electricphil

I am extremly new to the field, so new that im still in school and i need a lot of help and advice from guys that i am aspiring to be. With that being said, can anyone tell me what is better to get into, residential work or commercial work and why?

dowmace

In my opinion neither, INDUSTRIAL work is the only way to go. Rarely if ever does industrial work get slow something is always broken and it has to get fixed to keep production up. You absolutely have to learn to work in an industrial environment. There is just nothing like fixing a machine and having a plant manager tell you that you made their day!

bobelectric

My start was wiring houses,where you have to learn N.E.C.on the job and lessons from your mentor.You get more of a feel for wiring tricks and building construction.I then got into commercial(restaurants) And for a couple of years,wiring in mills,industrial. I now prefer commercial service and repair.

brian john

I pretty much have done it all, I stated elsewhere that a good residential background is always beneficial. As for industrial being forever, not when the firm ups and moves to Mexico.

bobelectric

Electricphil,treat yourself to cutting,threading, bending 4" rigid conduit while you are young.

rlc3854

I started in the industrial field and thought it was the way to go. You know big heavy, get to see things made and move. Three phase, grc pipe, I'am begining to sound like Tim the tool man. It wasn't until after 15 years in the trade did I ever touch house wiring. There are a lot of tricks to new construction as well as service and renovations. I work mostly commerical now but still enjoy the industrial area most. The work in all the fields have their ups and downs and slow times.

gilbequick

I strongly believe that starting out in residential is the way to go. It will teach you to earn your pay and appreciate your job when you move to commercial or industrial later on. I made the move to commercial about 6 months ago and am glad I did, but I'm more glad that I started out in residential first.

The commercial guys know next to nothing about wiring houses, and the great majority of them don't care to know. But when they start doing condos they freak out and complain nonstop about how nitpicky and ridiculous the residential codes are and about how there's no lay-in ceiling to go back and fix things with, BLAH BLAH BLAH.

I've always heard you can take a residential guy and make him commercial, but you can't take a commercial guy and make him residential. It's the truth. When you make the move to commercial you'll appreciate you job and take it more seriously.

Bkessler

I think it is better to start off in residential as well, it's harder to go back and learn once your making more money in commercial. And any idiot can wire a house, but you have to do a 100 or so to get "good" at it.

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gilbequick

Also, there's a big difference in wiring tract home and wiring large custom homes. Get on with a company that does mainly large custom homes and you'll have a much easier transition into commercial as many things are similar.

nap

Not to be mean gil but the reason you cannot take a commercial/insdustrial guy and make him into a resi guy is...he is smarter than that.


There are some benefits to understanding and doing some resi work. It teaches you a few things about running things like 3 way switches in the most efficient manner and how to install in some tight places but other than that, I don;t see any big reason to do resi. There are near zero calculations involved in resi outside of the service unless it is a huge resi. Then you have sub panels to calc but that is about it.

I started comm/indust. and always took my job seriously. I do not need to starve doing resi to learn the value of a dollar.

and moving to resi; I have done my share of backwards movements when the shop was slow. There are a lot of tricks to doing resi well but they typically do not translate into a benefit to comm/indust work.

The tricks are the biggest learning in resi. Moving to commercial or industrial is years of learning beyond what is required of a resi guy.

Don't take all of this wrong. I have a great respect for those that do resi. I just don;t want to do it.

Mach

Power plant is the way to go.

brian john

I made the same GOOD pay doing residential and commercial. The skills you learn in residential esspically service or track home trouble shooting have served me well in my years.

I still like it all, except 2X4 lay-ins for 6 weeks in a row.

I always get bored doing the same day after day but variety is the spice of life as they say.

dowmace

My major bread and butter customer has an ongoing contract with GE to make windtowers until the midwest windfarm is complete, I dont think they are going anywhere soon.

brian john

I understand, but I read about a company that shut it American operation to move to Mexico, 3 years into manufacturing the workers tried to organize and pressure was being put on the firm about environmental issues. An far east country waived all this problems and offered low taxes and a few other money savers and the firm relocated.

I just could not believe the savings would be so great to permit a move like this.

Bkessler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zedta...eature=related

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brian john

And that's why there is chocolate milk and white milk and some folks actually like strawberry milk. Me I drink soy milk.

And be thankful it is this way, otherwise the commercial and industrial electricians would have no lights or heat at home and the residential guys would have no supply houses or materials to buy.

Bkessler

FOR me it was better to start with little commercial and a lot of custom homes. I did 70/30 residential for 3 years then moved to USVI and did what could only be described as 3rd world work for a year. Next A lot of conduit in New construction, industrial commercial for another 2 years or so. Then back to really fast track houses and commericial TI work for three years. Then my move to CA where it was all prevailing wage school,library, mental institurion, port, for a solid five years then i started my company which is mostly resi/commercial service work. I would'nt change a thing.

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nap

In my local, resi pays quite a bit less than commercial/industrial.

as to service work; I have never worked on a home that helped me with PLC's or motor controls. I just don;t see resi providing a great springboard for commercial/industrial. You are more than welcome to do so, I just don;t have that rope mentality.

brian john

When I was doing residential/commercial I was working open shop, I could not afford to go union as it involved a cut in pay at that time.

Not talking about a specialized end of the trade I am discussing a full service well rounded electrician which the majority of our electricians should be.

bobelectric

I always like when these newbies light the match to start a fire and then hide.