Electrician Training

Electrician Training Q&A.

2009-11-20T22:44:00.000-05:00

I had the chance the other day to interview an electrician who has been in the field
for a number of years so I thought that I would put it up here as a kind of question
and answer session.

What does it take to be an electrician?

Well you will have to be able to work with your hands; it is a hands on field, good hand eye
coordination that type of thing. Good color vision because of all of the color coding in the
industry. Be physically able to do the work though it’s not really too strenuous. And of
course be able to finish the training and pass the journeyman electrician training tests.
Also you have to be at least 18 a high school grad or GED and a year of high school algebra,
to get into the apprenticeship program.

Where can you get electrician training?

There are a lot of good electrician training courses out there that will teach you about
electrical theory, circuits, and troubleshooting, that kind of stuff. But you will still
have to get some hands on training somewhere, like on a job site, that’s why most
electricians start out in an apprenticeship program. As an apprentice you will get about
8000 hrs of on the job training and about 600 hrs of class room study, of course if you
really get interested you will probably do a lot more studying on your own just to keep up
with the things you want to know.

What are the different areas, do all electricians do the same type of work?

the basic electrical theory will be the same, and we all need some trouble shooting skills,
but the work and the environment can be quite different depending upon which area that you
are working in.

In the construction area the work will be mostly pulling in cable, and then depending on the
type of construction, installing cabinets, electrical boxes, terminating all of the
receptacles and switches, and breaker panels that kind of stuff. Maybe hooking up the
machinery if it’s a factory.

In the industrial area there are usually some installation jobs when new machines are put in
or moved, but mostly you will be troubleshooting the machines when something isn't working
like it should. With most of the new machinery being computer controlled it can really get
to be a complicated process.

A residential electrician is one who you would call if you were having an electrical problem
at home. He would troubleshoot the in home problems like blown breakers or wiring problems,
or if you needed a circuit added or an appliance hooked up, that kind of thing

Is this a good paying career, What is an Electricians salary?

Yes I would say that it pays pretty well usually the apprentice makes about $15 to $20 per
hr to start out and of course it goes up from there, a journeyman salary runs about $25 to
$35 pr hr. If you then go ahead and get your master license or contractors license then it
just keeps climbing up from there. I would say that in this trade, or actually most
apprenticable trades, someone with only a high school diploma can go on to make as much as a
lot of collage grads make.

What are the future prospects in this field?

I would think that the future for this field looks very good, especially for some one that
is not afraid to take off in a new direction and get away from the old wood burners, as it were. There will be an increase in the number of
electricians needed in the future just to maintain what we already have built. Not counting
the new construction, and if new construction falls off, there will still be a lot of jobs
there for electricians, the expansion just will not be there. It will however be made up in
other areas. With every one looking at renewable energy the need for green electrician
training will increase, whether that is solar electricians or electricians for wind power
generators, the future for electrician jobs is looking pretty good.

Solar Industry Shaken by State Ruling

2009-11-19T17:26:00.002-05:00

We here at Electrician Training feel that Solar energy and Wind power are becoming big businesses as we move closer to a more energy efficient country. The electricity produced by these systems is the same electricity that flows through the power system now the only difference is how it is produced and how much is produced. Whether enough is produced and feed into the power grid to run an entire city or you produce just enough to power your own home from your own solar installation. That leaves us with many future questions and answers to sort through.

And now on to the news.

All photovoltaic systems installed in the state of Massachusetts must be installed by a licensed electrician, rules the state board of examiners of electricians, who are interpreting an obscure existing law.

This ruling has not gone over very well with the solar industry in that state. They are calling for legislation to counter the ruling. The new legislation would call for a special license that would divide solar installations from traditional electrical work.

Wait… are they trying to say that solar generated electricity is different than regular electricity, that its not as dangerous as regular electricity. Whats next a special license if you only work on apartment buildings.

The solar energy business association believes that this will have a bad impact on the solar industry, that the cost of solar installations will increase and that it will be a deterrent to getting people back to work.

Some of the community colleges there have had a drop in enrollment in training classes for solar installers and have had to switch from offering those classes to the general public and start offering them to unemployed licensed electricians.

So what is your take on all of this? Do you feel like there should be a separate license to do solar installations, or should the licensed electricians be given more training on solar installations? Should the solar installations be broken down into a mechanical part and an electrical part and have electricians only on the electrical side?

The way that it stands now in regular electrical work, the lower paid apprentice, or electricians helper does most of the work, with the electrician having responsibility for the job, electrical oversight as they say. Is this what the solar industry needs? Please leave us here at electrician training your comments and let us know what you think.

Electrician Training | HVAC Training

2009-08-14T16:27:00.008-04:00

Today we will discuss one of the specialized skill areas of Electrician Training, that of HVAC Training. In the HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) field you must have training in the area of heating and air conditioning as well as being an electrician. Check with your local licensing department to find out what is required in your area as far as what certification is required to do the work.

Gaining your certificate in heating and air conditioning readies you for the speedy advance of HVAC technologies. Those who finish the classes in a certification plan are a lot more apt to be employed by an employer than those who haven't finished a course of study. To be a certified HVAC technician, it requires a technological understanding, and problem-solving skills developed by course studies towards a certification.

To get your HVAC certificate, you learn the specialized gear and the theory about heating and air conditioning engineering. Studying the gear makes up the cushy part, right? Fixing an HVAC system not only requires studying the tangible components of a system, but how each component ties in to some other. To understand how to troubleshoot malfunctions, you'll see how each part affects another, or put differently, how one malfunction could cause another one.

A lot of HVAC classes, even those offered on the internet, feature requirements that the individual must finish before being allowed to take the class. For example, prior to taking a class about installing pipe utilized in plumbing and/or HVAC systems, the pupil might be required to finish a course about housing industry criteria. Obligatory necessaries could be determined by reading through the admittances brochure or the internet schedule of classes for the course the student hopes to take.
Classes could likewise be looked at whenever a student or inexperienced technician desires to specialize in more than one area. Refrigeration constitutes one specialization that a lot inexperienced technicians prefer and certification is attained after successfully taking special courses and the satisfactory completion of the certificate exam

While we think of electrician and HVAC careers, we could think of the conventional jobs of maintenance electricians, heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC) mechanics and installers, and construction electricians. And heating and air conditioning in Atlanta is growing as it is everywhere. Nowadays, the increasing need for modern and more dependable energy sources has made an employment boom for green electricians, those with solar electrician training as well as wind turbine electrician training, and others with electrician and green energy trades training. You will be able to get in on one of the fastest-growing career fields of the century with Electrician Training.

Electrician Training goes Green

2009-04-24T00:33:00.003-04:00

Electrician Training today is starting to fell the push to a more green industry. With new jobs opening up in the alternative energy fields some electricians are starting to be trained for work in the solar and wind power areas. With billions of dollars of state funds and federal stimulus money focused on renewable energy projects, there is a rush to train workers for these new fields.

Wind Power

As wind power continues to sweep through the country, local electricians are training to install and maintain these giant windmills. In Minnesota one local International Brother-hood of Electrical Workers union has created a wind power training center that simulates rescue and climbing scenarios in a 52-foot tower
One county in Minnesota already has 186 wind turbines, and through 2012, about 35,000 more are planned for construction across the Midwest.
Although the United States surpassed Germany last year as the world's largest harvester of wind energy, wind turbines still account for less than 2 percent of the country's electricity. The Obama administration aims to push that to 20 percent by 2030. The industry says it needs to triple the rate at which it's been installing towers to meet the goals set by the Obama administration.
The largest wind turbines can churn out 3 megawatts of electricity. They consist of a small bus size enclosure about 275 feet above the ground which houses the machinery of the generator.

Solar Power

Some electricians are already making a living installing solar photovoltaic systems.
As of now however this field is still open as some areas are slow to regulate the work done, depending on the state.
As the cost of conventional power increases, and the cost of solar decreases, eventually those two costs will meet. When they do, there's going to be a very large market here. Anyone who has the training will be capable when that time comes to go out and do the work. Now, most of the available work is being done not by electricians but by other trades, according to the Central Electrical Training Center and some Business Intelligence Jobs . That however is starting to change as more training centers are starting to offer classes with hands on experience.

The demand for electrical power is going to keep increasing, So the future for Electrician Training looks good.

How To Get A Job As An Electrician

2009-03-03T16:56:00.007-05:00

After all of this" Electrician Training" discussion, if it were me I would still be trying to figure out "how to get a job as an electrician", but then I can sometimes be a little slow.

If you have already finished your journeyman electrician training, and have your journeyman cert then you definitely have an advantage, and all you need is to find that job. But what if you are just starting out and have not started your training yet, then getting that first job is really important. If you have decided that an apprenticeship is where you want to start, then like everyone says just go down to your nearest IBEW union hall and find out what you have to do to apply. But wait a minute the IBEW is not the only union that represents electricians; I took my apprenticeship through the UAW. What other large manufactures are around where you live? What unions do they have? Do they have a skilled trades department? Some of the contracts negotiated by these unions require so many apprentices be hired and given "electrician training", either from inside the plant or hired from outside.

Next I think I would try the independent shops around the area, in either construction or maintenance. When you go in try to talk to the owner or the main boss, even if they are not hiring now try to strike up a conversation, let him know your just starting out trying to get into the field, and ask for there advise. Maybe they can point you in the right direction, or tell you what you need to do, because the requirements in every area are different.

Another area that you could look into is taking an "Electrician Training course" on your own. Most states require a set number of hours of hands on experience, usually around 8000 hrs., and this is met in the apprenticeship program by working with, and being taught by an experienced electrician, but some states let you substitute class and lab work for experience. Check with your licensing board in your state.

I feel that a careers an electrician would be a good chose as there is a need for more electricians all the time, as more things become dependent upon electricity, and more of the baby boomer electricians reach retirement age, this will become a real growth area. And it is also an area where a high school graduate, or someone with a GED, can make almost as much as a college graduate.

If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the comments section here at "Electrician Training".

Electrician Training Courses

2009-01-22T13:28:00.003-05:00

How important is your Electrician Training? Should you take an electrical course at a community collage or trade school, or should you depend on being trained once you get into an apprenticeship program? Can you get into an apprenticeship with out training?

This all depends on where you are, and which electrician training career path as an electrician that you want to take.

In my state there is no state licensing, and in my county and city there are no licensing requirement below a master electrician, which is required to pull a permit or to be an electrical contractor.

In some states you will have to complete an electrician course to obtain an apprentice permit to become an apprentice.

Most electrical courses consist of classes in:

Basic electricity, where you learn how electricity works, how you measure it, and how you use it in different circuits.

Basic math, which leads into some algebra, geometry, and spatial recognition.

Blue print reading, schematics reading, and electrical diagrams

Conduit, bending and measurement.

Electrical code requirements, including the NEC requirements, and local and state requirements

Safety, we all want to be safe.

Equipment operation, such as lifts.

There are plenty of places around the country where you can take these courses, and even online. As to whether you should enroll, again this all depends on what is required by your state or the apprenticeship program that you are applying for. Once you are an electrician, you will probably be taking Electrician Training courses at least every year or so on new equipment, or new code requirements, so education is an ongoing thing as an electrician.

Electrician Training Career Paths

2009-01-07T22:56:00.003-05:00

Your Electrician Training could vary depending on what field of electrical work that you go into or which field that you get your training in. About 60-70% of electricians work in the construction field. You will learn to read a blueprint to determine where to place receptacles and switches, where to drill holes to run the wiring, or in a commercial building where to run the conduit to pull the wires through, and how big of wire for what size load, all according to the book, the NEC code book, and what the inspector determines. You will also learn how to wire up the receptacles and switches, and how to wire breaker panels. You will also learn to design and install a service drop, the point where the power company connects to the building. Some construction electricians are now running the low voltage wiring consisting of TV cable, networking cat5 cable, phone wiring, or alarm wiring.
Another area that you might go into is the maintenance area, which can also be broken down into more than one area. Home or building maintenance electricians may be called on to rewire an older home or building to bring it up to code, or maybe to add a branch circuit for a new appliance. And of course when something quits working you will be called upon to come in and troubleshoot the whole system to find the problem and correct it, whether it's a blown breaker, broken wire, or an overloaded circuit, always with an eye toward safety.
The other area that I want to mention is the industrial electrician, which I believe is the most demanding and the most varied. One day you may be working on a lighting circuit or wiring an office, and the next day you may be troubleshooting a million dollar piece of machinery, or an automated assembly line, with a whole crew standing around waiting for you to fix the problem. You will learn every thing that you need to become an electrician plus a lot of specialized training for computer controlled machinery, networked plc circuits, and monitoring equipment. It all depends on what industry you end up in.

Come back next time to Electrician Training.

Electrician Training Qualifications

2008-12-16T19:17:00.004-05:00

Since most people get their Electrician Training in some type of apprenticeship program we will start there.
Qualifications to get into an apprenticeship program usually consist of being at least eighteen years old, having a high school diploma or G.E.D. and of course a basic bit of electrical knowledge would help, and you’ll probably have to take some type of aptitude test .
Other traits that you might need would include manual dexterity a good sense of balance and good hand eye coordination. Other traits would probably be good color vision to read the color codes of many of the components

Most people get their Electrician Training through an apprenticeship program. This is usually made up of paid one the job training with classroom instruction. This usually lasts for four years, with each year consisting of about 2000 hours of on the job training and about 144 hours of classroom work.
As an apprentice you will be working with a journeyman or some senior electrician, and you will probable be doing all or most of the grunt work, such as lifting, carrying, moving, pulling, and generally getting the dirty work, but you will learn what to do. The training electricians take pride in their apprentices, and want them to be the best, and always doing things in the safest way possible. Getting into the electrical field should not be too hard, as more electricians are needed all the time, so more apprenticeships will be opening up.

Next time we will discuss the different field or areas of electrical work, here at Electrician Training.

Getting Started in Electrician Training

2008-12-09T23:46:00.008-05:00

Electrician training begins when you first start to consider being an electrician. If you are still in high school, you should look into basic electricity classes or maybe some hobby where you can learn the basics of electric circuits. If you are to of school you could look into vocational training, there are many good schools that you could attend, or maybe go to online.

Most electricians get there training thru an apprenticeship program. So why worry about learning the basics if you are going to get into an apprenticeship program? Knowing the basics might help to get you into the program, or at least help out when you start so that you are not completely lost. Besides, if Electrician Training is going to lead to a career as an electrician, you should have a real desire to learn.

The prospects in the electrical field are really pretty good. The number of electricians needed is expected to go up. So as a journeyman electrician you can usually find work pretty easily. The pay rate in the electrical field usually runs about $12-$15 p/h for a starting apprentice, up to about $35-$45 p/h for a top journeyman. And you could keep going on till you get your master license, and then become the top electrician on any job, or maybe even start your own business.

I hope that you will come back. Next time we will discuss qualifications and more on the apprenticeship programs, here at Electrician Training.

Electrician Training's Privacy Policies

2008-12-06T14:01:00.004-05:00

Update June 2009 - Privacy Policy

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Welcome to Electrician Training

2008-12-05T16:32:00.002-05:00

Welcome to Electrician Training. On this site we will be providing tips on becoming an Electrician and maybe a little insight to the process of becoming an electrician, and what to expect when you get there. So come back to Electrician Training often and we will see how it goes.