Home Appliance Repairers
Repair, adjust, or install all types of electric or gas household appliances, such as refrigerators, washers, dryers, and ovens.
Most important skills
- Repairing
- Critical Thinking
- Equipment Maintenance
- Troubleshooting
- Speaking
- Operations Monitoring
- Quality Control Analysis
- Active Listening
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Mechanical
- English Language
- Administration and Management
- Administrative
- Computers and Electronics
- Sales and Marketing
- Engineering and Technology
What the work involves
- Disassemble appliances so that problems can be diagnosed and repairs can be made.
- Bill customers for repair work, and collect payment.
- Trace electrical circuits, following diagrams, and conduct tests with circuit testers and other equipment to locate shorts and grounds.
- Service and repair domestic electrical or gas appliances, such as clothes washers, refrigerators, stoves, and dryers.
- Replace worn and defective parts such as switches, bearings, transmissions, belts, gears, circuit boards, or defective wiring.
- Talk to customers or refer to work orders to establish the nature of appliance malfunctions.
- Reassemble units after repairs are made, making adjustments and cleaning and lubricating parts as needed.
- Record maintenance and repair work performed on appliances.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (69% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (34.3%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (23.7%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Home Appliance Repairers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 88% of occupations compared | 87% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 94% of occupations compared | 77% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 88% of occupations compared | 30% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 83% of occupations compared | 70% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 60% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 64% of occupations compared | 33% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 84% of occupations compared | 49% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 69% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 3.44%
- Contact with others most of the time: 9.08%
- Constant contact with others: 87.48%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 4.04%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 18.66%
- Extremely important: 77.31%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2018
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 14.46%
- Fairly important: 2.69%
- Important: 23.06%
- Very important: 30.39%
- Extremely important: 29.4%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2018
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 6.43%
- Limited freedom: 2.69%
- Some freedom: 20.94%
- A lot of freedom: 69.95%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2018
Time pressure
- Never: 5.38%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 17.9%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 10.93%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 28.66%
- Every day: 37.14%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2018
Conflict situations
- Never: 22.77%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 6.28%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 33.45%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 18.75%
- Every day: 18.75%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 4.04%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 48.63%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 34.55%
- Every day: 12.78%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2018
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 17.47%
- Fairly serious: 36.04%
- Serious: 26.92%
- Very serious: 9.49%
- Extremely serious: 10.09%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2018
Is this career right for me? Find jobs with conditions you prefer
Where people with this background could move
- Analyze
Audiovisual Equipment Installers and Repairers
Closeness 94/100 · job zone +1
- Analyze
Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians
Closeness 93/100 · job zone +1
- Analyze
Recreational Vehicle Service Technicians
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Electronic Equipment Installers and Repairers, Motor Vehicles
Closeness 93/100 · job zone +1
- Analyze
Boilermakers
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers
Closeness 92/100
Find more alternativesCompare skills with another job
O*NET-SOC 49-9031.00 · SOC 49-9031 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8