As technology continues to grow in the HVACR industry, educators are scrambling to come up with new ways to make sure the next generation of service technicians is equipped with the skills necessary to keep up with the current crop of techs.
“It’s tough (staying ahead of the curve),” said Greg Goater, training and safety director, Isaac Heating and Air Conditioning, Rochester, N.Y. “In the old days, a furnace was a furnace. Even when furnaces developed, every manufacturer was using one of two or three different control boards, so even though there was a plethora of different kinds of equipment out there, they all were pretty much controlled the same way, so it wasn’t too difficult to do. Today, we have the manufacturers on their high-end equipment — it’s all data highways, not thermostat wires anymore, and it’s all proprietary stuff, so it’s extremely difficult to service a piece of equipment that you are not a dealer for.”