HVAC Components Practice Test

Component identification is 22% of the NATE Ready-to-Work exam, and System Components are 13% of the Support Technician exam. Know what every part does.

Take the timed NATE Ready-to-Work mock exam

50 questions on the 90-minute clock, weighted like NATE’s Ready-to-Work outline, with a score for every area and an explanation for every option.

Or try the free components drill
  • 32 original components questions, every option explained
  • Tested on: NATE Ready-to-Work, NATE HVAC Support Technician
Free sample · Question 1 of 3Components

A metal cylinder in the outdoor unit has terminals marked HERM, FAN and C. What is it?

Choose the best answer

What our components questions cover

  • The four refrigeration components: compressor, condenser, metering device, evaporator
  • Metering devices: fixed orifice, TXV and EEV
  • Refrigerant-side accessories: filter drier, accumulator, receiver, crankcase heater, service valves, reversing valve
  • Electrical parts: contactors and dual run capacitors
  • Furnace parts: igniters, flame sensors, heat exchangers, inducers, pressure, limit and rollout switches
  • Air side: blowers, grilles, registers, diffusers and thermostats
Line drawing of air-conditioning parts on a workbench: a scroll compressor, a coil section, an expansion valve with its sensing bulb, a filter drier, a contactor and a reversing valve

This list is our own summary, written for practice. NATE publishes the full topic lists in its Knowledge Areas of Technician Expertise (KATEs).

Drill components, then sit the full NATE Ready-to-Work exam

Take the timed NATE Ready-to-Work mock exam

50 questions on the 90-minute clock, weighted like NATE’s Ready-to-Work outline, with a score for every area and an explanation for every option.

Or try the free components drill

Ideas the questions test most

  1. In cooling, the indoor coil is the evaporator and the outdoor coil is the condenser; a heat pump swaps them in heating.
  2. Accumulators protect the compressor on the suction side; receivers store liquid on the liquid line.
  3. A pressure switch proves the inducer’s draft before ignition.
  4. A tripped rollout switch points to a blocked flue or heat exchanger.
  5. A register is a grille with a damper.

Start the free components drill · NATE Ready-to-Work practice test · NATE HVAC Support Technician practice test

Common questions

What is on the Components section of the NATE Ready-to-Work exam?

Component identification, 22% of the exam (about 11 of 50 questions): recognizing the main parts of air conditioners, heat pumps and furnaces and what they do.

What does System Components cover on the Support Technician exam?

Duct systems, outdoor and indoor coils, compressors, refrigerants, blowers, grilles and registers, thermostats and controls, and the parts of induced-draft condensing and non-condensing furnaces. It is 13% of the exam.

Take the timed NATE Ready-to-Work mock exam

50 questions on the 90-minute clock, weighted like NATE’s Ready-to-Work outline, with a score for every area and an explanation for every option.

Or try the free components drill

More HVAC topics

Exam format and outline checked November 2026 on natex.org: NATE: Ready-to-Work and HVAC Support Technician certificates · NATE Ready-to-Work KATE (PDF) · NATE HVAC Support Technician KATE (PDF) · NATE Core Exam KATE (PDF) · NATE: Frequently asked questions. NATE has not announced a change to this outline.

NATE is a mark of North American Technician Excellence, Inc. Game Assessment Prep is an independent practice site, not affiliated with or endorsed by NATE. Every question is original; none is taken from NATE exams, NATE study guides or another prep provider.