Tag Archives: Accredited Heating and Cooling Schools near Danvers IL 61732

Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Schools Danvers IL

How to Pick the Right Heating and Cooling School near Danvers Illinois

air conditioner condensers in Danvers ILOnce you have come to a decision on a career as a heating and cooling professional, the next action is to find an HVAC vocational school near Danvers IL. But with so many to choose from, how do you pick the right one to receive the training that you need? A number of prospective students will make their choice based solely on the price of tuition or how near the school is to their home. While these are important factors to consider, they are not the only ones to investigate. Some of the other things that you need to investigate are the graduation completion rates of the HVAC schools, their reputations, and if they are accredited by professional trade organizations. Those and other benchmarks will be covered in more detail later in this article. But before we tackle how to select an HVAC training program, let’s look at what a heating and air conditioning contractor does to become a licensed professional tradesman.

How to Become an HVAC Professional

Danvers IL HVAC Tech installing water heaterHVAC is an acronym that is frequently used in the trade that stands for “Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning”. HVAC contractors provide services for the installation, repair and maintenance of air conditioners, furnaces, boilers, hot water heaters and heating systems. As skilled tradesmen, they are typically mandated to be licensed, however each state and regional municipality has its own criteria. Earning professional certification is not mandatory, but a voluntary way for Danvers IL HVAC techs to demonstrate that they are exceptionally skilled and experienced in their area of specialization. There are several recognized certifications within the industry that are available. Here are some of the important ones.

  • North American Technician Excellence (NATE). NATE is a nationally acknowledged certification for HVAC techs. The certification is achieved by passing a competency exam and may be received in one or more specialties.
  • HVAC Excellence. This certification offers both a professional and a master specialist credential. 2 years of professional experience as well as passing a comprehensive exam are required for the professional level certification. Master specialists must have three years of experience as well as a passing score on the professional level exam. As with NATE, certifications are provided in multiple specialties.
  • EPA Section 608. This certification is necessary for specialists that handle refrigerants. There are 3 forms of certification offered, one for small appliances, and the additional two for low and high pressure refrigerants.

Considering that licensing could be required in your area, and you may also wish to earn certification, it’s important that you choose an HVAC technical school that will prepare you for both. And since you will more than likely be dealing with refrigerants, make sure that the program you pick prepares you for passing the EPA Section 608 exams.

HVAC Degree and Certificate Schools

radiator heater in Danvers IL homeThere are a number of alternatives available for HVAC training in a trade or technical school. You can earn a certificate, an Associate Degree, or a Bachelor’s Degree. Earning a certificate will take the lesser period of time, usually completed in just six months, however some courses are longer. A certificate will train you for most HVAC positions, particularly if you are licensed and have certification relevant to the position. The degree training programs might provide a competitive edge for securing employment and will provide more extensive training than the certificate programs. Below is a short description of each option offered near Danvers IL.

  • Certificate. Generally requiring a high school diploma, certificate programs are very popular among beginning commercial or residential HVAC professionals. They furnish a strong foundation of skills for job opportunities within the industry.
  • Associate Degree. The Associate Degree in HVAC program supplies a more exhaustive background of heating and cooling systems than the certificate program. Usually requiring two years to complete, some degrees incorporate an internship or work-study program.
  • Bachelor’s Degree. The Bachelor’s Degree in HVAC is suited more towards a career in management as well as business ownership. Some programs call for an Associate Degree, while others are a conventional 4 year program. In addition to being taught how to service and maintain heating and cooling systems, you will also learn how to design them.

Choosing the ideal credential program will be based on what your future career objectives are, together with the time and money that you have to commit. One option is to begin with a certificate or even an Associate Degree program, and after getting some experience in the trade in Danvers IL, subsequently going back to acquire a Bachelor’s Degree. If this is your tactic, make sure to ask the HVAC tech school you are looking at about how their returning student program works.

HVAC Online Training

Danvers IL student attending HVAC school onlineAttending an HVAC program online is one possibility to attaining your training and earning a certificate or degree. Almost all schools will call for some attendance on campus to take part in hands on training. Many also provide internship or work-study programs in addition to or instead of practical lab work. But since the balance of the classes can be participated in on the web, this option may be a more accessible solution for some Danvers IL students that are pressed for time. And many online degree programs are less expensive than other traditional alternatives. Even commuting expenses from Danvers and study supplies may be lessened, helping to make education more budget-friendly. And numerous online programs are fully accredited (more on this later). So if your job or family commitments have left you with little time to attend classes, maybe an online HVAC degree program will make it more convenient to accommodate school into your active lifestyle.

Questions to Ask HVAC Training Programs

Questions to ask Danvers IL HVAC training schoolsAfter you have selected the type of certificate or degree that you would like to obtain, either on campus or online, you can start to decrease your list of schools. As you are no doubt aware, there are a large number of HVAC technical schools in the Danvers IL area and across the United States to choose from. That’s why it is very important to have a checklist of important qualifications when making school assessments. As earlier mentioned in our opening paragraph, tuition and location will probably be the first 2 factors you will look at. Following are some additional ones that you need to research before enrolling in your school of choice.

Accreditation.  A large number of HVAC vocational schools in the Danvers IL area have earned either a regional or a national accreditation. They may receive Institutional Accreditation, which involves the school’s programs as a whole, or Programmatic Accreditation, which relates to a specific program, for example HVAC technology. Verify that the school is accredited by a U.S. Department of Education acknowledged accrediting agency, for example the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. Along with helping guarantee that you receive an excellent education, it may assist in securing financial aid or student loans, which are often not available for non-accredited schools. Also, some states require that the HVAC training program be accredited for it to qualify for licensing.

High Completion Rates.  Ask the HVAC schools you are reviewing what their completion rates are. The completion rate is the percentage or portion of students who enroll in and finish the program. A lower completion rate may suggest that students were unhappy with the program and quit. It might also indicate that the instructors were not qualified to instruct the students. It’s similarly imperative that the schools have high job placement rates. Older and/or more reputable schools may have a broader list of alumni, which may mean more contacts for the school to use for their apprenticeship and job placement programs. A high job placement rate will not only validate that the school has an excellent reputation within the industry, but additionally that it has the network of Danvers IL HVAC employers to assist grads acquire apprenticeships or jobs.

Apprenticeship Programs.  Many HVAC vocational programs are taught together with an apprenticeship or an internship program. Those participating trade and vocational schools will help place you in an apprenticeship program within their network of HVAC contractors or labor unions. Check if the schools you are considering have working partnerships with local Danvers IL HVAC specialists. An apprenticeship not only offers a valuable experience by furnishing hands-on training, but it also supplies employment opportunities and helps to establish relationships in the local HVAC professional community.

Modern Facilities.  Make certain that the campus facilities and the tools that you will be trained on are state-of-the-art and what you will be working with in the field. If you are presently in an internship or an apprenticeship, check with the HVAC tech you are working under concerning what you should be expecting. Otherwise, ask a local Danvers IL HVAC company if they can provide some tips. Also bear in mind that unless you are able to relocate, the school must be within commuting distance of your Danvers IL home. Remember that if you decide to enroll in an out-of-state school, besides the added relocation costs there may be increased tuition fees compared to in-state residents.

Smaller Classes.   It’s desirable that you get as much individualized instruction as possible, which can be challenging in bigger classes. Ask if you can monitor a couple of the classes so that you can see how big they are and witness first hand the interaction between teachers and students. Talk to several of the students and get their comments concerning class sizes and instruction. Finally, talk with a few of the teachers and learn what their level of experience is and what certifications or degrees they hold.

Flexible Scheduling.  Verify that the class schedules for the programs you are evaluating are flexible enough to meet your needs. If you can only attend classes in the evening or on weekends near Danvers IL, confirm that the schools you are considering offer those options. If you can only attend part-time, make certain that the school you select permits part-time enrollment. Finally, check out what the protocol is to make-up classes should you miss any because of work, illness or family emergencies.

Considering an HVAC School near Danvers IL?

Perhaps you are considering enrolling in an HVAC training program in the Danvers Illinois area.  If so, you may find the following background information about the location of your new school campus both interesting and informative.

Danvers, Illinois

Danvers was laid out under the name of Concord on February 20, 1836 by Israel W. Hall (February 5, 1799 - January 3, 1865) and Matthew Robb (July 15, 1801 – February 24, 1870). The name Concord was given to the town by Hall after Concord, Massachusetts. A rival town, Wilkesborough, just over a mile to the east, was laid out by James O. Barnard on 3 June of the same year. Wilkesborough had 96 lots and a public square.[6] Both towns were part of the great town founding surge in Illinois that peaked in 1836. Between 1835 and 1837 eight new towns and many additions were laid out in McLean County. At this time it was fairly common for two towns to be founded close to each other as they competed for the same locational advantage. In this case both towns were on the stage route from Bloomington to Peoria and Pekin. For a several years it was unclear which town would be successful. Wilkesborough did quite well and by 1859 had 15 heads of family, but Concord had three times that number. Eventually it became clear that Concord would was the more successful place, but the people of Concord had to go to Wilkesborough to get their mail. By the late 1870s Wilksborough had completely vanished.[7]

Like many other new places laid out in the 1830s, the original plan of the new town was designed around a central public square. However, unlike most such places (for example, Lexington and LeRoy), the plat used at Concord showed with dashed lines how the streets which entered the public square midway along each side could be extended to meet at the center of the square. In effect, this unusual feature of the plan made it possible to subdivide the square into four smaller rectangles. This was soon done. One of these rectangles has always been a park, but the other three have been put to different civic uses, including locations for the library, fire station, water tower, and school gymnasium.[8]

The early growth of Danvers was extremely slow. Although both Hall and Robb lived in the area, neither was a resident of the town. The first building in Concord was erected in 1837 by Nicholas Conger, but Conger himself does not seem to have lived there. The first actual resident was Asa Rankin. Eventually a small mill was erected by Hobson and Havens. In the words of the 1879 county history, “For more than six years the place was nearly lifeless.”[9] In 1848 or 1849 a Post office was established in Concord.[10] Most of the early rural settlement around the new town was near Stout’s Grove, which began just west of Concord, and for the first twenty years of the town’s life the prairie to the north east and south was used mainly as open grazing land.

Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Schools Danvers IL

Selecting the ideal HVAC school program is a critical first step toward a gratifying career in the heating and air conditioning trade. You originally came to this website because you wanted more information regarding Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Schools. However, as we have addressed in this article, you need to choose an HVAC technical school and a degree or certificate program that are both accredited and have excellent reputations within the HVAC community. Other factors to look for are ample practical training and state-of-the-art facilities. You should visit each of the schools in person that you are most interested in to inspect the campus and talk with both the current students and faculty. Try to get a feel for the quality of the instruction and the interaction between them. Also, inquire about scheduling options and whether evening or weekend classes are available if needed. And don’t forget to inquire about financial aid and student loan options too. If you ask the proper questions as we have detailed in our guidelines for assessing schools, you’ll be able to narrow down your choices so that you can make an informed decision. With the appropriate training, hard work and commitment, you can ultimately become a licensed HVAC professional in Danvers IL.

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