Worthington, Consider if you will, the wave toward digitalization of control systems has been slow to start but is rapidly building in the HVAC&R industry.

In the late seventies, Honeywell, Ranco and others introduced stand alone unitary controllers about the same time the programmable room thermostat hit the market.
Since then, everybody and their brothers got into the manufacture of cheap electronic HVAC&R controls.

Over the years, the major control manufacturers in this part of the world have developed their own proprietary systems and most of them have opened service departments. They employ HVAC&R Techs to service the equipment/buildings their control systems are installed in.

They sell control systems to equipment manufacurers, building owners and property managers. They want you to buy their electromechanical replacement components (Honeywell, Johnson/Penn) while they sell their electronics to your customers and compete with you. Would you use one of your immediate competitors as a supplier?

The only way to compete with the major control companies is to beat them at their own game. Learn how to service their electronic controls better than they can. Sell their stuff cheaper as the result of your superior knowlege of HVAC&R systems and how to apply their technology. Obtain as much information as you can, study it and sell the stuff!

There is really good money in energy management and controls, especially when offered as a sideline product to the services you are providing your clients.

The www is a great help in obtaining information from the manufacturers.