*Updated November 26, 2019
For contractors in the field, tools are the lifeblood of your work. Lacking the proper equipment can set a project or job back precious hours, and lose customers down the road. Being prepared before you get to the job location can be the difference between repeat business and an angry Yelp review.
Here are some must have HVAC tools that every dealer should consider investing in before hitting their next assignment.
Nuts And Bolts
These items are a technician’s core materials, their bread and butter. While other devices on this list will enhance a dealer’s ability to perform their job, these must have HVAC tools are simply mandatory to do most kinds of jobs in the first place.
Here are some of the most useful tools to have at all times:
- Multi-purpose screwdriver
- Wire strippers
- Industrial tape measurer
- Pliers
- Crescent wrenches
- Allen wrenches
- Sheers
- Nut-drivers
- Tubing cutters
- Hammer
- Multi-meter
- Refrigerator gauges
- Flashlight
- Swage pipe fitting tools
- tin snips
There’s nothing fancy about the necessities, but they get contractors through their weeks. It’s easy to take them for granted, but double-checking your stock before heading out on assignment is crucial. You don’t want to be seen as the contractor who showed up on site without a hammer.
Flir One Thermal Imaging Camera
Very few tools can detect energy efficiency quite like a thermal imaging camera.
Thermal imaging cameras allow dealers and technicians to find temperature variations in any spot in the home. Simply point the camera at the surface at the surface being inspected, and these cameras present a colorful image that clearly shows the differences in temperature from one surface or area to the next. This makes them the perfect tool for finding issues in a home’s air sealing and insulation. What’s more, cameras like the Flir One connect right into IOS and Android devices.
To see some of the other top thermal imaging cameras available, check out our comparison of the best cameras on the market.
Veto Pro Pac
A dealer’s tools might not be fancy, but the way they’re carried can be. Dealers are going to need something to get all their best must have HVAC tools from location to location, and few packs do it better than Veto.
The company has a wide variety of packs and carriers, ranging across any need a technician or contractor could have. The MT, LC, and XL model packs are likely to cover the widest variety of contractor needs.
The MT is small, lightweight and durable; the LC boasts 57 pockets with the capacity to carry 75 individual tools; the XL is just over a foot-and-a-half tall and holds 67 pockets. Models also range outside of the technical field market, as the company sells packs designed for technical, outdoors, and laptop and tablet series.
Whatever projects a dealer could come across, Veto packs have the means to support them.
uHoo Indoor Air Quality Sensor
When it comes to closing a deal, results are a contractor’s best friend. With the uHoo air quality monitoring sensor, showing results becomes simple.
Out of the top indoor air quality monitors on the market, uHoo offers a great value for its price. uHoo has 8 dedicated sensors that detect VOCs (volatile organic compounds), dust, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, ozone, air pressure, temperature, and humidity.
As informative as it is for the customer, it’s just as valuable for dealers. By placing a monitor inside a client’s home for a short period of time, dealers can measure the differences in air environment before and after their work is completed. This makes it easy for the customers to see exactly how much better the dealer’s work has made their life.
Sensors like uHoo help ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty in the long term, earning it a prominent spot on our list of must have HVAC tools.
Sense Energy Monitor
Similar to the air quality monitor, energy monitors allow for dealers and technicians to simply perform their job better by giving them significant data for either their own use or for instructional use by the client.
By connecting directly to the electrical grid, a home energy monitor can report the specific usage metrics of devices within the home via smartphone apps.
Systems like the Sense Home Energy Monitor can provide dealers measurable data to report to the customer, making it easier to recognize abnormal behaviors and pinpoint which devices are causing the biggest strain on a client’s energy bill.
Honeywell Leak Detector
Another entry in the monitors-with-apps category, the Honeywell Leak Detector notifies customers via the app when the system recognizes a leak in a home water system.
The device can be implemented anywhere that water is used in the house — washing machines, heating tanks, under sinks, or the bathroom. It’s wireless and has a battery life of three years, and can also notify the user when the temperature drops below a certain degree as a preemptive warning.
YellowJacket Refrigeration System Analyzer
One of the premiere refrigeration monitors on the market, YellowJacket’s analyzer will make handling refrigerant assignments easier and faster for technicians.
The device is preloaded with close to 100 refrigerant types, so you will be hard-pressed to find yourself with an unfamiliar system in the field. Other notable device features include a full-color display, pressure/temperature chart reference screen, real-time pressure data, a full scale vacuum sensor, and the ability to track and export your logged time easily.
The device is updated frequently with new software enhancements with a focus on making the system as user-friendly as possible.
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