Salary
Average Salary: $41,000
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $1,711,668
Want to hit the ground running when it comes to your salary? Well, with minimal training you could start out as an HVACR tech earning about $15 an hour doing repairs and installation. That's almost $30,000 a year, not counting overtime. And believe it or not, that's better starting pay than some jobs that require four-year degrees, like social work.
Once you get some experience under your tool belt, you could be making $48,000 or more before overtime (source). You probably won't be buying a mansion on the beach, but in many places you can afford to live in a nice part of town, plus you should also be able to afford a trip to the beach to chill out. Own your own HVACR contracting business, though, and your earnings could be substantially more. Then who's got swag? We're gonna guess it's you.
HVACR techs generally spend less time in formal schooling in favor of years of on-the-job training. The balance between the two depends on the specialization you choose. There are more than a dozen sub-HVACR areas to pursue, such as controls or refrigeration technician, or team lead in quality control (source). As you work on various jobs, you may find some areas of HVACR work to be really cool and others not so hot. (Did we really just go there?)
You can go just about any place you want with a career in HVACR systems. If you are good with technology and like the idea of making modern life greener then it's a great career choice. NATE certification (North American Technician Excellence) promotes high levels of training and other standards for certain technical jobs.
NATE certification is a big deal for HVACR workers and takes on-the-job experience to earn. This is only one path to follow, though, so find what interests you and see where it takes you.