Study for the energy transition
Training as a cooling technician – ELCO makes the heating transition easy
On an early Monday morning in September...
Most of the offices at the ELCO headquarters in Hechingen are still empty. But one employee is already full of energy. Josef, our heat pump trainer, is looking forward to the day and the upcoming week. He prepares the training room and various training stations, as in an hour and a half he will be welcoming eight participants for MODULE 5 of the cooling technician training.
ELCO responded to the challenges posed by modern heating solutions early on, investing heavily in the training of cooling technicians. And Germany needs many of these specially trained fitters if the heating transition is to succeed. Only specially trained technicians can and may handle the refrigerants used in heat pumps. If you consider the figures for how many heat pumps are to be installed in Germany in the future – and therefore also maintained – it is clear that ELCO is making an important contribution to the heating transition, not only with its products but also with its training programme.
Everyone is focused and concentrated.
The ELCO technicians arrive shortly before half past eight. They have travelled from all over Germany, with Thorsten from Neubrandenburg having the longest journey. All eight colleagues are united by the passion of bringing comfortable warmth to the country's living rooms, and the fact that today marks the start of an educational week. There is great joy at the reunion, as they already know each other from the previous four training modules. There is joking and laughter. A coffee helps to banish the last of the tiredness from the limbs before Josef officially welcomes the group at 8:30 a.m. and the training week begins.
The atmosphere in the room changes abruptly. Everyone is focused as the content from the last training session is repeated, the technicians share their experiences and discuss problems. Josef helps by giving useful tips and encouraging them not just to recall memorised content, but to keep coming up with solutions to problems themselves. After all, no two heat pumps are the same. The first two hours fly by.
Our trainers conduct approximately 5,100 hours of training per year.
After a short break, the group moves to a different room. Here, practical exercises are carried out on two brine-to-water heat pumps. Together, the group works through the cooling circuit of each heat pump model and discusses exactly what needs to be checked if the machine is not working as it should. Josef has everything under control. He keeps coming up with new challenges for the group to solve together. And if the solution is not found in the joint discussion, Josef helps with specific advice.
Moreover, Josef is one of many trainers at ELCO. Training is offered throughout Germany at various training locations on all important topics related to ‘proper heating’. Starting with information on subsidy programmes and going as far as specific product training – for our customers' technicians as well. We have done the maths: our trainers conduct approximately 5,100 hours of training per year. That's a whole lot, and we are really proud of it.
Josef has the option of simulating various faults in the machines.
Lunch promises to provide refreshment. Today, the ELCO canteen is serving lentils with spaetzle. A Swabian speciality that some colleagues from the north are trying for the first time today. Josef eats quickly, because from the conversations in the morning, he has taken questions that he wants to prepare on the simulation machines in the training room.
You can find almost every heat generator from the ELCO product portfolio here – all connected and ready for operation. Josef also has the opportunity to simulate various faults on the different machines.
The afternoon sessions are used for precisely this. Each of the trainees is allowed to solve a simulated fault on an air-to-water heat pump. They don't always succeed at the first attempt, but the group always finds a solution. Using various technical aids, ELCO technicians identify every fault, no matter how complicated, measuring temperatures and pressures to the nearest decimal place and analysing them on a laptop.
The heating transition is in progress – and we at ELCO are fully committed to it.
Over the next few days of training, the group will learn how to draw the right conclusions. Which parts of the machine may need to be repaired? Perhaps just replacing a defective sensor will get the heat pump running again?! Josef will also be training on the installation of various heat pumps. After all, the better a device is set up from the outset, the fewer problems will arise during its long lifespan.
In any case, Josef is looking forward to the coming days. He enjoys working with ‘his boys’. The group works harmoniously and purposefully. After a successful training session, Josef is happy when he knows that what he has taught will help to change the future for the better. The heating transition is in progress – and we at ELCO are fully committed to it.