If you are looking for a technician to repair your HVAC, you usually look into the yellow pages. You will see a milling population of them there. How do you know, who is the best. At such times the certification is one of the parameters that you should see to select a service provider. Now there are many certifications that are available for HVAC technicians. Here are some of the top ones –

NATE certification

The North American Technician Excellence, also called NATE is one of the nationally recognized and valued certification for HVAC and refrigeration technicians. You can call this gold certification. In this context, you should know that it is not legally required for anyone to become a HVAC technician. But having it speaks volume about a person’s skill ad dexterity in repairing A/cs, furnaces, heat pumps etc. The technicians pass a knowledge-based exam. This certification can be earned in one or more specialty areas, including air conditioning, gas furnaces, and air distribution. The rates of certified technicians would be more than otherwise. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS 2014) - “Certifications can be helpful because they show that the technician has specific competencies. Some employers actively seek out industry-certified HVACR technicians.”

Excellence certification

The HVAC Excellence certification is another very wisely recognized certification. People with this certification have more experience- based knowledge than being book smarts. There are two levels in this certification. They are called - professional level and the master specialist level. In order to have the professional level certification, a technician should have two years of field experience and then clear a comprehensive exam in a specialized field, such as residential air conditioning and heat pump service. If a contractor passes the exam, he is given a badge for his specific certification area, HVAC Excellence patch, and wall certificate. In order to get master level certification, a technician should have at least 3 years of show able field experience and a passing score in the HVAC Excellence professional-level technician exam.

EPA 608 certification

People in HVAC industry often have to deal with a compound called the refrigerant, such as R-22 or R-410A. To handle these, the technician should be hand in gloves with certain rules and regulations. HVAC technicians cannot legally buy refrigerant without this credential. There are three types of certification under EPA 608.All of these are achieved by passing different written exams.

• Leve1 1 allows a technician to handle small appliances containing less than 5 pounds of refrigerant.
• Level 2 lets technicians to handle products containing high pressure refrigerants.
• Level 3 certification allows a technician to handle products containing low-pressure refrigerant.