It is hard to find the date of manufacture of Hot Water Tank, or Water Heater. Most of time they do not put the date on the plate.
But we can decode from the serial number. Let me show you how to determine the age of Hot Water Tank of different brand.
| 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 # – 1st 4 digits | 1st 2 digits = year
2nd 2 digits= week |
8906xxx = made in the 6th week of the year 1989 |
| Apollo Comfort Products | Apollo | |||
| Bradford-White | Bradford White, JetGlas | Serial # – 1st 2 letters | 1st letter = year starting with A as 1984,
2nd letter = month with January (A) through December (M) |
JMxxx = made in the year 1992 (J) in the month of December (M) |
| Crispaire | E-tech | |||
| GSW Water Heating | John Wood, GSW, Moffat, Superflue, Medal | Serial # – 1st 4 digits | 1st & 2nd number = year,
3rd & 4th number = month |
8901xxx = made in the year 1989 in the first month, January |
| Heat Transfer Products | Heat Transfer | |||
| Lochinvar | Energy Saver, Golden Knight, Knight | |||
| Marathon | Marathon | Serial # – 1st 4 digits | 1st & 2nd digit = month,
3rd & 4th digit = year |
0189xxx = made in the year 1989 in the first month, January |
| Maytag | Maytag | |||
| Rheem | Aqua Therm, General Electric, Hotpoint, Professional, Rheem, Vanguard, Western Auto | Serial # – 1st 4 digits | 1st & 2nd digit = month,
3rd & 4th digit = year |
0189xxx = made in the year 1989 in the first month, January |
| Richmond | Richmond | Serial # – 1st 4 digits | 1st & 2nd digit = month,
3rd & 4th digit = year |
0189xxx = made in the year 1989 in the first month, January |
| Ruud | Professional, Ruud | Serial # – 1st 4 digits | 1st & 2nd digit = month,
3rd & 4th 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 # – 2nd, 3rd, 4th characters | 2nd position (letter) = month (A being January through M being December)
3rd & 4th position (numbers) = year |
AJ89xxx = made in October (J) of 1989 |
| State Industries | State | Serial # – 1st 3 characters | first letter = month (A being January through M, being December), 2nd and 3rd position (numbers) = year | J89xxx = made in October of 1989 |
| Summit Manufacturing
Mortex |
Sun Therm | |||
| 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 Energy Conservation Water Heater, The Earl’s Energy Saver Plus, Envirotemp, Four Most, 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 # – 1st 4 digits | 1st 2 digits = year
2nd 2 digits= week |
8924xxx = made in the 24th week of the year 1989 |
| Vaugn Manufacturing Corp. | Sepco, Hydrohot, D.W. Whitehead |
