Water Heater Model Number and Age
Using the chart below, a serial number of WC9876553 would have been built in the year 2000 and in the month of March. A serial number beginning with KA. Jul 4, 2009 - Bradford White uses a 20-year letter designation rotation in serial. Folks even know what a serial number is and that there is a date code in it! Starting in 1984, there was a four digit date code following the serial number that was month and year. Example – JO-, this unit was built in October of 1984. Starting in the year 2000, same idea only it was a six digit date code following the serial number that is year and month. Bradford White ICON System - Intelligent gas control with proven millivolt powered technology and built-in piezo igniter. A standard, off the shelf thermopile converts heat energy from the pilot flame into electrical energy tooperate the gas valve and microprocessor.
Bradford White Serial Number Dates
![Bradford White Serial Number Date Bradford White Serial Number Date](https://www.bradfordwhite.com/sites/default/files/marketing_materials/images/resid_elect_relc_ss.png)
While water heaters are a key component for home comfort, they don’t last forever. It’s recommended to replace your water heater every 10 years. If you are experiencing some issues with your water heater, the water heater model number and age can help you determine if it’s time for a replacement.
Every water heater comes with a Rating Plate. This plate contains important information about the water heater and is important for the safety of the homeowner. While most of the information listed will be used by a licensed technician, some is useful for the homeowner, including the serial number, which shows the manufactured date – commonly the first four numbers (mmyy); the model number; the Input BTU (gas models only); gallon capacity; and wattage elements (electric models only). You can determine the water heater age by examining the serial number.
Below are a few samples of different manufacturing companies’ Rating Plates to help you to better understand how to decode your water heater’s age. We have provided an example of an AO Smith Water Heater age, Reheem Water Heater age, American Water Heater model numbers and Bradford White serial numbers.
- The model number is 21VR75; the serial number is RHHG0898GO1213 - this makes the102341
- These Rating Plates can be a little more difficult to read. In these models, the75680
- These Rating Plates will list the year first (yy) and then the week (XX) of that year45161
- This Rating Plate will make finding the age of your water heater a little more difficult.71310
Find the date in serial numbers
Bradford White Serial Number Manufacture Date
As a home inspector, you are constantly on display for your clients while you are performing a home inspection. So while your clients are looking to you as their expert, there is no more embarrassing feeling than being unable to tell them the accurate age of the hot water heater. You need to be able to interpret the date in the serial number as part of your service.
Most water heater manufacturers code the date of manufacture of their appliance in the serial number. You should be familiar with how to extract the date from the serial number.
Some manufacturers such as Rheem use the first 4 numerical digits of the serial number to code the date. So if the water heater has a serial number that starts with 1209, the water heater would have been manufactured in December of 2009. This is often logical and easy to understand – click here to see a PDF for dating Rheem water heaters.
Bradford White’s dating system
![How to read bradford white serial numbers How to read bradford white serial numbers](https://www.fastwaterheater.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/rheemratingplate.jpg)
Once you get your hands around this trick, here comes Bradford White to throw you a curve ball. Bradford White employs their own letter code system in the serial number where the first letter is the year and the 2nd letter is the month. An example of a Bradford White serial number of BH6511396 would be: B=2005 & H=August
The crazy thing is: this letter system repeats every 20 years! I find this so confounding that I have to keep a little cheat sheet on my computer so I can look up the age on-site.
Keep these PDF’s ready on your field computer so next time you are confronted with a hot water heater you can be sure to give your client an accurate date of manufacture.
I hope this inspection tip is helpful!
_________________________________________________________________________
Dylan Chalk is the author of The Confident House Hunter – a book to teach home buyers how to look at and understand houses: Cedar Fort Press www.dylanchalk.com. He is also the founder of ScribeWare inspection report software offering innovative and simple Report-writing solutions – www.getscribeware.com and he is the owner of Seattle-based Orca Inspection Services LLC, www.orcainspect.com.