In the HVAC industry, high-quality uniforms improve technician performance, customer service, and branding in your market. This article explains why wearing a uniform matters, different types of HVAC uniforms, and tips for selecting the best uniform for your team.
Uniforms aren’t the only aspect of your business that affects your revenue and growth. ServiceTitan software, especially in the field, elevates the customer experience and generates new upsell opportunities.
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What is the Purpose of Wearing HVAC Uniforms?
A high-quality uniform is indispensable for HVAC technicians. It serves critical job functions beyond being work clothes. A uniform is vital for safety and improving efficiency at work.
Great uniforms also increase your team's professionalism and support your company's branding.
This article will highlight how business management software built for the trades, like ServiceTitan, is essential for the back office and the field to elevate your brand and increase revenue.
Protection
Safety should always be the primary focus when sending technicians into the field. HVAC professionals work in potentially dangerous conditions, and some aspects of the uniform will ensure they stay safe, including:
Fire resistant materials
Reflective stripping
Arc flash protective clothing
Waterproof PPE
Insulated clothing
Minimizing work site risks requires a multi-faceted approach, with ongoing training, widely available OSHA resources, and high-quality PPE. A uniform ensures your team always heads into the field with the equipment they need to stay safe.
Professionalism
When technicians show up in uniforms with your company logo, they demonstrate to customers that they have expertise, are properly licensed and insured, and will respect the properties where they work.
Quality uniforms indicate that technicians work for a reputable company and give customers confidence in the caliber of work.
Your business management software can also help reinforce the same values with your clients. ServiceTitan customer experience software has the features to empower your team to exceed expectations in the field, including:
In-platform two-way SMS texting to confirm and reschedule appointments and ask questions.
Technician tracking with GPS and estimated arrival time
Mobile syncing with the ServiceTitan Field Service App, so technicians have customer information, CSR notes, estimates, and even recordings of the initial call
Technicians with comprehensive customer information can identify upsell opportunities and provide brand-defining service.
Branding
When all your technicians wear the same attire to every job site, you have a consistent visual identity that will be recognizable to customers. Successful marketing requires this cohesive branding to help customers find you. No matter the clothing item, custom embroidery with your logo and business reinforces your brand image in your market.
Your team, both in the field and the office, will feel a shared identity and purpose aligned with the company values when wearing a custom uniform.
ServiceTitan’s marketing service software features provide more benefits to your advertising strategy.
ROI tracking for every campaign to know what works and what doesn't.
Marketing automation and hyper-targeted advertising with ServiceTitan’s Marketing Pro starts every customer relationship off right.
Great uniforms and industry-specific business management software are essential to elevate your marketing efforts with precision and cohesive branding.
What Are The Different Types of HVAC Uniforms?
HVAC technicians often have to work in high-traffic areas, including construction sites, where visibility is critical for crew safety. Technicians in the trades, whether electricians or plumbers or HVAC, all encounter different challenges on the job.
In heating and air conditioning, the two main categories are for hi-vis to be noticeable in various work environments.
Enhanced Visibility: These uniforms use retro-reflective tape and accents to improve visibility in low-light conditions without the clothing being overly conspicuous in other situations.
This type of clothing is usually ideal for crews working in low-risk commercial settings and residential properties.
High Visibility: These uniforms meet OSHA’s ANSI/ISEA 107-2020 standards for hi-vis PPE. They have large patches of fluorescent colors and reflective tape on the body, sleeves, and legs.
These uniforms are necessary for HVAC technicians working near roadways and industrial sites with heavy traffic or construction zones.
High-visibility clothing comes in several different categories:
Class 1: off-road worksites
Class 2: roadway and traffic control
Class 3: extreme high-risk areas
Supplemental E Class
Optional PPE accessories such as reflective vests, sash belts, gaiters, and more can further augment visibility.
Uniform elements should be selected for a visibility rating that meets the working conditions and safety risks.
What do HVAC Technicians Wear?
Every component of an HVAC uniform serves a unique purpose for various working conditions. It’s critical to include all aspects so your team has what they need, even when the schedule or the weather changes.
Work jackets
No matter where your business is located, durable outerwear is critical to shield technicians from inclement weather. Jackets should be:
Insulated
Water-resistant
Durable
Even in harsh weather conditions, your team will stay warm and dry, letting them focus on the quality of their work and delivering exceptional customer service. In addition to zip-up jackets, consider providing your team with sweatshirts as part of the technician uniform. They’re easy to move in while keeping your team warm.
Work shirts
Many businesses in the trades print their logo and business name on a t-shirt and call it a day. But cotton isn’t ideal for work shirts—it’s conductive, absorbs moisture, and gets dirty easily.
Instead, consider breathable performance shirts that offer a full range of motion and moisture-wicking features.
Use light colors during summer to reflect heat, or buy products with mesh venting to keep your team cool. Select long-sleeved shirts for the cooler months.
Many manufacturers offer collared and button-down dress shirts for office staff as well.
Protective hats
OSHA requires head protection whenever technicians work where machinery or objects could fall from overhead.
Your team should have hard hats when they need full coverage and offer bump caps for general commercial and residential properties to protect against bumps and bruises.
In the winter, beanies embroidered with your logo and company name will help to keep your team comfortable but rely on ANSI-rated headgear to keep them safe.
Work pants
Work pant durability—knee-pad inserts and reinforced hems—makes a massive difference in the longevity and comfort of a uniform. They also need features that improve efficiency, like pockets for tools.
Look for pants or coveralls made from denim and duck canvas—like from brands such as Carhartt and Dickies—for colder weather and ripstop nylon and synthetic blends for the summer.
Work boots
Work boots are as important to company uniforms as hard hats. They protect technicians from sharp objects, debris on the ground, electrical hazards, slip and falls, and crushing injuries.
Hard-toe features and metatarsal guards must meet OSHA standards.
Boots should also be comfortable enough to move in and for technicians to be on their feet for long periods without causing leg or back pain.
Gloves
HVAC technicians have to handle dangerous materials that might be hot or sharp as part of their jobs, so it’s critical to provide crews in the field with a wide variety of gloves with different features, such as:
Cut-resistant to prevent lacerations
Heat-resistant and insulated to protect against burns
Rubber gloves for insulation from electricity
Chemical-resistant to shield against caustic chemicals
Ensuring technicians have gloves for every situation ensures they don’t put excessive wear on gloves by using them in the wrong application, risking injury.
Investing in high-quality gear so your team can stay safe and comfortable while at work while maintaining a professional appearance is crucial.
What to Look for in HVAC Uniforms
There are several considerations when looking for high-quality HVAC workwear that protects your team while supporting the professionalism and branding of your company.
Here are some of the primary uniform features that impact quality the most.
Material
The material of the clothing makes a huge difference in all-day wearability and durability.
Technical performance fabrics are designed to be breathable and abrasion-resistant and withstand intense daily use.
The material should also offer features that meet the safety needs of the job site:
Flame resistance
UPF sun protection
Arc flash ratings
Because HVAC employees have to work in various environments, they’ll need different clothing made from materials that meet the specific needs of the schedule for the day.
Size
Free range of motion isn’t just a matter of comfort. It’s also essential for safety. It’s crucial to provide employees with a variety of size options.
Different manufacturers will have different sizing, so when selecting elements of a uniform, it’s important to consider the sizing chart and order samples to ensure the sizes work for your team.
Type
You may need to stock multiple types because there are different visibility ratings for HVAC technician uniforms.
Your staff in the field and the office will also require different types of workwear, whether t-shirts versus polo shirts or high-visibility versus standard clothing.
The needs of your team will dictate the type of clothing you purchase.
Comfort
Comfort is paramount for safety, team morale, and organization-wide adoption of wearing uniforms.
Remember the weather, work conditions, and preferences of your crews.
Uniform shirts that are breathable and moisture-wicking with vents and mesh paneling are critical for summer. Insulated and weather-resistant clothing should be available in the colder months.
Color
With high-visibility clothing, colors often have to be neon or reflective.
For other clothing, dark and neutral colors hide grime to maintain a professional appearance, even in high-demand and dirty job locations.
Using bright and bold colors for your branding, such as a screen print logo or company name, will help it stand out.
Durability
Investing in high-quality uniforms ensures they will last and keep performing. Look for:
Reinforced stress points
Ripstop fabrics
Double stitching
For your office staff, stain and wrinkle resistance keeps the team looking good even when they have appointments in the field.
It’s easy to focus on cost and color when shopping for uniforms, but a comprehensive approach, with a focus on safety and durability, to maximize your investment.
Where Can I Buy HVAC Uniforms?
Finding great gear for your HVAC company’s uniforms often involves finding the right manufacturer and retailer. If you’re having trouble finding the necessary equipment from one store, consider finding a new place to buy gear.
Local shops
Shopping in your community can help you build relationships with local businesses. Seeing clothing in person lets you feel the quality, evaluate sizing, and compare manufacturers.
You may be able to access specialty pricing and unlock new word-of-mouth marketing opportunities by sourcing uniforms locally.
RedKap
RedKap is a workwear manufacturer with a century-long history of providing high-quality gear for the trades. They create men’s and women’s clothing, including pants and shirts appropriate for field work, customer meetings, or the office.
Duluth Trading
Duluth Trading is a clothing retailer with durable and stylish clothing. They provide layering essentials from t-shirts and long sleeves to cold-weather clothing like insulated hoodies and duck canvas jackets.
SubEffects
SubEffects is a sublimation dye company that creates eye-catching custom shirts with either long or short sleeves to showcase a company’s branding. They offer three design packages, from fully customized to ready-made, to quickly get branded gear on your team.
Service Uniform
Service Uniform provides both work wear and industrial uniform services. Companies who partner with organizations like Service Uniform ensure their team looks great while prolonging the lifespan of their gear.
Growth-minded HVAC companies don’t just get the gear they need to do the job. They invest in tools that drive new revenue opportunities. High-quality uniforms set you apart from the competition by making your team recognizable in your community by conveying expertise and experience.
Outfit your team for success with HVAC uniforms and ServiceTitan software.
ServiceTitan software puts HVAC service business owners in control of their success by providing them with the tools to work more efficiently and get better visibility into every aspect of their operations. Set ambitious growth goals, then get the guidance and support you need to implement the industry’s best practices to achieve them.
See how ServiceTitan can transform your operations with an all-in-one solution when you schedule a demonstration.
ServiceTitan HVAC Software
ServiceTitan is a comprehensive HVAC business software solution built specifically to help service companies streamline their operations, boost revenue, and achieve growth. Our award-winning, cloud-based platform is trusted by more than 100,000+ contractors across the country.
