How To Determine The Age Of A Water Heater? Complete Guide 2022
How to determine the age of a water heater? When your unit stops working suddenly, starts making strange noises, is leaking, not producing hot water altogether, or is heating water slowly, there is a problem that needs to be addressed. The first step in addressing any issue would be to determine the age of your water heater.
It’s better to stay on top of it, instead of waiting till its’ last dying breath, leaving your family without hot water for a week, while you wait for a replacement tank. If you want to stay ahead of the game, it’s a good idea to know the age of your water heater. In this article, we will show you how to determine the age of a water heater.
How To Determine The Age Of A Water Heater?
Here is how to check age of water heater.
- Read The Label
Checking the label is the first way you should try and determine the age of the heater. Simple as that right!? While this will give you the answer 9/10 times, not all heaters have a label. If your unit has a label, then your problem has been solved, and we wish you the best. If you just checked the label and your water heater is 100 years old, and you’re looking for a new one. Here’s a link to the top rated water heaters of 2022!
- Different Brands, Identical Method
How to tell the age of a whirlpool water heater depends on the heater’s brand, but the method is identical. Every unit comes with a rating plate that contains information such as brand name, the model, heating elements’ wattage, GPM, and much more. The information shown varies; for instance, if you have a tank unit, the information will vary from the information of a tankless machine. Nevertheless, the serial number is constant, and this typically contains the construction date.
Every brand has a different format, but it is easier to comprehend. You only need to understand how to read it. Now, let’s have a peek at some of the most popular brands to see how to determine the age of a Rinnai water heater.
How To Determine The Age Of A Bradford White Water Heater?
If you have a Bradford White water heater, things are a bit intricate since this company utilizes a letter in the serial number to signify the month and a letter to symbolize the year.
So, you need to know which month and year both letters stand for. Otherwise, you won’t be able to know the age of your heater. The first letter represents the year and the second letter signifies the month. Here is how to determine the year.
Here is how to determine the manufacturing month of your water heater.
If your water heater has a serial number YK6784845, it means it was made in October of 2002 since Y stands for 2002 and K stands for October.
How To Determine The Age Of A AO Smith Water Heater?
The rating plates of AO Smith water heaters are a bit difficult to decode, but if you know what you are seeking, it is pretty simple.
The serial number will have ten numbers and letters; you need to look for the initial four numbers in the sequence to discover the construction date. The production year comes first with these devices, followed by the month. For instance, if the initial numbers in the serial number are 9412, the date of manufacture was December 1994.
How To Determine The Age Of A Rheem Water Heater?
If you have a Rheem water heater, first locate the rating plate and then locate the serial number, which will consist of ten numbers and letters.
After finding them, look at the initial four numbers. The first two numbers stand for manufacturing month, whereas the second numbers represent the manufacturing year. For instance, if the numbers in the serial number are 1087, the unit was crafted in October 1987.
Rheem makes heaters under these brands names: Ruud, Rheem/Ruud, Richmond, Vista Therm, Citation, Aqua Therm, Energy Master, Vanguard, Cimarrom, Coast to Coast, Lowe’s, Servi-Star, True Value, ABS, Intertherm & Miller, Mainstream, Montgomery Ward, General Electric, and Professional.
You can use the same method to read their serial numbers to how to determine the age of a water heater.
How To Determine The Age Of State Water Heaters?
The serial number of a state water heater will start with four numbers. The initial two numbers stand for the manufacturing year, and the second numbers stand for the week of the year. It means if the heater has a serial number 9725, it was made in the 25th week of 1997.
The second type utilizes a letter to show the month, followed by the number of year.
It means if your heater has a serial number G10, it was made in July of 2010.
Conclusion
You can effortlessly determine your device’s age if you are fortunate enough to discover a label on your unit with a deployment date.
However, if you have to translate the serial number to determine its age, you will need to know how to translate the serial number the heater has.
Sadly, various systems are utilized for encoding the creation date into the heater’s serial number.
However, after reading our guide on how to determine the age of a water heater, you should be able to determine how old your heater is. If this still hasn’t solved your problem, call the company who made the water heater, and they should be able to point you in the right direction!
