r/HVACschool

30M here. I have a fairly strong work history but not in this field. Most call centers and working with adults with developmental disabilities. I’m currently in college and almost done with an associate in a field that I’m not sure I want to stay in. Best case scenario when I’m done, I move into a shittyish job with lots of office politics with the hopes of making 60k a year. Im thinking about a change. I’m strong, smart and not afraid of hard work.

Questions:

1. At 30, how likely am I to get an apprenticeship?
2. I make 25 an hour in Missouri currently. How much is this going to drop me financially and for how long?
3. What’s the work like? Hours? Traveling? Etc.
4. Anything else you wanna tell me. I’m happy to hear it. Any tips, advice, do it, don’t do it’s. Etc.

Second time this year I’ve had a housewife hit on me while I was at her house for an HVAC call. It's dangerous out here 😅

Aircon engineer with 8 years in the aircon industry but no plumbing qualifications.

Want to branch out to heatpump installations but cant find a direct F-gas to Heatpump course. Any advice on how to do this without a full plumbing apprenticeship?

Hi and thanks for any help or advice you could provide.

Context
Spent 18-45 with my face in a computer, designing, writing code, websites and app design but I can’t do it anymore. Loss of jobs and other things, it’s time to switch gears for the next phase of life.

Me:
Mechanically inclined, super healthy, I can stay on my feet all day. Love to work with my hands and solve problems.

All said, outside of fixing computers, networking, programming apps and websites, I have very little experience fixing electric, heating, water heaters or refrigerant around the house. It has always interested me but have always called someone to do this in the past.

Question:
Is 45 too late in life to switch gears, work a couple years residential for the free edu and blast off from that starting place into other areas?

I’ve seen lots of advice to do community college but I really need to keep earning as I transition away from my field, even if it’s not too much money to start.

I live in VA and have seen a handful of companies offering low paid training, seems like the first year is paying that training back but after that it seems like a great job from what I can tell.

Any help this community could provide is thanked in advance.