Air Conditioning Programs Lehighton PA

How to Choose the Right Heating and Cooling Degree Program near Lehighton Pennsylvania

air conditioner condensers in Lehighton PA Once you have decided on a career as a heating and air conditioner professional, the next step is to choose an HVAC technical school near Lehighton PA. But with so many to select from, how do you select the right one to obtain the training that you need? Many prospective students will make their decision based solely on the cost of tuition or how close the school is to their home. While these are necessary factors to consider, they are not the only ones to investigate. Just some of the other factors that you need to look into are the graduation 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 within this article. But before we examine how to select an HVAC vocational school, let’s take a look at what a heating and a/c technician does to become a licensed skilled tradesman.

How to Become an HVAC Specialist

Lehighton PA HVAC Tech installing water heater HVAC is an acronym that is frequently used in the trade that stands for “Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning”. HVAC technicians specialize in the installation, maintenance and repair of central air conditioners, furnaces, boilers, hot water heaters and heating systems. As skilled tradesmen, they are typically mandated to be licensed, though every state and local municipality has its own criteria. Attaining professional certification is not compulsory, but a voluntary way for Lehighton PA HVAC techs to establish that they are highly proficient and knowledgeable in their area of specialization. There are a number of respected certifications within the industry that are available. Below are some of the significant ones.

North American Technician Excellence (NATE). NATE is a nationally recognized certification for HVAC techs. The certification is achieved by passing a competency examination and can be earned in one or more specialties.
HVAC Excellence. This certification offers both a professional and a master specialist credential. Two years of field experience as well as passing a comprehensive exam are required for the professional level certification. Master specialists must have 3 years of experience together with a passing result on the professional level examination. As with NATE, certifications are provided in several specialties.
EPA Section 608. This certification is necessary for techs that work with refrigerants. There are three forms of certification obtainable, one for small appliances, and the other two for low and high pressure refrigerants.

Since licensing may be mandated in your location, and you may also desire to obtain certification, it’s important that you pick an HVAC technical school that will prepare you for both. And since you will more than likely be handling refrigerants, make certain that the program you pick preps you for passing the EPA Section 608 examinations.

HVAC Degree Classes

radiator heater in Lehighton PA home There are several options offered for HVAC instruction in a technical or vocational school. You can attain a certificate, an Associate Degree, or a Bachelor’s Degree. Obtaining a certificate will take the minimum amount of time, usually achieved in just 6 months, however some courses are longer. A certificate will train you for most HVAC positions, particularly if you are licensed and have certification applicable to the position. The degree training programs may provide a competitive edge in the job market and will provide more in-depth training than the certificate programs. Following is a brief description of each option offered near Lehighton PA.

Certificate. Normally requiring a high school diploma, certificate programs are very popular among entry level commercial or residential HVAC technicians. They furnish a strong foundation of skills for job opportunities within the trade.
Associate Degree. The Associate Degree in HVAC program supplies a more comprehensive understanding of heating & cooling systems than the certificate program. Usually requiring 2 years to finish, some degrees include an internship or work-study program.
Bachelor’s Degree. The Bachelor’s Degree in HVAC is suited more for a career in management as well as business ownership. Some programs require an Associate Degree, while others are a standard 4 year program. In addition to mastering how to service and maintain heating and cooling systems, you will also learn how to design them.

Choosing the appropriate credential program will be based on what your future career aspirations are, together with the time and money that you have to commit. One option is to start with a certificate or perhaps an Associate Degree program, and after gaining some experience in the field in Lehighton PA, eventually returning to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree. If this is your tactic, be sure to ask the HVAC tech school you are considering about how their returning student program works.

HVAC Classes Online

Lehighton PA student attending HVAC school online Choosing an HVAC program online is one alternative to obtaining your training and earning a certificate or degree. Most schools will call for some attendance on campus to complete hands on training. Many also provide internship or work-study programs in addition to or instead of practical lab work. But since the remainder of the classes can be participated in online, this approach may be a more accessible solution for some Lehighton PA students that are pressed for time. And many online degree programs are less costly than other on campus alternatives. Even driving expenses from Lehighton and study materials may be minimized, helping to make education more affordable. And many online programs are fully accredited (more on this later). So if your career or family commitments have left you with limited time to attend classes, maybe an online HVAC degree program will make it more convenient to fit school into your busy schedule.

Questions to Ask HVAC Schools

Questions to ask Lehighton PA HVAC training schools As soon as you have picked the type of degree or certificate that you desire to attain, either on campus or online, you can begin to decrease your list of schools. As you are certainly aware, there are a large number of HVAC vocational schools in the Lehighton PA area and across the United States to pick from. That’s why it is very important to have a list of relevant qualifiers when making school comparisons. As earlier mentioned in our opening paragraph, location and tuition will most likely be the first two factors you will take into consideration. Following are several additional ones that you need to explore before enrolling in your school of choice.

Accreditation. A large number of HVAC technical programs in the Lehighton PA area have received either a regional or a national accreditation. They may earn Institutional Accreditation, which focuses on the school’s programs overall, or Programmatic Accreditation, which pertains to a specific program, for example HVAC technology. Make certain that the school is accredited by a U.S. Department of Education recognized accrediting agency, which includes the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. In addition to helping ensure that you obtain an excellent education, it can assist in obtaining financial assistance or student loans, which are in many cases unavailable for non-accredited schools. Additionally, a number of states require that the HVAC training program be accredited in order 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 complete the program. A lower completion rate might indicate that students were disappointed with the course and dropped out. It might also mean that the teachers were not qualified to train the students. It’s also important that the schools have high job placement rates. Older and/or more reputable schools may have a broader directory of graduates, which can produce more contacts for the school to utilize for their apprenticeship and job placement programs. A high job placement rate will not only confirm that the school has an excellent reputation within the industry, but also that it has the network of Lehighton PA HVAC employers to help graduates acquire apprenticeships or employment.

Apprenticeship Programs. Numerous HVAC trade programs are taught together with an apprenticeship or an internship program. Those participating vocational and technical programs will help place you in an apprenticeship program within their network of Heating and Cooling businesses or trade unions. Ask if the schools you are comparing have working partnerships with local Lehighton PA HVAC specialists. An apprenticeship not only provides a valuable experience by supplying hands-on training, but it also supplies job opportunities and helps to form relationships in the local HVAC professional community.

Modern Facilities. Make sure that the school facilities and the tools that you will be trained on are state-of-the-art and what you will be working with on the job. If you are currently in an internship or an apprenticeship, talk to the HVAC technician you are working under regarding what you should be looking for. Otherwise, ask a local Lehighton PA HVAC contractor if they can give you some suggestions. Additionally bear in mind that unless you are willing to move, the school must be within commuting distance of your Lehighton PA home. Remember that if you decide to enroll in an out-of-state school, besides the added relocation costs there can be increased tuition fees compared to in-state residents.

Smaller Classes. It’s important that you receive as much one-on-one training as possible, which can be challenging in larger classes. Ask if you can sit in on some of the classes so that you can see how large they are and experience the interaction between instructors and students. Speak with some of the students and get their feedback concerning class sizes and instruction. Finally, speak to a few of the teachers and learn what their level of experience is and what degrees or certifications they hold.

Flexible Scheduling. Confirm that the class schedules for the programs you are reviewing are flexible enough to handle your needs. If you can only go to classes at night or on weekends near Lehighton PA, check that the schools you are looking at provide those choices. If you can only attend part-time, make sure that the school you select offers part-time enrollment. Additionally, find out what the protocol is to make-up classes should you miss any due to work, sickness or family responsibilities.

Considering an HVAC School near Lehighton PA?

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

Lehighton, Pennsylvania

Lehighton (/li'hɑitən/) is a borough in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, United States, 77 miles (124 km) north of Philadelphia, and 54 miles (87 km) south of Scranton. In the past, it developed early industries because of water power from the Lehigh River. With the location of a repair facility here and its regional operations, the Lehigh Valley Railroad became for years a major employer of thousands of people from the area. Post-World War II railroad and industry restructuring led to job and population losses.

At the time of the first European's encounters with historic American Indian tribes, this area was part of the shared hunting territory of the Iroquoian Susquehannock and the Algonquian Lenape (also called the Delaware, after their language and territory along the Delaware River) peoples, who were often at odds.[5] Relatives of the peoples of New England and along the St. Lawrence valley of Canada, the Delaware bands occupied much of the coastal mid-Atlantic area in Delaware, New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania and lower eastern New York, including Long Island.[5] The Susquehannock confederacy's homelands were mainly along the Susquehanna River, from the Mohawk Valley in lower New York southerly to the Chesapeake and Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, but may have ranged into the 'empty lands'[6] of West Virginia, Eastern Ohio, and Western Pennsylvania.[5] The Dutch and Swedes first settled the Delaware Valley, and found the area north of the Lehigh Gap to be lightly occupied, probably by transients, but traveled regularly by the Susquehannock. This tribe traveled quite a bit according to the American Heritage Book of Indians,[5] including being described in lofty terms by John Smith when a band visited the new Jamestown, Virginia colony.[5] In the decades of the Beaver Wars in the mid-1600s, the Susquehannocks conquered and made the Lenape a tributary tribe — and also nearly inflicted an overwhelming defeat on the powerful Iroquois Confederacy,.[5] Shortly thereafter, the Susquehannocks suffered a reversal, falling first to epidemic disease that raged for three years which killed off potentially 90% of their population,[5] and a series of battles on most of their frontiers as various enemies took advantage.[5] This vacated the southeastern and central Pennsylvania regions for the Delaware peoples. However, all tribes were thereafter displaced westwards by continued colonial growth. Delaware dominance at the time of European colonization is why William Penn's settlers adopted Lenape Lenki (Delaware) names for landscape features, and less than a handful of Susquehannock names.

Lehighton was built on the site of the German Moravian Brethren's mission station "Gnadenhütten" (cabins of grace) founded in 1746. It was established as a mission to the Lenape by Moravians from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, lower on the Lehigh River.[7] The German name was transcribed as "Canatanheat" by missionary John Brainerd.[8]

Selecting the right HVAC school program is a crucial first step toward a rewarding career in the heating & cooling field. You originally came to this website because you wanted more information regarding Air Conditioning Programs. However, as we have addressed in this post, you need to select an HVAC vocational school and a degree or certificate program that are both accredited and have exceptional reputations within the HVAC field. Other factors to look for are sufficient practical training and modern facilities. You should visit each of the schools personally that you are most interested in to explore the campus and talk with both the faculty and current students. Attempt to get a feel for the quality of the training and the interaction between them. In addition, inquire about scheduling choices and whether evening or weekend classes are available if needed. And remember to ask about financial assistance and student loan options also. If you ask the right questions as we have outlined in our guidelines for assessing schools, you’ll be able to filter your choices so that you can make an educated decision. With the appropriate training, hard work and commitment, you can eventually become a licensed HVAC specialist in Lehighton PA.