15 Useful Apps For HVAC Technicians (2020)

As a professional, you outfit your toolbox with everything needed to install, service, maintain, or repair HVAC systems. Oftentimes the traditional method of doing something is the best. Whether it’s checking refrigerant levels or manhandling sticky steam valves, the HVAC world is full of jobs that just can’t be done any other way. But when a better tool comes along, you usually make a place for it.

Digital tools have earned a place alongside your physical tools. The rise of mobile technology has opened up a new world of possibility for heating and air conditioning specialists. Today, using your smartphone or tablet, you can add digital tools designed to help you work more efficiently and effectively while still providing the excellent service that customers expect. With just a touch of a button, even the most seasoned technician can get an accurate reading, or find the right fit.

Although many HVAC apps are free or inexpensive, you’ll still want to choose the ones that best fit your professional needs. Consider the type of services you perform on a daily basis and start with the apps that will increase your productivity, eliminate a tedious manual calculation, or fill a need that your physical tools don’t meet.

Here are several mobile apps featuring technologies that HVAC specialists can use to support and streamline their work.

Breezeworks

Make scheduling, communication, and billing a breeze with Breezeworks, the ultimate mobile business hub for an HVAC technician. All your customer information is in one convenient place, and details of each service call are easily updated on-the-go. Customers are kept up-to-date on your arrival time, and Breezeworks’s sophisticated mapping function makes sure you arrive on time. You and your business look professional, and you can build a positive reputation.

Instant communication options can be sent as soon as a job is finished, and you can send quick estimates with images directly to customers. The app integrates with payment and bookkeeping apps or software you already use. The latest update adds color-coded schedule tags that let you directly see the status of all jobs.

CoolCloud HVAC

Designed for licensed contractors, the CoolCloud HVAC app uses Bluetooth to connect and communicate with Goodman and Amana air handlers and furnace control boards for real-time information on subjects such as service, maintenance, and configuration adjustments. When there’s a problem, you’ll save diagnostic time with access to input from other contractors and technicians in identifying the potential causes. You also have access to historical fault codes, data, and notes from previous problems and solutions. Updates in February 2019 fixed bugs and added more information, particularly for the fault codes.

Duct Calc Elite

The Duct Calculator Elite gives HVAC professionals a handheld helper when sizing ducts. This app strays from the traditional “slider” controls and provides several intuitive modes to find exactly the right fit. Users can calculate duct size, velocity, pressure drop, and flow rate with just a few touches on their smartphone or tablet.

Calculations take into consideration whether the duct is round or rectangular, as well as the material from which it’s constructed and the altitude at which it is installed. It even has a wealth of variables for units of measurement, including both standard and metric.

ESC Mobile Tech

Schedule, dispatch, quote, and invoice directly from the field with ESC Mobile Tech, a field service management app for small-to-medium businesses. It’s designed to keep technicians and customers connected to maximize customer service. You can see all your work orders in one place. The mapping function gets you where you need to be via the best route.

ESC Mobile Tech also allows you to add and edit customers, call in real-time status updates, and view service history right from your tablet or smartphone. Additionally, you can create quotes that your customer can accept or reject in addition to giving you access to process payments on-the-go.

Heating & Cooling HVAC Assist

As an HVAC professional, you’ve diagnosed the problem with a customer’s system. Your next step is determining where to get any needed replacement parts and what tools are best for the repair. That’s when the Heating & Cooling HVAC Assist app can save you time and trouble with access to parts, equipment, and documents.

Verify whether the equipment is under warranty, take a look at spec sheets, wiring diagrams, parts lists, and other relevant documents. Check parts availability and the status of any parts on order at Heating & Cooling Supply branches near you. The app remembers the past ten searches, and you can search in English, French, and Spanish. It was updated in November 2019 to fix minor bugs.

HVAC Check And Charge

This mobile refrigerant charge calculator is based on historic sliding cardboard charge calculators and gives instant on-site information about the correct system charge for R-22, R-410A, R-32, R-407C, R-134a, R-452B, R-454B, and R-438A refrigerants.

You can choose from different system temperatures as well as subcooling, airflow, or superheat settings. Latent and sensible environmental loads are also taken into consideration to determine if refrigerant amounts need to be modified. Metric and imperial units are supported.

HVAC Duct Sizer

When you’re on-site and need to know the size of a duct, the versatile HVAC Duct Sizer app will give you an accurate answer quickly. If you know the details of airflow, the app calculates the dimensions of the duct along with velocity and friction loss. If you know the dimensions, the app will calculate friction loss.

Try different scenarios by inputting the shape of a duct, the material from which it is made, and air temperature and pressure, among other factors. A slider allows you to conveniently change the values of your inputs. The results are displayed in metric or imperial units. Email the inputs and outcomes to study later. HVAC Duct Sizer was voted a favorite app by readers of Contracting Business magazine.

HVACR Fault Finder

HVACR Fault Finder helps technicians troubleshoot compressors. The app flashes an “alert” code when interfaced with the equipment’s electronics. The code gives access to diagnostic “tips and tricks” to determine the source of the problem. Device codes from Comfort Alert 1.0 forward are interpreted, along with causes and correction. Technicians can also view product manuals and videos, engineering guides, and product specifications. It was updated in January 2020 for bug fixes.

HVAC Load Plus

Developed by Carmel Software, HVAC Load Plus is designed to help technicians calculate heating and cooling loads for small commercial and residential structures. The app allows you to calculate loads on-site, explain the details to your customers with the on-screen reports and graphics like pie charts, save the results, and email the report. You’re able to easily input details from all factors affecting loads, such as window load or ventilation load.

Weather data for more than 1,000 cities is available, as well as construction data for hundreds of structural components, such as skylight types. You can also input data unique to the job, such as the number of people. Choose imperial or metric for your calculations.

Website
App Store
Google Play: not available
Cost: $11.99

HVAC Refrigerant PT – A/C

This incredibly comprehensive guide to refrigerants is perfect for the HVAC professional who wants to learn while they work. For each of the 33 refrigerants included, the app provides detailed information about pressure and temperature, physical properties, and potential hazards.

Both bubble and dew pressures, as well as the recommended lubricant, are clearly marked for each refrigerant, and the personalized settings allow for Fahrenheit or Celsius temperatures and seven pressure measurements. Color codes for each refrigerant are displayed with the relevant information. The app is updated periodically with newer refrigerants.

Hytools

IMI Hydronic Engineering, the industry leaders in hydronics and temperature control, developed this user-friendly app for HVAC technicians who need hydronic calculations. Use it for pipe and valve sizing, pressure maintenance, radiator power (panel and column) and sizing, pressure drop, and controls.

Calculations and conversions are streamlined for ease-of-use with radiant heating and cooling systems and solar systems. The updated version includes calculation and selection of expansion vessels and pressurization systems based compressors and pumps in addition to vacuum degassing systems.

iManifold

The best thing about the Imperial™ iManifold™ App is that it calculates HVAC/R system performance in addition to troubleshooting problems that are present in the system. Users are able to input live system data in order to find the root causes of instability in HVAC/R units and can customize equipment specification options for the unique unit they’re working on. In addition, there are more than 40 refrigerants, as well as equipment profiles, from which to choose.

The interface is Bluetooth compatible. Combine it with iManifold Pro+ to gain the ability to store, report, and print everything at your convenience.

Refrigerant Slider

This must-have app, a user-friendly pressure-to-temperature refrigerant converter, comes from Danfoss, the experts who “Engineer Tomorrow.” It gives technicians instant access to more than 80 refrigerants, including natural refrigerants, with more refrigerants added on an ongoing basis.

The information on each includes the Global Warming Potential (GWP), Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP), class, oil type, chemical blend, and CAS number. Pressure and temperature are shown in exact measurements in either metric or imperial units. You will also see both dew and bubble point for each refrigerant. The Danfoss Low-GWP tool and troubleshooter apps have been added to the latest versions of the app. The Low GWP tool is used to check refrigerant compatibility in retrofits, and the troubleshooter app is designed for use in HVAC/R systems.

Troubleshooter

Troubleshooter is a smartphone app that works even when you are in a dead zone or remote area with no internet connection. The diagnostic app opens to an interface of the four primary areas of refrigeration systems. The database for each area includes symptoms of problems unique to it. Select a symptom, and you’ll learn the causes and what you should do to correct it. Quickly knowing what the potential problem is and how to fix it saves time on each service call.

In January 2020, the app name changed from Trouble Shooter to Troubleshooter. This app is now included in Refrigerant Slider and may be downloaded as part of that app or as a stand-alone app.

Sandra Smith

Sandra Smith was introduced to the HVAC industry when she worked as a bookkeeper and secretary for a small air-conditioning contractor. She eventually became a CPA and started her own practice specializing in small business taxes and accounting. After retiring from business, she began writing articles for newspapers, magazines, and websites. She also authored four books. Sandra makes her home in the mountains with a rescue dog that naps on her lap as she writes.