Keeping buildings alive
Appliance Repair
You fix the machines inside people's houses that they cannot live without for more than two days. Refrigerators, washers, ranges, dryers. It is one of the few trades you can enter with almost no money and run out of your own van inside two years.
A day in it
- Six or seven calls on the schedule, routed across the county.
- First one is a fridge not cooling. Pull it out, check the compressor, check the board.
- It's the evaporator fan motor. Have one on the van, in and out in an hour.
- Second is a washer that won't drain. A sock in the pump. Charge the diagnostic and go.
- Lunch between stops, parts ordering from the van.
- Afternoon is a range with no bake. Igniter, ordered, back Thursday.
- Every job ends with somebody relieved. That never gets old.
What it pays
- Starting out
- $33,280
- Median
- $49,410
- Experienced
- $77,800
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 (national). Starting out = 10th percentile. Median = 50th. Experienced = 90th. Annual. Georgia figures to be added alongside national. SOC 49-9031. Real numbers only — never estimated, never rounded up.
How you get in
- —Short training, six months to a year, or straight on-the-job with a service company.
- —Manufacturer certifications — Whirlpool, GE, LG, Samsung — raise your rate.
- —EPA 608 if you want to work on sealed refrigeration systems.
- —The Mustard Seed covers training, certifications, and your first tool set.
What you need before you start
- —You are in people's homes all day. How you carry yourself is half the job.
- —Lifting. Appliances are heavy and they are never in an easy spot.
- —Reliable transportation before a company van is handed to you.
Someone doing it
Photograph, first name, age, and three or four sentences in their own words — to be supplied.
What it turns into
The lowest barrier to owning your own business of any trade on this list. One van, one phone, and a reputation.
Want to talk to somebody doing this?
Two fields. A person reads it and texts you back.