Anthony Marshall from Tamarac High School demonstrates checking for safety with electrical wires in his HVAC shop classroom.
HVAC? What’s HVAC? For many people, HVAC may be a relatively remote term that really only comes to mind when our home air conditioner or furnace quits working. When it’s really hot or really cold, we want it fixed right away. After all, we do live in the great Northeast, right? So we pick up the phone and call for help. Maybe the technician that comes to your house was a Questar III graduate, as quite a few of our students go on to work in HVAC locally.
HVAC is much more than air conditioners and furnaces. Today’s HVAC is high tech and includes learning about solar heating and other renewable energies. Anthony Marshall reflects on a week in the HVAC classroom and we learn so much more about HVAC from his “deep dive” into what a typical week looks like. Thank you Anthony for providing such a great account of all that goes into learning about becoming a good HVAC technician.
Monday we went out to the mock roof and used a pitch gauge to figure out the angle of the top. We also talked about solar heating and some of the theory and components that make those systems work correctly. Then we talked about the main differences between trusses and rafters. I knew the structural differences being that trusses have more supports in the shape of a triangle, and that rafters don’t, but I didn’t know the advantages and disadvantages of each design. We also used a pitch scale to figure out the pitch of the roof so we can figure out the angle for mounting the panels.
Tuesday we talked a little more about solar heating. After that we talked about hard starting a compressor motor and how and why to do it. I hadn’t heard of them before so I was a little confused but after Mr. Ramirez explained it, I started to really understand it. Sometimes after a thunderstorm, it will shut off and be hard to start. If it has shut off, we should recommend a “hard start kit” to the customer. We learned how and why they are used because they are becoming very prevalent in the field.
Wednesday, we had English and learned about using all of the Google features and how they work. We also talked about how to write a better “week in review” and the reason why we reflect on things. We reflect because it helps us to remember what we did and why we did it, and keeps facts in our head longer. I think I can use more of the stuff in Google now because before I didn’t even know what some of it was. I also think that by writing a better “week in review” reflection, I will understand and remember more of the skills I learned that week.
Thursday, we found out what internship groups we are all in and what we would be learning about. Jake (fellow classmate) and I are going to be going to the electrical program together. I think it will be a great experience. I want to learn more about electrical and this is going to be the perfect opportunity to do it. Mr. Ramirez chose our placement but I couldn’t be happier with my assignment. After that we used a sun tracker to learn how to figure out where an obstruction will be at any point in the year to figure out optimal placement for solar panels, so that they will have maximum sunlight year-round. Reardon, Korey, Aerianna (fellow classmates) and I were in a group and used the sun tracker.
Friday, we had a guest speaker from Lincoln Tech visit to speak about what they do there and all the options students have, such as financial aid, scholarships and everything else. His name was Sydney MacDonald and he has been an agent for Kanye West and even MMA fighters. He gave us a lot of information about what they do at Lincoln Tech. I think one of the biggest advantages is that they help you with job placement not only after you graduate, but for life. If you go back 50 years after you graduate they will do all they can to help get you hired. They will also let you go back and retake a class if you want to brush up on it, or if it is a new addition in your field. We also took a review test to help get us ready for our final exam. It was easy and one or two questions did give me some trouble but I still did well on it. It was a good week. I learned a lot of new skills and techniques.
