HVAC Service Technician
We place this role between $48,000 and $72,000 a year at mid experience, before overtime, bonus and on-call.
What the job actually is.
Diagnoses and repairs commercial rooftop units, split systems, chillers and the controls wrapped around them, usually alone and usually on someone else's schedule. The work is roughly half diagnosis and half customer handling, because the technician is the only person from the contractor the building ever sees.
What this role pays.
That band is mid experience, built from our own engagement history. Experience and region move it - the salary calculator applies both.
The federal occupation this role reports under is Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers (SOC 49-9021), May 2025. Nationally it reports a median of $61,010 , with the middle of the market between $40,050 and $95,210. BLS counts this job inside that occupation rather than publishing it separately, so the figures cover a slightly wider group than this exact title.
Where it pays most.
Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers across the metros we cover, May 2025. BLS publishes a median for 100 of them and withholds the rest, where the local sample was too small to be reliable.
| Metro | Median | Employed there |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose | $82,050 | 1,740 |
| Seattle | $80,100 | 3,940 |
| Boston | $78,530 | 6,050 |
| San Francisco | $78,490 | 3,980 |
| New York | $77,990 | 21,820 |
| Chicago | $77,960 | 7,210 |
| Bridgeport | $77,490 | 1,050 |
| Minneapolis | $77,490 | 2,420 |
| McAllen | $47,170 | 530 |
| El Paso | $47,270 | 790 |
| Little Rock | $48,000 | 1,470 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. The last three rows are the lowest-paying metros in the same set. Headcount is metro-wide across every industry, not this trade alone.
HVAC Service Technician vs HVAC Install Technician (Commercial).
Service is diagnostics on somebody else's equipment: the call comes in, the unit is already installed, and the technician has to find the fault before touching anything. Install is a build. The two share EPA 608 and one federal occupation code, so the wage table here covers both, but they screen differently - service hires on troubleshooting and customer contact, and NATE is the certification that moves the offer; install hires on equipment families and rigging.
HVAC Install Technician (Commercial): what it pays and what the search takes
Credentials that move an offer.
- EPA 608
- NATE
Licensing is a state question, not a national one. The HVAC & Mechanical hiring page carries the state-by-state position, and every market page names the authority for that state.
What separates a strong candidate.
Everyone who applies for this seat will claim the experience. These are the things that distinguish the people who have it, and the questions that find out.
What to look for
- Talks in symptoms and causes rather than part numbers - superheat and subcooling readings, not "I replaced the TXV"
- Has worked unaccompanied on rooftop equipment, not just assisted on installs
- Can describe a call they diagnosed wrong and what the second visit found
Questions that find out
- Walk me through diagnosing a rooftop unit that cools fine in the morning and short-cycles by two in the afternoon. A strong answer Treats it as load and ambient dependent rather than random, and separates refrigeration causes (high head on a dirty or recirculating condenser, a failing condenser fan, overcharge, non-condensables) from control causes (a thermostat or sensor seeing the wrong thing, a safety cutting out and resetting). Says they would go back when it actually faults, or load it, and take readings while it is faulting rather than diagnosing it cold in the morning.
- What superheat would you expect on a properly charged R-410A system, and what does it tell you when it reads high? A strong answer Asks about the metering device before giving a number, because the answer differs: a TXV system holds a fairly narrow evaporator superheat, a fixed-orifice system is charged off the manufacturer chart against indoor wet bulb and outdoor dry bulb. Reads high superheat as a starved evaporator and lists undercharge, a restriction, or a TXV underfeeding as the places to look.
- A tenant says it is too warm and the space is at setpoint. What do you check and in what order? A strong answer Goes to the space before the equipment. Where the thermostat is compared with where the person sits, whether the sensor is in sun or over a heat source, diffuser throw and whether it is blowing on someone or past them, solar and equipment load in that corner, the VAV box or zone damper, and whether the space was ever balanced for its current use.
- A rooftop unit trips on high head pressure only on hot afternoons. Where do you start, and what would rule the condenser out? A strong answer Starts at heat rejection: coil cleanliness including between the slabs, condenser fan running and turning the right way, fan cycling controls, and anything on the roof making the unit breathe its own discharge air. Rules the condenser out by comparing condensing temperature with ambient and judging the split, then moves to overcharge and non-condensables if that split is normal.
- How do you tell a failed run capacitor from a failing compressor on a call-out, with no parts on the truck? A strong answer Measures rather than guesses. Capacitance against the rating on the can, visible bulging or leaking, voltage actually arriving at the compressor terminals, contactor contacts, then winding resistance and a check to ground. Knows that a compressor humming and tripping its overload with a good capacitor and good voltage points somewhere different from a capacitor that reads well out of tolerance.
- A customer has had three technicians out for the same intermittent fault. What do you do differently on the fourth visit? A strong answer Reads the previous tickets first and talks to the person who actually experiences the fault about when it happens and what else is happening at the time. Stops swapping parts on suspicion. Either stays until it faults or leaves something behind that records it, and tells the customer what to write down.
- When do you recover and weigh in a charge rather than top it up, and how do you make that call? A strong answer Weighs in when the charge is unknown, after a significant leak or a component change, or when the refrigerant may be mixed or contaminated. Tops up only on a small leak that has been found and repaired. Either way, finds the leak first, and says so plainly, because topping up a system without finding the leak just books the next visit.
- Walk me through everything you check before you condemn a compressor. A strong answer Voltage at the terminals under load, capacitor, contactor, overload, windings open or shorted or grounded, oil condition. Then the part that separates a good technician: what killed it. A restriction, a low charge, a dead condenser fan or an overheating problem will kill the replacement too, and they say they would not fit a new compressor without finding the cause.
- When do you use subcooling rather than superheat to judge a charge? A strong answer Subcooling on a TXV system, because the valve is already controlling superheat and superheat therefore tells you little about charge. Superheat on a fixed-orifice system against the chart. Gives a working range but says the number that matters is the one on the data plate or in the manufacturer literature for that unit.
- A unit is running but not cooling well and the charge checks out. Where do you go next? A strong answer Airflow. Filters, both sides of the evaporator coil, a blower wheel loaded with dirt, belt and sheave or fan speed taps, duct static, dampers, and an economizer stuck open pulling hot outside air in. Also checks that every stage or compressor is actually running, and asks whether the load in the space has changed.
- Tell me how an economizer is supposed to work, and the three ways you most often find them broken. A strong answer Free cooling from outside air when conditions allow, with a changeover control deciding when, dampers modulating, and a minimum position held for ventilation. Names real failures: a seized or disconnected actuator, a failed or miswired outdoor air sensor or enthalpy control, broken linkage leaving dampers stuck, and a controller disabled by someone who got tired of complaints.
- Hand me a wiring diagram for a unit you have never seen. How do you use it? A strong answer Finds the legend, separates the line voltage path from the control circuit, traces the sequence of operation, and identifies the safeties wired in series. Uses it to decide where to put a meter rather than reading it end to end, and describes narrowing by finding voltage present at one point and absent at the next.
- Describe your lockout procedure on a rooftop unit with a disconnect you cannot see from where you are working. A strong answer Their own lock and tag, their own key in their own pocket, then verifying zero energy at the unit with a meter they have tested before and after. Does not rely on someone standing near the disconnect. Raises the possibility of a second supply, because a convenience outlet or a control circuit can be fed from somewhere else entirely.
- Talk me through recovering refrigerant from a unit you are replacing. A strong answer Recovery machine and a rated cylinder that has been weighed and will not be filled past its limit, recovering to the level required, keeping refrigerants separate, recording what came out, and never venting. Treats the documentation as part of the job rather than paperwork, and can say why without being prompted.
- Explain to me, as if I am the building manager and not a technician, why the unit failed. A strong answer Plain language with no jargon: what failed, why it failed, what it costs, what happens if it is left, and what would stop it happening again. The test is whether the manager could repeat the explanation accurately to their own boss an hour later.
- What stops you from going up on a roof? A strong answer A specific answer rather than a reassuring one. Lightning, ice, wind, a ladder that cannot be secured, a hatch or access that is not safe, no fall protection where it is needed, a roof they cannot satisfy themselves is sound, working alone with nobody knowing they are up there, or being too tired to be safe. Someone who answers nothing has told you something.
The mistake this seat invites
Hiring on EPA 608 and years of experience without testing diagnostic reasoning. The certification is a floor, not a signal, and residential-heavy experience transfers badly to rooftop and chiller work.
Where the role goes next
Strong service technicians move to lead tech, then service manager, or sideways into controls, which usually pays better sooner. Candidates ask this in the first conversation, and an employer who cannot answer it loses the people who had other options.
Interview kit for this role
- All interview questions for this role in the question bank.
- Printable interview scorecard built from these questions and signals.
- The HVAC & Mechanical hiring kit - every role in the trade, with credentials and offer risks.
- Offer calculator starting from this role's pay band.
What the search actually takes.
Across 34 closed HVAC & mechanical searches in 2026 year to date, our median was 17 days from first contact with the candidate to hire. That is not a time-to-fill benchmark - our clock starts when we reach the candidate, not when the requisition opened. The full distribution is in the Hiring Index.
Searches we have closed in this seat
23 of them were for this exact seat rather than the trade in general. Each is written up in full on our placements page: what the opening was, what made it hard, and what the person we placed brought.
- Commercial HVAC Service Technician - Houston, TX - 14 days from first contact to hire.
- Commercial HVAC Service Technician - Mansfield, TX - 3 days from first contact to hire.
- Commercial HVAC Service Technician - Denver, CO - 4 days from first contact to hire.
- Commercial HVAC Service Technician - Overland Park, KS - 8 days from first contact to hire.
- Commercial HVAC Service Technician - Danvers, MA - 25 days from first contact to hire.
- Lead Commercial HVAC Service Technician - Skokie, IL - 9 days from first contact to hire.
What we have open in HVAC & Mechanical right now.
24 live HVAC & mechanical searches on our board as of November 12, 2026. These are roles contractors have asked us to fill, not a sample set.
- Sheet Metal Foreman - Indianapolis, Indiana
- Chiller Technician - Dallas, Texas
- Commercial HVAC Service Technician - Indianapolis, Indiana
- Commercial HVAC Service Technician - Denver, Colorado
- Commercial HVAC Technician - Lexington, Kentucky
Keep reading.
- 2026 HVAC & Mechanical Salary Guide - the full benchmark by role.
- HVAC & Mechanical recruiting - how we run this trade.
- Salary calculator - the band by experience and region.
- HVAC & Mechanical hiring in Houston - one market in detail.
- Hiring Index - how long our searches actually take.
Other HVAC & Mechanical roles we recruit
All 56 roles we recruit - every trade, every seat.
