I can honestly tell you, that it took lots of trial and error to figure out what worked best for me, and everyone’s situation will dictate a slightly different tool bag loadout depending on the equipment they work on. I’ve finally found a setup that works well for me, and I am to the point, where I prefer to keep my service bag as light as possible, while still having the ability to run the majority of service calls and maintenance work.

My current set up is actually to use multiple bags separated into “kits” if you will, for different work activity/repairs. My current setup consists of 5 tool bags. The service bag we are about to dive into is my “Everyday Carry” bag. This is the one I am going to grab for all maintenance work, diagnostic calls, etc.

My service bag of choice is currently a Veto Pro Pac MC. I think this is one of the best HVAC tool bags for service work. This tool bag is just big enough for the HVAC professional to carry all the necessary tools to perform most diagnostic and maintenance calls. The reason I prefer Veto Pro tool bags is because of their design and durability. The pockets seem that they were designed for professionals. One side consists of your normal average pockets to accommodate all of your hand tools, and the other side with larger pockets for plenty of space to carry voltmeter, drills, etc. If you are interested in picking one up, you can find them HERE (link to Amazon)

Water Gauge with Pete’s Plug - If you are performing a lot of Commercial HVAC work, you most likely will be working with hydronic water loops quite a bit, whether that be on chillers, hydronic heat pumps or boilers for domestic water or heating loops. Having the ability to tap into gauge ports is great to determine pump differentials, flows, verify a section is drained/isolated, and you can even remove the gauge and use the needle to bleed air if needed.

Belimo Serice Wrench - These actuators are usually located in the worst possible hard to reach areas, and you are rarely able to use just a deep socket. I didn’t want to carry a full wrench set in my service bag, and hardly anything I come across is metric, (besides these actuators) So its easy to just toss a Belimo combination wrench in my bag. 8mm and 10mm open-ended wrench.

Klein 4 -n -1 - As we talked about in the past article 10 Tools under $30, the 4-n-1 Klein uses a rotating tail cap, 1/8” and 3/32” slotted bits #0 and #00 Phillips bits which provides a lot of versatility when it comes to oddball control cards and T-stat terminals connections. I used to just carry one of the free “control screwdrivers” you often find at the parts house counter, but it now seems that those slotted heads are often just too wide to fit into the majority of control board terminals.