SCC’s Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Technology program prepares students for careers in a variety of settings, including service technician (residential and commercial heating and air conditioning, heat pumps, and commercial refrigeration), new installation (residential and commercial heating and air conditioning, heat pumps, commercial refrigeration, plumbing and sheet metal), maintenance (apartment complexes and manufacturing facilities), sales (wholesale), design (wholesale), and utilities (energy management and load calculations).
Location Offered: Milford only
Overview
The Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Technology program provides a 50-50 balance of theory and hands-on application, in keeping with the philosophy of SCC. This includes a solid foundation of the principles of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration, combined with extensive hands-on instruction. The main focus of the program is residential and light commercial heating, ventilation and air conditioning, along with food preservation refrigeration. Students will learn basic electricity for heating, air conditioning and refrigeration; tubing operations such as soldering, brazing, bending and flaring; sheet metal fabrication, design and installation; installation, service and troubleshooting for plumbing, heating and air conditioning, heat pumps and refrigeration; load calculations; EPA refrigerant certification (Sec. 608 ARI); welding (ARC, MIG, Oxy/acetylene brazing and cutting); mechanical code; uniform plumbing code; and job safety. Students in the lab will learn to install, perform performance verifications, systematically troubleshoot, repair and maintain electrical and mechanical HVAC/R systems and components. The program is a six-quarter (18-month) program. Students are on campus participating in lecture/lab courses during five of those six quarters. The other quarter involves an opportunity to learn while doing through the College’s Cooperative Education Experience. During this experience, the student is paid to help offset the costs of college.
Mission
The mission of the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Technology program is to prepare students for direct service in the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration industry, including the areas of installation, service technicians, maintenance, sales and design.
Job Outlook
An additional 20,000 HVAC/R technicians and installers are needed each year to work in a fast-paced, growing, multibillion-dollar industry. By 2014, the United States will need 29 percent more HVAC/R and 21 percent more plumbing technicians, or more than 100,000 skilled workers, to perform these important jobs, which cannot be outsourced overseas. A job in the HVAC/R industry offers variety, job security, respect, upward mobility, great salary, lifelong employment and opportunity. Jobs in the $150 billion-a-year HVAC/R industry are predicted to increase as demand grows for industrial, commercial and residential climate control systems. Recent graduates report an average salary of $13.15 per hour with a high of $19 per hour.