HVAC Startup: start your own HVAC service business
The expected market size for heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems will be $ 277 billion by 2025. This forecast, according to which, it is necessary to provide progressive requirements for energy-efficient solutions.
In addition, today it is simply impossible to imagine life without heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. It is these technologies that provide comfortable temperatures and ventilation conditions in homes, apartments, offices and enterprises, which helps maintain employee productivity, working conditions and prevents health problems arising from improper use of humidity and air purity levels. With the growth of the equipment market, the market for installation and maintenance of various systems is growing, which opens up new prospects for private business.
Let’s look at a report on the global market for heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. It reflects the proposals, technology and geography.
For heating equipment
- Heat Pumps
- Furnace
- Unitary Heaters
- Boilers
For ventilation equipment
- Air-handling Units
- Air Filters
- Dehumidifiers
- Ventilation Fans
- Humidifiers
- Air Purifiers
For cooling equipment
- Unitary Air Conditioners
- VRF Systems
- Chillers
- Room Air Conditioners
- Coolers
- Cooling Towers
By type of implementation
- New Constructions
- Retrofits
By Application
- Residential
- Commercial
- Industrial
By Region
- North America
- US
- Canada
- Mexico
- Europe
- UK
- Germany
- France
- Rest of Europes
- Asia Pacific
- China
- India
- Japan
- Rest of APAC
- Rest of the World
- Middle East
- South America
- Africa
So, we see the prospects, and now let’s look at how you can open your HVAC service business and what you need to do this.
Initial costs
There are several forms of HVAC business, maintenance and repair, and equipment installation. No matter what form you choose, the base costs will be the same. The total cost of starting a business is from 2,000 to 10,000 dollars. However, if you want to join the franchise, you will have to pay more – from 50,000 to 80,000 dollars.
Why do I need start-up capital?
Basic expenses:
- A complete set of tools and equipment, including power tools, work clothing and protective equipment. Provide a warehouse of spare parts. Accident insurance for every specialist in your team. Lease payments for the place where tools and spare parts will be stored.
Business expenses:
- Licenses for certain types of work, insurance, and a business plan for planning the growth and development of the company. Office rental, office equipment and smartphones for employees, car park. Marketing: business cards, radio and television advertising and website development. Services of an accountant and lawyer.
Licensing and warranties.
Specialist License:
Before you begin to work, you will have to work hard and collect all the necessary documents and licenses for a work permit. Have patience and finances.
First, find out what types of certification you need to work in your state. For information, contact North American Technical Excellence (NATE), which is the main organization certifying technical experts.
HVAC Excellence is another reputable agency in the industry. It is mandatory to take an approved course of study and only after that, a specialist can pass an exam to obtain a certificate. In addition to NATE and HVAC Excellence, there is a federal certification that HVAC professionals must obtain. HVAC technicians must be certified by the Environmental Protection Agency to purchase and dispose of refrigerants.
A short list of steps to get certified by HVAC:
- Earn a high school diploma or GED equivalent (depends on your state)
- Get an HVAC certificate from an accredited vocational school or program (depending on your state). The training program will depend on the type of certification you want to receive. We will talk about this.
- Obtain an HVAC license in the state in which you plan to work
- Pass certification exams for various types of career HVAC
*Once you pass the exam and apply for an HVAC Contractor license, you can choose a company name. This part of the process sounds easy enough, but it takes months to validate your name.
Types of HVAC Certificates:
- EPA Type I Certification – For Servicing Small Appliances (maintenance and repair of small refrigeration systems)
- EPA Type II Certification – For Servicing High Pressure Systems (for any work related to high pressure systems)
- EPA Type III Certification – For Servicing Low Pressure Systems (Experience with low-pressure systems will help you easily go through the certification process and just make it possible to update theoretical knowledge)
- Universal EPA Certificate: universal certificate for all types of systems and is the most popular. But this type of certification may take longer due to the amount of material that you will need to study. This certificate allows you to work in any US state, subject to the rest of the state requirements and local licensing for HVAC professionals.
- North American Technician Excellence (NATE): nationally recognized certification programs for HVACR professionals. The practical mechanism of the NATE certification process makes it an ideal qualification for technicians who want to prove their knowledge.
- NATE Professional certificates: with at least 1 year experience as an HVAC specialist. Certificates are divided by specialties:
- Air Conditioning (AC)
- Air Distribution (AD)
- Heat Pumps (Air-to-Air) (HP)
- Gas Heating (GS)
- Oil Heating (OL)
- Hydronics Gas (HG) (service only)
- Hydronics Oil (HO) (service only)
- Light Commercial Refrigeration (LC) (service only)
- Commercial Refrigeration (RC) (service only)
- HVAC Efficiency Analyst (Senior Level) (EA)
In which states is an HVAC license not required?
It is possible that state laws have changed since the publication of our article. Therefore, we recommend that you check the information. But at the time of this writing, these states did not require licensing for HVAC:
Colorado
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Massachusetts
Maine
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
New Hampshire
New York
South Dakota
Vermont
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Contractor License:
If you want to work for yourself or hire employees – it’s time to think about becoming a contractor. In some states, only contractors can have an HVAC license. In this case, they must control their employees, who also have the right to work with HVAC systems. In other states, the contractor must hire a “specialist” – someone who is certified and licensed in accordance with state law. As long as this person is an employee and his licensing is relevant, the contractor can perform work on the HVAC.
Marketing.
Together with a business plan, you will need a marketing strategy. This is what makes people aware of your business. To succeed in business, you need to advertise your service and interact with potential customers. Social networks are a good place to start. It’s great if you can write a blog where you’ll talk about how to behave with heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
Such content will draw attention (and, more importantly, search traffic) to your company’s website and increase the level of trust among customers.
HVAC business is quite time-consuming to maintain accounts and record all orders, order history, customer base and at the same time requires you to respond quickly and speed order processing. Take care of the choice of software that will help you optimize your work at the start and maintain order.
Good luck in your new business!
This article was written by service experts. “EVERIS” is a platform for planning work orders and managing specialists and clients. Thousands of local service companies use the platform to streamline their workflow, eliminate losses, and increase revenue.
Open the free EVERIS online demo for your business to find out how you can improve your performance.
