About This Career

Repairs, adjusts, or installs all types of electric or gas household appliances, such as refrigerators, washers, dryers, and ovens.

This career is part of the Manufacturing cluster Maintenance, Installation and Repair pathway.

A person in this career:

• Bills customers for repair work, and collects payment.
• Observes and examines appliances during operation to detect specific malfunctions such as loose parts or leaking fluid.
• Talks to customers or refers to work orders to establish the nature of appliance malfunctions.
• Refers to schematic drawings, product manuals, and troubleshooting guides to diagnose and repair problems.
• Traces electrical circuits, following diagrams, and conducts tests with circuit testers and other equipment to locate shorts and grounds.
• Replaces worn and defective parts such as switches, bearings, transmissions, belts, gears, circuit boards, or defective wiring.
• Provides repair cost estimates, and recommends whether appliance repair or replacement is a better choice.
• Disassembles appliances so that problems can be diagnosed and repairs can be made.
• Services and repairs domestic electrical or gas appliances, such as clothes washers, refrigerators, stoves, and dryers.
• Responds to emergency calls for problems such as gas leaks.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
• Exposure to pollutants, gases, dust, fumes, odors, poor ventilation, etc.
• Requires getting into awkward positions
• Conditions are very hot (above 90 F) or very cold (under 32 F)
• Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Identifying color and seeing differences in color, including shades and brightness
• Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching
• Seeing clearly up close
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
• Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying objects
• Using abdominal and lower back muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring

Work Hours and Travel

• Irregular hours
• Weekend work