Download the PDF
One-page hand-out (PDF, US Letter) or large-print edition (PDF, 2 pages, easier on screen): the six diagrams below, a form to record the label, the date rule for each brand with a highlighted example, how to settle a repeating code, typical lifespans, our recall check and what the age means. Both print on standard US Letter paper with no settings to change. Free to print, share or hand to clients unchanged.
Checking a water heater too? It has its own one-page sheet: water heater age cheat sheet (PDF).
Home inspectors: see free tools and printables for inspectors, including a one-page age report you can fill in for several appliances at once.
How to use the sheet
Print it on plain US Letter paper and work down the page, one appliance at a time:
- Find the label. Match the appliance to its diagram and check the marked spots with the door or drawer open.
- Write it down. Fill in the “Record before you check” boxes: brand, model number and serial (or a Bosch FD number), plus any date printed on the plate.
- Go to the brand card and read only the highlighted characters. The Kenmore card sends you to the real maker’s card first.
- Check for a repeat. If the card allows more than one year, use the “Code could mean two years?” box before you write down a date.
- Compare and check. Set the build year against the lifespan bars, then run the model number through the recall check.
The large-print edition spreads the same steps over two pages, numbered 1 to 6.
Filled in for the Kenmore refrigerator in the second worked example below, the record row reads:
| Box on the sheet | What to write |
|---|---|
| Appliance / brand | Refrigerator, Kenmore |
| Model number | 106.9712611 |
| Serial number / FD number | EB1719162 |
| Printed date (if any) | None shown in the source |
| Decoded build date | April 1992 (code also fits April 2022) |
| Recall check result | Your result, with the date you checked |
If a code repeats and nothing settles it, write every possible year in the date box rather than picking one. Note the date of your recall check too: the list of notices keeps growing, and no match is not proof of safety.
1. Where the label is
- Upper left wall of the fresh-food section (Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Frigidaire top-freezer; Samsung French-door and side-by-side; newer LG models)
- Upper right wall (LG on most models; Frigidaire French-door and side-by-side; Whirlpool and Maytag side-by-side)
- Ceiling of the fresh-food section (GE, Kenmore, KitchenAid quad-door)
- Beside, behind or under the crisper drawers (GE, Kenmore)
- Outside, low on the front (a second label on Samsung; GE bottom front edge on some models)
- On the rim, trim or frame of the door opening, often at the top (Whirlpool, Maytag, LG, Samsung, Frigidaire, GE)
- Outside, lower right front corner (some GE models)
- Under the lid, on the tub rim or the back of the opening (Whirlpool, Maytag, Frigidaire, LG, GE near the right hinge)
- Back of the control panel or the back panel (GE, LG; Samsung top-loaders on the back)
- Outside, lower corner of the cabinet (some GE models)
- Rim of the door opening, often at the top (Whirlpool, Maytag, Samsung; LG and Frigidaire say the top)
- Left or right side of the drum opening (GE). Ventless Whirlpool and Maytag dryers: behind the water tank
- Left edge of the tub frame (Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, GE, Samsung)
- Right edge of the tub frame (GE, Frigidaire, Samsung)
- Side or top edge of the door, or its inside (LG, GE, Frigidaire, Bosch, Samsung)
- Oven frame or side trim, seen with the door open (Whirlpool, Maytag, Frigidaire, GE, LG)
- Frame of the storage drawer, with the drawer pulled out (Whirlpool, Maytag, Frigidaire, LG, GE)
- Under the cooktop or behind the control panel on some models (GE; Frigidaire and Maytag cooktops underneath)
Basis: Official manufacturer help pages (Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, GE, LG, Samsung, Frigidaire, Bosch) and Sears PartsDirect for Kenmore. Diagrams are simplified; your model's exact spot can differ.
Photograph the whole label: the model number is for parts and recall checks; the serial number carries the build date.
2. Read the build date
Highlighted characters carry the date. Each example is a documented unit.
| Brand | Look at | Example | Reads as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Amana, JennAir | 2nd character = year, next 2 digits = week | C6·08·42986 | 6 = 2016, week 08 = February 2016 |
| GE (also Hotpoint, Café, Monogram) | 1st letter = month, 2nd = year | Z·R·525322 | Z = December, R = 1996 / 2008 / 2020 |
| Samsung | 15-character serial: 8th = year, 9th = month | 0ARV5BB·J·4·00798K | J = 2017, 4 = April |
| LG | First three digits: year digit, then month | 4·10·KRXX… | 4 = 2014 / 2024, 10 = October |
| Frigidaire, Electrolux | 3rd character = year digit, 4th–5th = week | 4D·7·29·04857 | 7 = 2007 / 2017, week 29 = July (this documented unit: 2017) |
| Bosch, Thermador | The FD number, not the serial | FD 91·11 | 91 + 1920 = 2011, 11 = November |
| Kenmore | The 3 digits before the dot in the model number say who built it | Model 110.xxxx | 110 = Whirlpool; 253/417/587 = Frigidaire; 795/796 = LG; 363 = GE |
Full year-letter tables and the exceptions (two-letter plant codes, legacy Maytag serials that end in two letters, Samsung’s 11-character serials) are on the brand pages: Whirlpool, GE, Samsung, LG, Frigidaire, Bosch, Kenmore. The checker at the top of this page does the decoding for you.
Basis: GE and LG publish their rules; Bosch documents the FD number; the others come from independent date-code references cross-checked against documented units, plus US CPSC recall records for Samsung, as detailed on each brand page.
3. Typical lifespans
| Appliance | Typical | Published range |
|---|---|---|
| Refrigerator | 12 years | 9–13 |
| Washer | 10 years | 5–15 |
| Dryer | 13 years | 10–14 |
| Dishwasher | 10 years | 9–15 |
| Range | 15 years | 13–17 |
Basis: NAHB/Bank of America 2007 study, InterNACHI, Consumer Reports, ENERGY STAR and US Department of Energy 2024 rule lifetimes, combined as explained on the lifespan pages; the “Typical” column is our estimate. Typical replacement ages, not a prediction for one unit.
4. If the code could mean two years
GE letters repeat every 12 years, LG and Frigidaire digits every 10, Samsung’s R, T, W, X and Y every 20. No receipt needed. A date printed on the rating plate settles it. The manual’s print date and the model’s sale period on the maker’s site are supporting evidence. Features and styling (Wi-Fi, a touch display) help narrow the decade but don’t confirm the date.
5. Check recalls
Enter the model number in our recall check: it searches every US CPSC appliance recall notice (refreshed daily) and links the official one. Confirm the model and serial range on that notice. No match is not proof of safety. You can also search CPSC.gov/Recalls directly.
6. What the age means
Under half the typical lifespan: early in its life. Past halfway: budget for wear. At or past the typical age: it may keep going, but plan for replacement. These are typical figures, not limits; care, use and the model matter, and a well-kept unit can outlast them.
Three codes read with the sheet
Each of these is a real unit documented by electrical-forensics.com, read with nothing but the printed cards.
1. A GE dryer, serial LR821547C. The GE card lists the month letters A, D, F, G, H, L, M, R, S, T, V, Z, so L, the sixth, is June. The same list gives the year: R is the eighth letter, which is 2008 in the 2001–2012 cycle, so 1996, 2008 or 2020 once you add or subtract 12. The repeat box then sends you to the model’s era. This dryer is documented as June 2020.
2. A Kenmore refrigerator, model 106.9712611, serial EB1719162. The Kenmore card says prefix 106 means Whirlpool built it, so switch to the Whirlpool card. The 2nd character, B, is in the group that means the 2020s or the 1990s, and the next two digits, 17, are the week: late April 2022 or 1992. This fridge was built in 1992, so here the older reading is the right one.
3. A Frigidaire dishwasher, model MDB100RGW0, serial TH00257759. On the Frigidaire card, the 3rd character is the year’s last digit (0) and the 4th and 5th are the week (02): January 2000, 2010 or 2020. The documented unit is from January 2000. If a Frigidaire plate prints a full date, the card says to use that instead.
Basis: documented units on electrical-forensics.com’s GE, Whirlpool and Electrolux date-code pages; the step-by-step reading is ours.
Four common misreads
- Decoding the model number. Both numbers sit on one label. The date is in the line marked “S/N” or “Serial”; the model line is for parts and recall checks.
- Miscounting a Samsung serial. Count from the left and include every character, even a leading zero. In 0ARV5BBJ400798K, the 8th character is J (2017) and the 9th is 4 (April). Samsung’s year codes are all letters, so a digit in the year spot means you’ve miscounted.
- Reading the Bosch E-Nr. The E-Nr is Bosch’s model number and carries no date. Look for FD and the four digits after it.
- Decoding a Kenmore serial on its own. Kenmore has no code of its own, so the same serial can mean different things. Find the maker from the model prefix first, then use that maker’s card.
When the sheet isn’t enough
The printed cards cover the common cases. Go to the brand page when:
- A Samsung year letter isn’t on the card. The card lists the letters for 2001–2005 and 2011–2025. A Samsung front-load washer with serial Y09S54AZ709271R has Z in 8th place, which the full Samsung table gives as 2010: July 2010 for this documented unit.
- The serial ends in two letters. That is the legacy Maytag-group code, which repeats every 24 years and isn’t on the card. A Maytag dryer with serial 717486QX reads December 1996 or December 1972; the documented unit is from 1972. See the Maytag guide.
- The code repeats and nothing settles it. With no printed date, no manual and no record of when the model was sold, write down every possible year rather than guess. The checker at the top of this page lists them for you.
- The label is gone. The model number alone narrows the era and still works in the recall check. A Sub-Zero may print a separate Date Code field: use the Sub-Zero guide. Water heaters have their own one-page sheet.
- It’s a Samsung built in 2026. No source confirms Samsung’s 2026 year letter yet.
Checked against the sources below on 29 September 2026; wording on purchase dates and estimates revised on 6 October 2026; usage steps and worked examples added on 16 October 2026.
