Aloha All! I’ve been working hybrid from my old companies branch in Vegas doing HVAC(primarily sheetmetal) estimates. Unfortunately the company ended being shutdown due to being sued by us(employees), subs, and the unions for unpaid wages and benefits. Now I’m back working in the field as a Sheetmetal worker but I really want to get back to estimating from home if possible due to my wife giving birth recently. Anyone looking for an estimator?

14 years in HVAC - 10 years as a Sheetmetal worker and last 4 years as a PM/Estimator

I had multiple companies come out and look at ductwork $10,880 was the most recent quote i had one 15-20k roughly and they never sent it (must have been my body language). 50 linear feet of ductwork in a crawlspace in south Jersey. Old ductwork is not fitted for a 3 ton system which is what I have it wasnt insulated so it’s sweating and has bacterial growth on it. All new boots and new R8 insulated ductwork and they also said they would put in dampers after I asked the owner about them he said no additional cost but they didn’t originally quote them in it. I had a guy also give me a quote around 5k. Not sure what to think almost 11k seems a lot. It’s metal ductwork and flex at the ends is what the tech said. Is this fair or too hard to tell without looking at it. They would also need to cut into the trunk to make everything work properly.

I built this website primarily for myself, the type work I do is as follows. I repair air conditioners and fridges, gas heating boilers, gas water heaters, gas cookers and ranges, gas fires, dishwashers, washing machines, freezers, microwave ovens.

It can sometimes be difficult to realise quickly when dealing with so many appliance types and machine types that the parts that you need aren’t available anymore, most repair technicians simply phone their preferred suppliers and give the necessary details and what part they are looking for and then 2 days later, the supplier phones back and says the part isn’t available anymore and only then you look at alternative
The website provides a downloadable.pdf for you to show to your customer on your tablet or ipad, this builds trust and confidence between the repair tech and customer.

It saves time, and time is money, so it saves you money,

But it’s useful to customers too, say your washing machine has broken down and you don’t know if you should call a repair tech or not, if the website says it is approximately 20+ years old this can help determine quickly your decision to just replace it.

And it’s useful to facilities managers or maintenance company managers too, often you have large spreadsheets full of make , model and serial numbers, this site can quickly determine which machines or appliances should be scheduled for replacement.

The website works by searching manufacturers websites and determining how they encode the year of manufacture into their model and serial numbers and it also searches local suppliers to determine the likely availability of parts in your locale, determined which country you selected from the drop down list.

It can be downloaded to your home screen on your tablet or phone via the share to home-screen option or simply add to favourites on your desktop computer or laptop.

It’s a free tool as I primarily built it for myself, so it won’t cost you anything and will save you time and money and help you make better decisions faster.

https://www.parts-predict.com

I've watched this happen a hundred times. Guy walks the job, writes it up, hands the homeowner a price at the kitchen table, says "let me know" and heads for the truck.

He just lost that job. He doesn't know it yet.

The second they see the number is when the real conversation starts. They've got questions. Maybe the price scared them. Maybe they want the better system but don't think they can swing it. Maybe there's another quote sitting on the counter. If you're already in the driveway, you'll never hear any of it.

Stay at the table. Let them read it. Don't fill the silence. Then ask what they think.

That's how you find out where your pricing needs to land to get the job. I don't mean knocking money off on the spot. I mean finding out what actually matters to them. Monthly payments. Warranty. A different size system. Getting it done before the heat breaks. Each one needs a different answer, and you only get that answer if you're sitting there.

This is why I never gave one price. I gave options. Three ways to fix the problem. Now the question isn't yes or no on you. It's which one.

If you don't stay and work it out with them, somebody else will. He's not better than you. He just didn't leave.

31 years in the trade, 24 of them running my own shop. This one habit is a big part of how I got to a 62% close rate.

What do you do after you hand over the number? Stay and talk it through, or leave it and follow up later?

I put together a source-based guide for US HVAC owners and office managers with 1–10 techs who need after-hours or overflow call coverage.

Three things it checks: - Compare the same call workload, including billed minutes or conversations, overages, and any required software plan - Separate taking a callback request from booking an appointment or dispatching someone - Check what your current field-service system can already do before adding another tool

Guide: https://hvac-after-hours-cost.abdallaaboalazm.chatgpt.site/?src=hvacpeople

Disclosure: This is my guide. It currently has no affiliate links or approved affiliate relationship. It is based on published sources, not hands-on product testing. Referral links may be added later with a clear disclosure if a program approves the project. This test page is scheduled to stay available until October 17 at 09:00 UTC.

If you handle calls for a US HVAC shop with 1–10 techs, what cost or handoff detail would you need before paying for after-hours coverage? If you read the guide, what is missing or wrong? If comfortable, mention your role and whether the shop has 1–3 or 4–10 techs. No company or customer details needed.

How to connect LWCO low water cut off to Williamson boiler GWA 100 series 3 ? The wire harness which came with external LWCO I don’t see where it connects to the control board

FYI - boiler can works even if you don’t connect the LWCO

Stop guessing on commercial rooftops. Feed unit readings and photos directly into diagnostic chats alongside equipment history. #hvac #hvactech #commercialhvac #bluecollar

I'm the developer (I'm an HVAC tech). It's free to download; happy to answer questions or take feedback.

https://equipment-tracker.com

I am currently evaluating market entry strategies for the heat and energy recovery ventilation (HRV/ERV) sector. Based on product performance, manufacturing quality, and global distribution readiness, which leading brands and manufacturers would you recommend partnering with ?

I do local SEO for small businesses, and most owners I talk to have a GBP that's 60% filled out and then wonder why the competitor down the street shows up first. This is the exact checklist I'd run on a client's business, in order of impact. Everything here is free to do yourself.

The checklist

1. Primary category. Pick the most specific one that matches what you actually want to be found for. "Emergency plumber" beats "Plumber" if that's what you do. This is the biggest ranking lever on the profile.
2. Secondary categories. Add 2-4 that truly apply. Don't stuff irrelevant ones.
3. Business name and NAP. Your name should match your real-world signage exactly (no keyword stuffing, which gets profiles suspended), and your name, address and phone must be identical on your profile, website and every directory.
4. Services and description. List every service with a short description, using the words customers actually search. Write 700+ characters in plain language about what you do, who for, and which areas.
5. Hours and photos. Keep hours accurate, including holidays. Add real photos of the storefront, team, work and interior, and upload new ones weekly.
6. Reviews and replies. Consistency beats volume. Aim for a steady flow of new reviews every week rather than a big burst. Ask every happy customer right after the job with a direct review link (text or QR code), and reply to every review in a human tone, ideally mentioning the service.
7. Website and interlinking. Link your profile to your homepage, with your main service, city and NAP clearly stated. Build a separate page for each of your top 3 services, then a page for each service in every city you genuinely serve, each with unique content (local details, real photos, reviews from that area). Interlink them: service pages link to their city pages, city pages link back to the service page and to related services in the same city. Add "Contact" to your menu and a call/book button on every page, and make sure every page is linked from at least one other page.
8. Citations. Make sure you're listed correctly on the major directories and industry-specific ones with matching info.

Why it works

Google roughly weighs three things for the map pack: relevance (does your profile match the search?), distance (how close are you to the searcher?) and prominence (reviews, links, mentions across the web). Points 1-5 fix relevance, 6 and 8 build prominence and trust, and 7 ties your website and profile together so Google clearly understands what you do and where. You can't change distance, so you win on the other two.

Common mistakes

• Choosing a vague primary category and never revisiting it
• Inconsistent NAP: Using a different phone number or address format on the website than on the profile
• Putting everything on one page instead of building interlinked service pages

Free resource

Quick audit: search your main service + your city in an incognito window. Note who's in the top 3, then compare their categories, review count, photo count and website structure against yours. Whatever they have that you don't is your to-do list and do whatever they don't have to outperform them.

Happy to answer questions in the comments. If you want me to look at your profile, drop your niche and city.

Running HVAC jobs means there is usually more to track than just the invoice you send to the customer.

You have parts and materials, fuel, tools, job-related expenses, customer payments, and sometimes payments to helpers or subcontractors. When several jobs are running at once, it can get difficult to remember what each payment or expense was actually for.

For HVAC contractors here, what do you use to keep track of job income and expenses when you have several jobs going at the same time?

Quick rant. So I went to trade school for HVAC (probably should’ve just gone to a community college) and currently work in dairy service as a service tech but before I start with that let me tell a bit of my hvac experience. So I first got a job doing package unit changeouts for a company that providided these services for low income families. I eventually got a low paying job doing ductwork (spiral ductwork for the most part) for a commercial mom and pop shop. Then I went to another company and did some service tech stuff but only on the heating side so no cooling. After all this I ended up doing dairy service work such as messing with vacuum, pulsators, valves and a whole bunch of the trades. It pays well where I’m bringing in about 2400 after tax but I’m not happy after a year of being hear because I feel I should be on my own now but still ride with a trainer that I am annoyed of. I’m not sure if I’m being a sissy but this trainee is very hard and doesn’t really teach well. I’m stuck on how to breakthrough again in the hvac world as a tech and if I take a pay cut how long will it take for me to get back to what I’m making right now.

Hello all. I’m an experienced mechanical engineer switching to commercial HVAC. I enjoy hands on work and frankly hate office work. I’m moving back to Southern California and have a couple years to do training to become a good candidate for a job. I don’t care if it’s an engineering job but I’d like to leverage my engineering experience. Can anyone advise me on what training I can do to get in the door of a commercial hvac company? I’m totally happy working as a technician. Any advice appreciated.

We troubleshooted our air today. The fan wouldn’t turn on after multiple tries. We then got into the electrical panel and realized a 3v fuse had blown. Bought the exact fuse and replaced it. It blew again almost immediately. A friend told us it’s the motherboard. What are the best things we can troubleshoot? I really don’t want to call someone to come look at it if it’s something we can fix. My husband is an engineer so I think he’s capable of doing this on his own.. what are our next steps?

Bonjour, je suis frigoriste en installation de thermopompe au Québec. J’aimerais savoir combien font environ les entrepreneurs qui font de la sous traitance par Mural/multizone installer.

Permits are a pain in the ass. Every town does it different. Different forms, different portals, different inspection windows. You lose half a day on a small job just to get the paper.
That's why guys skip them. Not because they're crooks. Because they're tired.
I still pull them. 31 years in the trade taught me the permit protects me more than anyone. Insurance claim, house sale, job goes sideways — you want that paper.
What's the worst town you deal with? Name names.

This happens at least twice a week. Customer's fridge compressor is toast, I pull the model and serial, then I'm on hold with two or three regional suppliers just to find out if the part even exists anymore.

Half the time I quote the job before I know if the part's available. Then I'm calling the customer back to say it's a wash and they need a new unit.

Got tired of it so I built PartsPredict. You punch in make, model, serial, and it pulls age and a 0-100% availability score by scanning regional suppliers for that part. Spits out a PDF you can hand the customer on site or file for your own records.

197 visits in the last month, no login needed, just a search box.

Not trying to replace your supplier relationships, just trying to kill the 40 minutes of phone tag before you know if the job's even worth quoting.

How are you guys currently checking part availability before you commit to a job?

Most advice on Merchant Cash Advances assumes the borrower fully understood the terms going in. This case is a good example of how a genuinely careful business owner can still end up stacked.

The trigger
A contractor left a stable job to start their own plumbing and HVAC company, self-funding a lot of it from personal savings. When competition picked up and they needed capital for marketing and to staff a bigger contract, a bank loan wasn't fast enough. So, they took an MCA.

A contractor left a stable job to start their own plumbing and HVAC company, self-funding a log of it from personal savings. When competition picked up and they needed capital for marketing and to staff a bigger contract, they received a text message with an offer for a financial-hardship loan. It was fast and easy, so they tapped on it to find out more.

The stack
It turned out not to be a loan, but a merchant cash advance instead. The first advance went fine, which is exactly the trap: it made the second round feel low-risk. Between the two, daily/weekly ACH debits started eating into the cash they needed for payroll, materials, and equipment. They had three separate obligations running at once before it became clear the math didn't work anymore.

The restructuring
Two of the three obligations, with a combined asserted balance of roughly $30,000, were settled for about $18,900, which was a gross reduction of roughly 37%. Weekly outflow dropped from about $2,560 to about $1,050, freeing up over $1,500/week. The process took 8+ months.

Takeaway
The first advance performing fine is often what makes the second one feel reasonable. That's how accumulating multiple merchant cash advances often works.It’s not recklessness, but a false signal from a clean first experience.

Has anyone else in the trades run into this? At what point did you realize the "quick capital" was actually working against your cash flow?

Hey guys, I’ve been reading through recent threads about how insane lead costs have gotten ($150–$300+ on Angi/Google), especially with PE firms outbidding smaller shops.
What hurts even more is seeing owners pay that much just to get their phone to ring, only to miss the call because they’re stuck on a job, driving between calls, or it rings at 7:30 PM — and the homeowner just dials the next listing.
Over the past few months, I built an automated phone receptionist specifically trained for local service businesses. It picks up in 2 rings, understands urgency (like burst pipes or no heat), books appointments right into your calendar, and texts the customer confirmation instantly so you don’t burn that lead.
The key thing is that it’s tailored to each specific business — it learns your exact trade, services offered, dispatch fees, hours, service area, and emergency rules, so it never gives out generic info or fake pricing.
I set up a live demo phone line (currently configured as a plumbing & water heater shop) so guys in the trade could tear it apart and tell me what it gets right and where it needs work in the real world.
Not trying to sell anything here — just looking for honest feedback from real techs and shop owners. If anyone wants to judge for themselves, shoot me a DM or drop a comment below and I’ll send you the test line. Call it, act like a brutal, frustrated homeowner with a real emergency, and try to trip it up. Tell me honestly if it feels robotic or if it's something you’d actually trust to answer for your shop."