Sales of air conditioners and heat pumps were brisk this summer, as record heat blanketed much of the U.S.

The most rewarding aspects of working in the HVACR field is being able to solve comfort and efficiency issues for homeowners. I love to look back at a job upon completion and say, “Yeah! We did that!”

During my time in this industry, I think we’ve done a really good job of adding more women across different fields. Women don’t always think about HVACR, but it’s an industry that needs good leaders just like any other.

Women entering the trades as technicians must overcome the perception that they aren’t strong enough or mechanically inclined enough to be a service tech. Even though women have worked in the skilled trades industry for decades, there is still a stigma about women working as HVAC technicians, plumbers, or electricians.

Like anything you really want to achieve, I think bringing more women into this field needs to be an active and purposeful exercise.

I love fixing things. I always have. But what is super exciting to me is the frontier. This field is changing daily, and new technology is everywhere.

We don’t have enough women in this industry. The largest challenge is that I still see so many rooms that don’t have diversity that represents the communities we operate in.

I aspire to mentor young female professionals in the HVACR space. Especially the women that desire to advance professionally while carrying the load as single parents.

This is a great industry. We need to keep spreading the word. Features (like this) with such wide readership are a huge help. I think that mentorship and participation in national organizations also provide a camaraderie that many women don’t find in the day-to-day.

Don’t be affected my any negative feedback or comments you may receive. If you’re passionate about what you do, you will succeed.

My advice is simple: Don’t be afraid to pursue this industry if you have a passion for it. The HVACR field is full of opportunities, and your technical skills, creativity, and leadership can make a significant impact.

I strongly believe that there should be more bold and in-your-face advertising campaigns directed towards women in the trades. This marketing strategy needs to drive it home, to everyone, that there are massive and inclusive employment opportunities in the trades.

Make sure you have some thick skin and don’t take offense to social biases that you’ll eventually run in to. Women can do anything they set their minds to — just set your mind to it and do it.

Meet a few of the podcasters who have taken the HVAC world by storm. 

Uncover why change is vital in the HVAC sector and how embracing growth can significantly spark new momentum for your home improvement business.

Here are 10 ways to get started by incorporating AI for free in some of your workflows right away.

While hydronic systems have long been recognized for their energy-saving properties in HVAC and plumbing applications, designing an efficient hydronic system and narrowing down the necessary system components can be challenging.

67% of contractors see digital transformation as important to their success.

The Gold award goes to a new computer application designed to help technicians save time and money and provide efficient HVAC equipment installation and diagnostics.

The Inc. 5000 list provides a data-driven look at the most successful companies among the economy’s independent, entrepreneurial businesses.

Contractors have to spend the time to effectively choose the right business management software that allows AI capabilities to fold into their day-to-day operations with ease.

The average tech thinks the service department is a giant money maker when in reality it is typically the least profitable part of a contractor’s business.

HVACR distributors today are introducing software to meet contractors where they’re at and to fit the way they place electronic orders. At the same time, they’re working to maintain the personal relationships they’ve built with those customers.

In their new roles, enterprise account executive Austin Piazza and account executive Lindsey Fisher are responsible for developing and enhancing relationships and educating the industry about XOi’s capacity to help contractors solve the skilled-trades gap and grow their businesses.

AI tools, such as Bluon’s MasterMechanic, could make a big dent in another aspect of the labor issue: the wisdom lost as older, highly skilled workers leave the industry.

Founding engineer and head of growth at Rilla, Will Gao, compares the value of data analysis for winning in sports to sales.

Software company Bluon is betting that artificial intelligence, or AI, can help solve the labor shortage — and pass along decades of knowledge from retiring HVAC techs to the next generation.

Struggling to grow revenue past $500K, Lavender transformed their operations with Sera, the all-in-one FSM solution.

Evolving AI technology is becoming an important business tool for personalizing customer experience, analyzing data, and much more.

 “Technology’s not going to solve everything, but you need to know how to use it,” Nelson Valderrama, CEO of Intuilize, told HVACR distribution professionals during the recent Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International conference.

AI can make work easier, more efficient for boots-on-the-ground HVAC professionals.

Josh Crouch and Tersh Blissett, who have HVAC backgrounds, say AI can be employed in an answering service or a chatbot, for outbound dialing, as a technician’s assistant, or to respond to customers’ online reviews.

Read this eBook to find out more on software solutions that help contractors reduce wasted time and cost.

While new technology can certainly help streamline certain aspects of HVAC business operations, like accounting and inventory management, it still needs to be viewed as a tool to augment the capabilities of employees, not replace them entirely.

As AI technology continues to advance and becomes nearly indistinguishable from a human representative, HVAC companies can use these tools to help streamline the workloads of CSRs.

The gold winner can service, certify, and ship a combustion analyzer the same day it’s received.

Contractors can get more productivity from staff by letting software take care of the small things.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is now able to handle many of an HVAC contractor’s administrative tasks, and also help employees perform their own tasks better.

With modern technology, HVAC contractors can leave paperwork behind, and instead share information in real-time.

ServiceTitan software is a platform where residential HVAC, plumbing, and electrical businesses can access everything from call bookings, customer experience ratings, dispatching, marketing campaigns, and financing options for customers.

The advent of smartphones has made life both simpler and more complicated for people around the world.

Each service vehicle is a technician's roaming office. It can be a source of added expense and risk, or it can be managed with resourse like GPS and data-based solutions for the safest and most profitable use. Here's a bird's-eye view of what one fleet management software company sees in its customers.

This article lists four ways contractors can stock their trucks to guarantee they keep rollin’ in the dough (pun intended).

This service reduces fleet downtime due to roadside emergencies or inconveniences like dead batteries, empty fuel tanks, flat tires, etc.

With the scheduling map in the current system, customers can track the real-time location of vehicles.

GPS Insight, a provider of fleet software for organizations, announced the acquisition of ServiceBridge.

As cold weather approaches, van drivers and fleet owners become increasingly aware of the caution needed to drive safely.

Here are managerial strategies that contractors can incorporate to improve driver safety and management during the winter season.

It’s been said that technology takes longer to arrive than expected, but once it does, adoption occurs more quickly than expected as well.

The latest version of the ProMaster work van from Ram, the truck division of Stellantis, offers many features previously only available on consumer vehicles.