“They don’t know the product,” he said. “You needed to train them first, and then give them the equipment, because there are so many — even instructors — at trade schools and places that aren’t knowledgeable on the equipment and were actually afraid to install it and try to teach on it.” 

SUPPORTING SUPPLIERS: Midea visits Famous Supply to provide instruction and training. (Courtesy of Midea)

This instance highlights a critical problem that Midea and other prominent HVAC equipment manufacturers addressed at the 2026 Excellence National HVACR Education Conference: A growing knowledge gap affecting new technicians and those who train them. 

In addition to Rames, ACHR NEWS spoke with panel members about what manufacturers are doing to close that gap and elevate the industry. They include Paul Chaves, senior manager of training at Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC US; John Amos, associate director of training, Bosch Home Comfort USA; and Doug Smiley, manager of technical training at Lennox Residential HVAC. 

Editor’s Note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity. 

ACHR NEWS: What do you see as being the biggest knowledge gaps? 

Paul Chaves (PC): Thirty years ago, an experienced service technician could diagnose and repair most issues without opening a manual. Today’s systems are far more data-rich, and it is unrealistic to expect anyone to retain every specification and parameter. As a result, success is less about memorization and more about knowing how to quickly find the right information and apply it in the field. 

John Amos (JA): Rapid technological innovation and significant regulatory changes in the HVAC industry have resulted in three common training gaps: The fundamentals of inverter technology, knowledge about the refrigerant transition, and the ability to read communicating controls.  

Doug Smiley (DS): As much as we have a gap in skills or training for technicians, who's the next group of people that are going to teach? Because … just as you have the technician shortage on one side, you equally have an instructor shortage that's about to start to happen as well. 

David Rames (DR): One of the biggest gaps is, how are we going to get that younger generation into the trades? And it really doesn’t matter if it’s electricians or plumbers or HVAC … we’ve got to energize that group and let them know that there is an incredible opportunity to provide for yourself and your families through the skilled trades. 

ACHR NEWS: How complex would you say equipment has become in the last five to 10 years? 

JA: We've gone from systems a technician could diagnose with gauges and a multimeter to inverter-driven equipment with proprietary software and multi-stage refrigerant circuits. As a result of these differences, the skillset a technician needs to successfully install and service equipment has fundamentally shifted. 

DR: The equipment itself is changing so much, from just an old single-stage a/c and a coil on a gas furnace to high-efficiency, high-performing, cold-climate inverter compressors, and electronics that, again, as manufacturers, we need to raise that tide to float all the boats and to get better through training. 

PC: When I went to school for HVAC school, they told us, “You won't see heat pumps north of the Mason-Dixon Line,” but they’re out there. … The technology has changed so much. … I just put a heat pump in my house about a year ago, and I put one of our units in there. … I had the breaker off for the electric heat all winter. I never needed them. … The technology is amazing compared to how it was when I started. 

DS: Inverter-driven technology, though that's been around, it's more prevalent … in more systems because of the increased desire for increased efficiency from the homeowner, tighter standards and regulations have driven that. You see, of course, your refrigerant transitions that have happened in there, and from a sustainability and environmental standpoint, as those regs get tighter and tighter, they kind of force your hand on the improvements of technology.  

ACHR NEWS: How are you changing your training programs to keep up with tech, such as inverter systems and A2L refrigerants? 

DS: When we transitioned to A2L refrigerants … we were about a year to a year and a half out from the date deadline of January 2026, when people started talking about “What does training look like for that?” Well, we’re already having conversations about A3 today … we’re just at the table around “what does the training look like” a lot earlier. 

DR: Because of the implementation of the A2L Model A flammable refrigerant, we had to integrate sensors and a remediation process into the equipment on what happens if there was a leak. And so, we had to train on what happens, what error code there will be, what the equipment will actually do to remediate the leak. 

JA: At the Ducted Systems Academy, we’re overhauling our curriculum to give industry professionals hands-on experience and practical knowledge needed to successfully face current field challenges and concerns. Inverter diagnostics is now a core competency, not an elective. A2L safety is built into hands-on lab work, not just slide decks. 

PC: We review and update our training programs regularly to ensure they reflect current regulations and emerging technologies, including AI, inverter-driven systems, and A2L refrigerants. As requirements evolve, we adjust our curriculum accordingly to keep technicians prepared and compliant. 

ACHR NEWS: How are you helping smaller operations with training? 

JA: Our CTC network brings certified training closer to where smaller contractors live, reducing travel and lost productivity. We're also investing in blended learning, so a two-tech shop can complete online pre-training on their own schedule and come in for one focused hands-on day instead of a multi-day course. 

DS: We have nine live labs throughout North America and Canada … but every dealer, based on size, maybe can’t make that investment. So we partner with vo‑tech schools … we incorporate hybrid training classes where there’s a virtual instructor‑led portion, and then on‑the‑job training in the field. At Lennox, we have a program called Friends Build a Tech … where we offer free training to someone who is a friend or family member associated with a Lennox dealer. 

PC: Our classes are open to all contractors, from large national firms to single-person operations. We offer both in-person instruction and self-paced online eLearning. In addition to our 10 METUS-owned training centers, we also support more than 120 METUS Authorized Training Centers at distributor locations nationwide. 

DR: At Midea … what we do is we travel like crazy training the trainers at our distributor partners, but we’ve taken that a step further and say, “Why don’t you invite your contractors in?” That does two different things. One is that the contractor can hear directly from the horse’s mouth … the manufacturer who actually designed these products. But two is, for our distributor partners, it shows and gives a boost of confidence to their contractors that they have a great working relationship with their manufacturer. 

ACHR NEWS: How does training help a contractor’s bottom line? 

DR: Through training, you know the product better. So your speed of — let’s just say it’s a retrofit change-out — your speed of that change-out will be faster because you’ve been through the training. Now, maybe that allows you to do two jobs today instead of one because you were faster and more efficient. But before even that … when you’re selling to Mr. and Mrs. Jones, that confidence, because you’ve been through the training, and will come out at the table. 

DS: If a contractor says, “I’m a $2 million business, and I want to grow to a $5 million business” … the only way that they ever grow or get better or get stronger is through training. We’ve never had an Olympic athlete who said, “I want to win gold one day,” and training was not part of their regimen. 

PC: It's all about preventing callbacks. Somebody who's not trained may not fix it properly the first time — that's a callback. Callbacks are expensive for a company, and that's … the No. 1 reason why, if I was managing a crew of technicians and installers, I'd want to send them to training — to prevent that so we get it done right the first time in one trip. 

JA: The goal is to remove every barrier to getting technicians certified and confident to install and service today’s equipment.