Free practice questions for the Texas Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Certified Technician exam — the open-book PSI test behind TDLR technician certification — with a written explanation on every answer, in English, Spanish, and Russian.
8 questions, about 4 minutes. No account needed — pick an answer to see whether it's right and read the explanation, the same explanations you get on every question in the full course.
Practice across the full question bank.
Understand why the correct answer works — not just which letter is right.
Spend more time on the questions you miss.
Practice under exam-style time pressure before exam day.
Every question tells you why the correct answer is correct and defines the terms it uses — so you learn the rule, not just the answer.
Questions are written from scratch against the official codes and agency publications for this exam — never copied from the real exam.
Every question and explanation is fully translated, with the English exam term kept alongside — not a shallow machine translation.
LICENA is a practice tool, not a school. We don't promise a pass — we help you understand the material and walk in prepared.
The full Texas ACR Certified Technician course is 500 questions across 5 blocks weighted to PSI's own seven subject areas — Testing, Diagnostics, and Service 27 (airflow, electrical, gas heating, refrigerant), Basic Refrigeration Components 9, Refrigeration Principles 9, Controls 6, Combustion Air 3, Piping 3, Safety 3 — written from open sources: refrigeration doctrine with every constant stated in the question, the 2024 IMC and IFGC where a topic is code-defined, OSHA 29 CFR 1910 and 1926 for safety, and 40 CFR 82 for refrigerant handling. The exam's own reference, Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (22nd ed.), is cited by title only.
Exam structure, topics, who needs it and official resources.
The Certified Technician exam is the test behind Texas technician certification — the credential that lets an air conditioning and refrigeration technician use the title "certified technician" and that shortens the experience path to a contractor license. TDLR issues the certification; PSI gives the exam. The current bulletin (Updated 7/9/2026) sets the format: 60 scored questions in 112 minutes, plus 4 non-scored items and 8 extra minutes, 70% to pass, open book, fee $60, in English or Spanish. Unlike the contractor exams it has no Texas Laws and Rules area — it is a trade-knowledge test, and 27 of its 60 questions are testing, diagnostics and service. Practice it in the free sample above: no sign-up, with a written explanation on every question.
Texas Occupations Code §1302.501 says a person may not work as an air conditioning and refrigeration technician unless registered or certified with TDLR, and §1302.503(a) has technicians work under the supervision of a licensed ACR contractor. Registration (§1302.5035) is the entry credential: at least 16 years old, an application and a fee — no exam. Certification (§1302.5036) is the credential this exam serves: at least 18, plus either completion of a certification training program — a career and technology education program, or a department-approved program of at least 2,000 hours, under §1302.002(5-c) — or 24 months of supervised ACR work experience or an equivalent military specialty, and a passing score on this exam. The certification expires one year after it is issued (§1302.5055(c)) and entitles the holder to the title "certified technician" (§1302.5055(b)). One point TDLR's rules make explicit: a registered technician is not required to be certified and may perform the same tasks as a certified technician (16 TAC §75.73(f)) — so certification is a credential of competence and a step toward the contractor license, not a wider scope of work.
Under §1302.255(a)(2)(A) a contractor-license applicant normally needs 48 months of practical experience under a licensed contractor in the 72 months before the application. Under §1302.255(a)(2)(B), an applicant who has held a technician certification for the preceding 12 months qualifies with 36 months of practical experience in the preceding 48 months instead — a year less in the field before the contractor exam. From there the path is the Environmental Air or Commercial Refrigeration contractor exam, each with its own class and endorsement. For most technicians the certification is also the credential on the business card: the title "certified technician" may not be used without it.
PSI's bulletin prints the Certified Technician outline as 60 items in seven areas: Testing, Diagnostics, and Service 27 (airflow, electrical, gas heating, refrigerant); Basic Refrigeration Components 9 (compressors, condensers, evaporators, metering devices, refrigerants); Refrigeration Principles 9 (heat transfer, system pressure/temperature); Controls 6 (general, pressure and safety, temperature); Combustion Air 3; Piping 3 (condensate, pipe fittings and types, pipe sizing); Safety 3. Read it as a plan: nearly half the exam is what a technician does with gauges, a meter and a manometer — superheat and subcooling from a pressure–temperature reading, voltage and amperage against a nameplate, manifold pressure and temperature rise on a furnace, airflow from a static or a temperature split. The only reference printed under the outline is Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, 2025 (22nd edition), with the bulletin pointing to its pressure–temperature chart on page 1309. There is no Texas Laws and Rules area and no code-chapter area — this is a trade-knowledge exam, not a code or law exam.
The exam is open book. The bulletin's general ACR reference list (Texas Occupations Code chapter 1302, 16 TAC chapter 75, 29 CFR 1904, and the mechanical and fuel gas codes) applies to every ACR exam, so those books are permitted in the room, but the technician outline points to the textbook and its pressure–temperature chart — tab that page. Books may be highlighted, underlined, annotated and tabbed with permanent tabs before the session; during the exam you may not write in them, temporary and Post-It tabs are not allowed, and no loose paper comes in. The arithmetic is where the book helps least: superheat is the measured vapor temperature minus the chart's saturation temperature for the suction pressure, subcooling is the chart's saturation temperature for the liquid pressure minus the measured liquid temperature, airflow comes from CFM = Btu/h ÷ (1.08 × ΔT), current from Ohm's law and the power formula — all of it against the clock, at under two minutes per question.
TDLR approves your eligibility and emails scheduling instructions; you book online at test-takers.psiexams.com/tdlnrp or by phone at (833) 333-4741 and test by computer at one of PSI's Texas sites — Abilene, Amarillo, Arlington, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Harlingen, Houston, Lubbock, McAllen, Midland, San Antonio, Tyler, Waco and others listed in the bulletin. Arrive 30 minutes early with one valid government-issued photo ID; cancel or reschedule at least 2 days ahead or the fee is forfeited. All ACR exams are available in English and Spanish at no additional cost — choose the language when you schedule. Your score appears on screen when time ends, with a diagnostic report by subject area if you do not pass.
The full LICENA Texas ACR Certified Technician course is 500 questions across five blocks weighted to PSI's outline: Refrigeration Principles & Safety · Components & Piping · Controls, Airflow & Combustion Air · Refrigerant Diagnostics (superheat, subcooling, evacuation, recovery) · Electrical & Gas Heating. At 30 questions a day that is about three weeks: one pass to find the gaps, a second pass on the areas you missed, then the timed final at the real format — 60 questions in 112 minutes with a 70% pass mark. Work the diagnostics blocks on paper with a pressure–temperature chart beside you, because every one of those questions states its readings and expects you to turn them into a number and a verdict. If you also need EPA certification for refrigerant work, the free EPA 608 practice test covers those federal rules in depth.
Try the full bank free for 3 days — no card needed. Then $9.99 for your first month and $19.99/month after that if you decide to continue, cancel anytime. A school sells a full prepaid package; this is a question bank you can stop at any time — and you study on your phone, in your language, whenever you have a few minutes.
Continue Texas ACR Technician practice The free sample above stays free. Creating an account is free — no card needed.LICENA gives you practice questions to study with. We are not an accredited school and we do not guarantee that you will pass any exam.
LICENA provides online practice only. Registration, testing and certification are handled by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) and PSI — not by LICENA. LICENA is not affiliated with TDLR or PSI.