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How old is that water heater?

By Jim Hanson

Home Inspector with Hanson Home Inspections LLC NACHI ID #11041303

December 06, 2011 03:59 PM

Manufacturers can make it very difficult to determine the age of appliances. Seems like it would be much easier just to put a tag the unit that reads...THIS UNIT WAS BUILT DECEMBER 2011. Anyway here is a chart from the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors that I use to help determine the approximate age of water heaters. This will help you determine when the unit was manufactured...but keep in mind...the unit was probably installed at a later date.

Manufacturer	Trade Names	Where to Look	How to Decode	Example
American	ACE,American, American Hardware, America's Best, Apex, Aqua Temp, AquaTherm, Aquamatic, Best, Best Deluxe, Champion, Craftmaster, De-Limer, Deluxe, Eagle,The Earl's Energy Conservation Water Heater, The Earl's Energy Saver Plus, Envirotemp, Four Most, Hotmaster, Hotstream, King-Kleen, King-Line, Master Plumber, Nationaline, Neptune, Penquin, Premier Plus, Premier Plus Self Cleaning Prestige, ProLine and ProLine Plus, Quaker, Quick-Flo, Raywall, Revere, Riveria, Sands, Sentinal, Servi-Star, Shamrock, Special Deluxe, Standard,Super Eagle, Super-Flo, Supreme, Sure-Fire, Thoro-Clean, Tru-Test, Tru Value,U.S. Supply, Whirlpool, XCL Energy Saver	Serial# – 1^st 4 digits	1^st 2 digits = year 2^nd2 digits= week	8906xxx= made in the 6^th week of the year 1989
Apollo Comfort Products	Apollo
Bradford-White	BradfordWhite, JetGlas	Serial# – 1^st 2 letters	1^st letter = year starting with A as 1984. This letter is on a 20-year loop. A=1984 or 2004 B=1985 or 2005 C=1986 or 2006 D=1987 or 2007 E=1988 or 2008 F=1989 or 2009 G=1990 or 2010 H=1991 or 2011 J=1992 or 2012 K=1993 L=1994 M=1995 N=1996 P=1997 S=1998 T=1999 W=2000 X=2001 Y=2002 Z=2003 2^ndletter = month with January (A) through December (M)	JMxxx= made in the year 1992 (J) in the month of December (M) A=January B=February C=March D=April E=May F=June G=July H=August J=September K=October L=November M=December
Crispaire	E-tech
Giant Factories	Giant	Date on tank label
GSW Water Heating	JohnWood, GSW, Moffat, Superflue, Medal	Serial# – 1^st 4 digits	1^st & 2^ndnumber = year, 3^rd& 4^th number = month	8901xxx= made in the year 1989 in the first month, January
Heat Transfer Products	HeatTransfer
Lochinvar	EnergySaver, Golden Knight, Knight
Marathon	Marathon	Serial# – 1^st 4 digits	1^st & 2^nddigit = month, 3^rd& 4^th digit = year	0189xxx= made in the year 1989 in the first month, January
Maytag	Maytag

Manufacturer	Trade Names	Where to Look	How to Decode	Example
Rheem	AquaTherm, General Electric, Hotpoint, Professional, Rheem, Vanguard, WesternAuto	Serial# – 1^st 4 digits	1^st & 2^nddigit = month, 3^rd& 4^th digit = year	0189xxx= made in the year 1989 in the first month, January
Richmond	Richmond	Serial# – 1^st 4 digits	1^st & 2^nddigit = month, 3^rd& 4^th digit = year	0189xxx= made in the year 1989 in the first month, January
Ruud	Professional,Ruud	Serial# – 1^st 4 digits	1^st & 2^nddigit = month, 3^rd& 4^th digit = year	0189xxx= made in the year 1989 in the first month, January
Sears, Roebuck and Co.	Kenmore
A.O.Smith Water Products	National,A.O. Smith, Glascote, Perma-Glas	Serial# – 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th characters	2^nd position(letter) = month (A being January through M being December) 3^rd& 4^th position (numbers) = year	AJ89xxx= made in October (J) of 1989
State Industries	State	Serial# – 1^st 3 characters	first letter = month (A being January through M, being December), 2^ndand 3^rd position (numbers) = year	J89xxx= made in October of 1989
Summit Manufacturing Mortex	SunTherm

Manufacturer

Trade Names

Where to Look

How to Decode

Example

U.S. Craftsmaster

Water Heaters

Ace,American Hardware, America's Best, Apex, Aqua Temp, Aqua Therm, Aquamatic,Best, Best Deluxe, Craftmaster, De-Limer, Deluxe, Eagle, The Earl's EnergyConservation Water Heater, The Earl's Energy Saver Plus, Envirotemp, FourMost, Hotmaster, Hotstream, King-Kleen, King-Line, Master Plumber, Nationaline, Neptune, Penquin, Prestige, Pro-Line, Pro-Line Plus, Quaker,Quick-Flo, Raywall, Revere, Riviera, Sands, Sentinal, Servistar, Shamrock,Special Deluxe, Standard, Supereagle, Super-Flo, Supreme, Sure-Fire, Thoro-Clean, True-Test, Tru Value, U.S. Craftmaster, U.S. Supply, Whirlpool,XCL Energy Saver

Serial# – 1^st 4 digits

1^st 2 digits = year

2^nd2 digits= week

8924xxx= made in the 24^th week of the year 1989

Vaugn Manufacturing Corp.

Sepco, Hydrohot, D.W. Whitehead

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David Artigliere

Reading, Pottstown, Norristown, Philadelphia - Collegeville, PA

ARTI Home Inspections, ASHI Certified Home Inspect

Useful information for consumers! I had to laugh at the title because I had a homeowner today that was having a fit over her 18 year old water heater. She said it never leaked until I came to do a home inspection and ran ALL that water.

Dec 07, 2011 08:53 AM

Jeanne Dufort

Coldwell Banker Lake Country - Madison, GA

Madison and Lake Oconee GA

Hi Jim - used your handy chart this morning, and discovered my own hot water heater is original to my home and an impressive 37 years old! Reblog and thanks.

Mar 18, 2014 11:14 PM

How old is that water heater?

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Jim Hanson

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