Jake,
I am not in HVAC at all; I just find this a very interesting group and even through all the bickering, I try to pick up some information for my brain to absorb, plus lots of humor. My company's products are built for the graphic arts industry. We manufacture, sell, install, and service printing presses and bookbinding equipment. Our products start around 350K and most installations run about 3 to 5 million dollars. The high end equipment has many frequency inverter drives that are controlled by the multiple PLC's throughout the system(s) most of the bus we use is CAN, but we are also using Ethernet on our mid-range machinery to link the master PLC to an Ethernet hub, and from there on to link various modules of the machines. My company is based in Switzerland, and is the largest company in the world (so I hear) that produces the full range of equipment as we do. We use all European components, like B&R PLC's, and Lenze motor drives. Some machines have used (low end machines) Mitsubishi drives and Omron PLC's
I was a field service tech on the road for about 17 years, traveling all the time doing installs and service in all but 3 states (Oregon Washington, and Alaska), but since 1997, I have been doing telephone tech support for our customers and our service techs. I actually love what I do, but it is very stressful at times. I am quite experienced, but the technology just seems to get an awful lot to keep up with. I am 63 now, not the best anymore, but I get lots of respect from my peers for some reason. I broke my ass all those years and..ah, never mind, you know what I mean.
Even though HVAC is not rocket science, there is a lot of physics to know, and taking pride in doing a good job is super important in any field. HVAC is a good combination of mechanical and electrical skills.
I have lots of respect for the people in the HVAC trade that know their stuff and care to do a good job. Breaking your ass and working long hours can make the nicest guy seem like an asshole when stupid questions are asked of him. I get paid to help people fix stuff themselves over the phone. We give free tech support to our customers. Some customers have great maintenance electricians that I can easily help, and others, well, I have to first teach them how to use and read a meter if they can find one. "Sir, what is the problem with your machine?" "hey, if I knew, I wouldn't be calling you".
sorry for this long winded message
Bob