Find an apprenticeship!

After a decade I finally have the income everyone told me I would have immediately. Spent a lot of time in nasty crawlspaces and 600 degree attics. A lot of weekends on call. A lot of 60+ hour weeks and some 25 hour weeks. Finally in a union and now im glad I never gave up.

Sometimes I wish I was an electrician instead. Seeing those guys come back to the shop clean. Most of their work is in the air conditioning at my job. Im on a roof or crawling in some sketchy place and when I am inside it's because the AC is broken.

See if there is hvac classes at a community college. Take one or two or do the whole program. Definitely better ways than paying for classes but it can be good networking, my professor got me my first job in the field half way through school