Is HVACR Service a Stressful Job?

When making a career choice, it’s smart to think about how your work may impact your mental well being along with the other aspects of the job. Will it be too stressful? Here’s what you need to know about the challenges and rewards of HVACR service careers.

4 reasons HVACR service in NYC can sometimes be stressful

1. Long hours in the busy season 

Most HVACR service companies are busiest in the summer months. That’s because there’s more work repairing, maintaining, and installing air conditioning and refrigeration systems than there is for heating systems. 

As a service technician, you’ll be busy in the summer, too. Sometimes you may be required to work overtime, including nights and weekends. That can be difficult at times if you have a family or other personal commitments.

That said, not every company requires technicians to work overtime, because they offer the overtime opportunities to those who want it (and want the extra money that comes with it). And that’s the big advantage of overtime: you can make A LOT of extra money at time-and-a-half or even double time.

2. Dealing with unhappy customers 

Customers with no AC or heat (or broken commercial refrigeration equipment) are not happy campers. They are usually dealing with being physically uncomfortable, an unexpected repair expense, and sometimes waiting longer than they expected for a solution. 

For food service businesses with refrigeration problems, the stakes can be even higher: they are losing money and customers every hour that their problem isn’t solved. 

It’s not uncommon for people to take out their frustrations on the technician who’s trying to help them. In this job, it’s a big help when you can be empathetic and not take things personally. 

However, people are not always grumpy… you often get the opposite: people who are very grateful to you for helping them. In fact, that’s one of the things technicians say they like most about the job.

Learn more> 

What to Say to An Angry Customer

Keeping Your Cool as an Air Conditioning Technician

3. Driving and parking in NYC

This is not such a big deal elsewhere, but driving a large van or truck around New York City can be a challenge, to say the least. 

It’s one reason companies require not only a valid driver’s license but also a clean driving record. You need to be careful, patient, and keep your wits about you to avoid accidents and tickets. 

Although we’ve heard technicians say that’s part of what makes the job interesting and even exciting.

Learn more> 

Exciting Jobs that Pay Well: HVAC Service in NYC

Driving in NYC: Safe Driving Practices & Tips

4. Getting to the equipment

Here in NYC, space costs a fortune and nobody wants to waste it for HVAC equipment. So equipment gets jammed into every available tiny space. That means it can be challenging for technicians to get to the equipment for maintenance and repairs.

Here’s a story about the challenges technicians face from a NYC HVAC service company:

Extreme HVAC Service in NYC: Do You Have What It Takes?  

Why HVACR careers are worth a little stress!

We shared all of this to give a clear picture of what it’s like to be a technician working in HVACR service. You should know what you’re signing up for! But the fact is, the rewards of the job far outweigh the challenges for most people: 

• Great pay: easily make $100,000+ once you’re fully qualified (after about 5 years).
• Excellent medical benefits for you and your family, FULLY PAID by your employer if you’re in the union.
• Comfortable retirement at a relatively young age with a generous pension.
• Job security: the demand for technicians is high due to constant need for the work and older generations retiring.
• Interesting work: being on the go and solving a variety of technical problems is never boring.
• Opportunities to learn and grow: HVACR equipment technology and tools are constantly changing. That means you keep learning. There’s also plenty of opportunities to move into management or other aspects of the industry.
• The satisfaction of helping others: as we mentioned above, this is a job where you get to help people every day, and that can really help keep you going. 

Learn more> Rewards of HVACR Careers

Sound like a career that could work for you? Take our quiz to see if you’re well suited to the job, and join our mailing list (below) to get more information in your inbox each month.

HVACR Career Connect NY was created to promote the exceptional quality-of-life benefits of a career in HVAC and Refrigeration service, and also to provide a clear path for getting started in the profession. In doing so, we serve as a resource for employers in the New York City metro area to find and hire smart and capable new technicians. We also serve as an educational resource to support business growth and to help service technicians succeed in their chosen profession.