It was kind of fun when I first started working with my dad.
He owned the local HVAC company and he would take me to work whenever I wasn’t in school.
It seemed natural to go to homes with some HVAC techs and help them fix a furnace or air conditioning unit, or to help them do the servicing. I was only sixteen when he allowed me to work with them. I didn’t think of myself as an apprentice. I was only thinking that I was getting paid to have fun. I couldn’t believe it when some of his customers started calling me the teenage HVAC technician. Little did I know that while I was having fun, I was also learning a trade. Although I was too young to do little more than carry the tools and hand the guys some things, they were constantly showing me what they were doing. I had learned about the different tools. I knew which parts were for the furnace and which were for air conditioning. I also knew how to run the machinery to clean the ductwork. When one of the guys didn’t show up for work one morning, I was asked to help install a ductless HVAC system. Another time, I got to help with the installation of a radiant heat system. I had always told dad that I didn’t want to be in the family business. By the time I graduated from high school,, all I had to do was take the HVAC certification test. I had found my career long before most guys my age knew what the word meant.