Every great professional, whether a lawyer, doctor, or engineer, gains foundation knowledge from books.
To become an HVAC technician, you must have gone through many academic books to master the theoretical aspect of working with heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.
But, even with education, training, apprenticeships, and service experience, do you still need the HVAC books to boost your knowledge in the field? Are the HVAC books liable just for beginners?
HVAC books are probably the best resources to help technicians enhance their skills and find ways to solve basic or complex service problems, right from being a beginner to an expert.
Technologies keep changing in the HVAC world. And when they do, you must have your hands on a vital knowledge resource to connect all dots and train yourself to find a solution.
It is possible only when you know what books can give you the most impactful knowledge and solutions on the go.
Check out the list of 9 HVAC books shortlisted from hundreds of options available on the internet to improve yourself as an HVAC technician or to scale your HVAC business.
9 Best HVAC Books Technicians Should Read TODAY
The selected HVAC books are not just to address your problems as an HVAC technician but will also help you with advice on how to run your HVAC business successfully.
These books will primarily guide you to perform basic or complex tasks, maintain routine checks and diagnose hidden problems.
So, aspiring contractors and established technicians who want to learn the new HVAC fundamentals or revise the older ones can find their preferences from the nine best HVAC books listed below:
1. Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning– By Andrew D. Althouse
Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning is probably one of the best HVAC books for contractors of all levels. The author worked on listing the best HVAC troubleshooting solutions to help technicians find their way out of complex maintenance or repair needs.
Beginners in the HVAC industry can also prefer this book to learn the fundamentals of new technologies. For the experienced professionals in the HVAC industry, this book has important reminders and technology upgrades listed in its 20th edition.
The first edition of this Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning was written in 1968, and the 20th edition was updated in 2017. The recent edition of this book has added topics on energy efficiency and work safety. The book consists of illustrations and step-wise explanations to give you a visual understanding.
2. Audel HVAC Fundamentals Volume 1, 2, and 3– By James E Brumbaugh
It is an old book with four editions but is still one of the best HVAC training books for beginners and experts. James Brumbaugh is among the most respected authors of all time and has been awarded many times for his knowledge and expertise in the field.
This book is divided into three volumes to cover all the important aspects of HVAC concepts:
- Volume 1 covers the basic functioning fundamentals of heating systems, boilers, and furnaces.
- Volume 2 covers the explanation of heating system components, oil & gas burners, and automatic controls.
- Volume 3 covers the fundamentals of air conditioning, distribution systems, and heat pumps.
Following that, all of these volumes have diagrams or illustrations to explain the respective concepts. The explanations are very strategic and are elaborated in standard language to make them understandable, especially for beginners.
3. Electricity for Refrigeration, Heating and Air Conditioning– By Russell E. Smith
HVAC troubleshooting is not always about going into the field, opening up the systems, identifying the defective parts, and replacing them. It involves a lot of electrical knowledge to find the root problem within the heating, ventilation, or air conditioning technology.
The entire HVAC industry is very comprehensive, for which it becomes difficult, even for the authors, to sum up, all the concepts in one book. Therefore, this book primarily explains all the wirings and electrical connections within the HVAC units.
Knowing about the wires will probably help you streamline the HVAC troubleshooting needs. The book has been updated and revised over the past few years and is currently in its 10th edition. You can be confident to refer to it, even for the modern techniques and solutions, as the outdated ones are dumped from this edition.
All the HVAC theory revolving around electricity involved in heating and air conditioning units has been covered in this book. Following that, you get simple and easy explanations on repairing the electrical problems associated with the HVAC systems.
4. HVAC Spells Wealth– By Ron Smith
This book is especially for HVAC businesses to determine routes to profitability. The book consists of practical advice on being an HVAC professional or business owner.
Ron Smith himself has struggled to acquire knowledge on HVAC operations and is now an industry expert who is conveying his knowledge and expertise to fellow businesses and technicians operating with HVAC systems.
HVAC Spells Wealth is the ‘how-to’ manual for an HVAC business. Though it has plenty of guidance and information for the company owners, this HVAC book still has sufficient value for HVAC technicians and contractors to escalate their motivation to start an HVAC business.
HVAC business owners can get many tips and industry insights from this book. You can enhance the potential of earning higher revenue and making more profits.
5. Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technology– By Bill Whitman, Bill Johnson, John Tomczyk, and Eugene Silberstein
HVAC schools use this book in their academic curriculum to help students learn the basic HVAC troubleshooting and technological fundamentals. It mostly focuses on refrigeration and air conditioning technology and is one of the most expensive HVAC books.
Colleges and schools use this book for students to learn about the HVAC system before they pursue training, apprenticeship, and work experience. If you are an extreme beginner, then Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technology, as an academic-level book, can help you understand the important aspects of HVAC theory.
6. Residential Construction Academy– By Eugene Silberstein
Residential Construction Academy HVAC is one of the best HVAC troubleshooting books for all residential applications. Beginners and experts who want to excel in their HVAC career by addressing residential heating and air conditioning problems can refer to this book.
It is only one of the few HVAC books focusing on residential heating and air conditioning. The start of this book discusses the HVAC theories and basic concepts. This HVAC book advances to hands-on information and practical tips on real-life problems.
It has graphical illustrations to make it easy for readers to understand complicated concepts. It is more like a training book with procedures to address basic or complex issues in heating or air conditioning systems.
7. Six Steps to Grow Your HVAC Business– By Christopher Smith
This book is specifically written for HVAC company owners. It is a great read highlighting the basics of starting and running a business. Moreover, it also explains in brief the heating and cooling industry, along with customer service and sales aspects.
The best part of this book is that it also teaches HVAC professionals how they can manage employees and coworkers. It is one of the best HVAC business books highlighting essential business fundamentals and pricing strategies.
The book discusses the six major steps HVAC contractors or business owners must take to set up and grow their company. You get the key considerations on how you can improve the customer retention rates.
Upon completing this book, HVAC professionals can expect to stand apart from others in this thriving industry.
8. HVAC Equations, Data and Rules of Thumb– By Larsen Angel and Arthur Bell
HVAC Equations, Data, and Rules of Thumb is probably the best book for HVAC students. The authors have tried to summarize the most crucial concepts in a single book to help students understand different theories and practical implementations within the HVAC industry.
This book addresses major topics: HVAC equations, definitions, cooling and heating load factors, energy efficiency and conservation, and design conditions. There are conversion tables, formulas, practice tests, and much more to help HVAC students pass their examinations.
9. HVAC Licensing Study Guide– By Rex Miller and Mark Miller
Among all the HVAC books, this is a book that will help beginners understand the licensing requirements in the industry. The requirements for becoming a licensed HVAC technician vary in different states of the US.
A beginner or an entry-level technician can count on this book to learn everything about licensing, which will help them pass the examination. The book also talks about HVAC certification requirements to meet the goals of professionalism in the trade.
Moreover, the book also covers some basic forms of HVAC theory, diagrams, examples, and more than 800 practice questions. The concepts are elaborated in an easy-to-understand language for beginners to understand conveniently.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the things that HVAC technicians should know?
There are certain skills that are essential for you to possess if you want to be part of the HVAC industry as a technician, contractor, or business owner. These skills can be learned from an apprenticeship, field experience, training schools, or informative books.
The skills essential for HVAC technicians to possess are:
- Clear knowledge of HVAC systems and all of their methods.
- Skills to troubleshoot various problems and find a solution to them.
- Knowledge of all HVAC safety protocols and specified standards.
- Fluency in soft skills and communication
- Willingness to pursue HVAC training and learning to stay updated with the technology trends.
With these skills, you can start your career as an HVAC contractor or technician. Finding the right books can even train you with business fundamentals to start your own HVAC company.
How to become a great HVAC professional?
After you have completed your high school diploma, you can take training from dedicated institutions or start your apprenticeship program under an HVAC expert. You will get on-the-job training and the stipend to learn and grow in this industry.
You can also choose one or more books from the above list to advance your knowledge of basic and complex HVAC concepts. You can start taking help of the reference books from your diploma period to have a leading edge over growing technologies and troubleshooting techniques.
Is there any book to help HVAC business owners learn soft skills?
The soft skills that business owners need for managing their HVAC operations are creative thinking, time management, networking, teamwork, social skills, teamwork, and conflict resolution.
The books, especially for HVAC firm owners, have these amazing business tips to improve soft skills. Understandably, having technical knowledge alone won’t help you grow your company. You need these soft skills and other associated business tips to handle other aspects of running a company.
So, make sure you go through the business-specific books in the list to find your lessons on how to master soft skills.
Parting Words
It is not a consideration whether you are a beginner or an HVAC expert, at this point, when the HVAC technology is revolutionizing itself with rapid upgrades, you are definitely in need of more efficient resources to grow your knowledge.
And with the high demands of HVAC projects, it becomes difficult for you to attend classroom training on modern technologies. Therefore, books are ideally the best HVAC resource for you to keep learning new concepts, technology upgrades, and modernization aspects in the industry.
You have to pick the best HVAC books that you think are suitable to fulfill your cravings to learn. HVAC knowledge is endless, and every contractor or business owner must accept the fact that they have to keep learning about this industry forever.
When you are done choosing your books, make sure you take notes of points that you think are important for your growth as a technician, contractor, or business owner. You can’t just carry your books with you to the job site, so it is better to take notes on any modern upgrades of appliances and prepare your own pocketed HVAC troubleshooting guide.
The complex engineering concepts will seem easy to understand if it is explained in a rightful manner. So, take your HVAC career to the next level by referring to the best books written by top industry experts.
To manage your HVAC business and jobs, you can use HVAC service software that will help you schedule and dispatch the HVAC jobs easily.