Refrigeration technician

As a refrigeration technician you work with the systems that keep things cold — and with heat pumps that extract heat from air and soil. You install service and repair cooling systems in everything from supermarkets and freezer warehouses to data centres and private heat pumps. You become a skilled person who knows electricity pipes and thermodynamics.

§What do you do in everyday life?

A working day takes you to many different systems. You install pipes and components, fill refrigerant, measure pressure and temperature and find faults when a system is not cooling as it should. You work with your hands and with measuring equipment, and you constantly think about energy, safety and the environment, because refrigerants must be handled responsibly.

• 01You learn to install cooling systems and heat pumps.
• 02You learn to solder and assemble pipes and components.
• 03You learn to measure pressure, temperature, and find faults.
• 04You learn about refrigerants and how they are handled safely.
• 05You learn about electrical control and regulation of systems.
• 06You learn to service and optimize systems for energy consumption.

§How do you get started?

You start with a basic course and then find an apprenticeship with a refrigeration company. The main course alternates between school and practical training and you get trainee wages while you are an apprentice. With a journeyman you learn both the theory and the practical skills on real systems.

§The way forward

As fully trained you can work with everything from shop cooling and industrial cooling to heat pumps and air conditioning. You can specialise in for example large industrial systems or heat pumps and build further towards for example energy technologist or start your own company.

“Every time a freezer holds and a heat pump saves energy, it's refrigeration technology doing the work.”