Pre-apprenticeship. A pre-apprenticeship prepares people to get into and finish a Registered Apprenticeship, and can be a way in if you have no trade experience.

Licenses and exams

EPA certification is the one almost every technician needs. Each EPA test is tied to the type of equipment you will work on and must be given by an EPA-approved certifying organization.

Some states and localities license HVAC technicians on top of that, often through a mechanical or contractor board, with experience rules and a trade exam. Your state's row below shows what it asks for.

Of the 45 states we have checked against the official boards, 29 require a state HVAC license, 12 license only part of the work, and 4 leave it to cities and counties. Every state, with fees and forms: HVAC licenses by state.

Certifications

EPA Section 608 certification. Anyone who maintains, services, repairs or disposes of equipment that could release refrigerant must be certified. There are four types: Type I for small appliances, Type II for high and very high pressure equipment, Type III for low pressure equipment, and Universal for all of it. The credential does not expire. Apprentices are exempt while a certified technician closely and continually supervises them.

Industry certifications. Manufacturer and industry certifications are available. Many are optional, and some employers prefer or require a specific one. NATE, for example, offers HVAC technician exams with recertification.

EPA lead-safe firm certification. Anyone paid to do work that disturbs paint in homes or child-occupied facilities built before 1978 must be certified under the EPA Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting rule. That covers every firm, sole proprietors included, so it matters the day you go out on your own.

What HVAC technicians earn

HVAC technicians earned a median $29.33 an hour in May 2025. The lowest-paid tenth earned under $19.25 and the top tenth over $45.78.

Among the states with a page below, the highest medians are in District of Columbia ($40.57), Alaska ($37.23) and Illinois ($37.21).

BLS counts 440,900 jobs for HVAC technicians and projects 11 percent growth from 2025 to 2035, with about 40,600 openings a year.

Pay in every state: HVAC technician salary by state.

From the truck to your own shop

BLS expects commercial construction, data centers included, and home building to drive growth in HVAC jobs.

Repair and replacement is a large part of the work, so systems that need a retrofit, an upgrade or a new unit keep technicians busy.

To run your own company, most states that license HVAC ask for a contractor license on top of the technician rules. Your state's row below shows it.

Before you go out on your own, price your hours. At the national median of $29.33, the labor rate calculator gives $122.10 per billable hour on its starting numbers.

The full checklist: how to start an HVAC business. The free Koira Office plan gives you a website on a Koira address, estimates customers sign with a deposit, invoices with card payments and your day's jobs in one place, with no per-person fee. See the plans.