How old is my washer? Read the build date from the serial number

How can I tell how old my washer is?

Two steps: find the model and serial label, then read the date code with your brand’s rule. The checker above does step two for you. The serial gives the build date. The washer may have sat in a warehouse or showroom for months before it was sold.

Step 1: Find the label

Open the door or lid first. Front-load washers keep the label on the rim of the door opening. Top-load washers keep it under the lid, or on the back panel.

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.

Basis: official manufacturer help pages (Whirlpool, Maytag, GE, LG, Samsung Canada, Frigidaire) and Sears PartsDirect for Kenmore. The inside-lid label on those Samsung top-loaders is from the CPSC recall notice.

The serial is the line marked “S/N” or “Serial”. The model number sits on the same label: don’t decode it by mistake.

Step 2: Decode the serial by brand

Basis: GE’s and LG’s rules are official (GE’s support page; LG’s, archived 22 October 2026). The others come from independent date-code references (electrical-forensics.com and Sears PartsDirect; for Samsung, electrical-forensics and Samsung’s US community forum), cross-checked against documented units. Full year tables are on the brand pages: Whirlpool, Maytag, GE, LG, Frigidaire and Kenmore.

Four washer serials, decoded

Basis: the first three are units documented by electrical-forensics.com; the Samsung top-loader serial is the last one in that model’s range in CPSC recall 23-080. The readings are ours, using the rules above.

How the decade was settled:

• The Kenmore is the trap. B stands for 1992 and for 2022, and the checker lists June 2022 first because it starts with the most recent possibility. The documented washer was built in 1992, so check when the model was sold before you trust the newer date.
• The Samsung top-loader needed outside evidence. T can mean 2002 or 2022. CPSC gives this serial as the end of a model’s range in a recall of washers sold from June 2021 through December 2022, so it can only be November 2022.
• The other two have one reading. Z appears once in Samsung’s year table (2010), and a digit year on a modern Whirlpool serial means the 2010s.

How old is my Whirlpool washer?

Whirlpool serials start with one or two plant letters. The next character is the year and the two digits after it are the week.

• A digit usually means the 2010s: 6 = 2016 (on very old units, the 1980s).
• X and A–J mean the 1990s or the 2020s: X = 2020, A = 2021 … F = 2026.
• K, L, M, P, R, S, T, U, W, Y mean 2000–2009: K = 2000, Y = 2009 (Sears PartsDirect reads some of these one year later).

Example: Whirlpool washer model WTW5000DW1, serial C60842986. C is the plant, 6 is 2016 and 08 is the week, so it was built in late February 2016 (electrical-forensics).

How old is my Maytag washer?

Modern Maytag washers use the same Whirlpool code, because Whirlpool owns Maytag. The code works the same on Maytag dryers: one with serial MX06404786 decodes as plant M, year X (2020), week 06: early February 2020. Older Maytag serials that end in two letters use the legacy code: see the Maytag guide.

How old is my GE washer?

The first two letters of a GE serial are the month and the year. GE publishes the chart, and it repeats every 12 years, so a serial starting SD means September 2026, 2014 or 2002. The GE guide has the full letter table.

Kenmore washers: find the real maker first

Kenmore didn’t build its own washers. Read the three digits before the dot in the model number:

• 110 = built by Whirlpool, so use the Whirlpool rule. Sears PartsDirect reads a serial starting RA01 as the first week of 1991 or 2021.
• 796 = LG, so the first serial digit is the year and the next two the month.
• 417 = Frigidaire, so use the Frigidaire rule: the year digit comes first on all-digit serials and third on serials that start with two letters, followed by the week.

More prefixes are on the Kenmore guide.

How old is my LG washer?

LG’s rule is official: the first digit is the last digit of the year and digits 2–3 are the month. A serial starting 410 was made in October 2014 or October 2024. Check the model’s era to choose the decade.

Step 3: Settle the decade

Most codes repeat, so check your reading against at least one of these:

1. Model number. Look it up on the maker’s support site; the manuals and parts listed show the era.
2. Owner’s manual print date. Many manuals print a date on the front or back page.
3. Paperwork. A receipt, delivery note or registration card.
4. Design. A 2006 top-loader and a 2026 top-loader look and feel very different.

What the build year tells you about a washer

• Energy and water use. ENERGY STAR added clothes washers in 1997, according to EPA’s program history. Its page on the program’s influence on clothes washers says its washer specification, updated several times, helped cut the average washer’s energy use by 30% and water use by over 50%, while average capacity grew 34% from 2004 to 2017. Those are market averages, not a measurement of any one machine. Basis: official (ENERGY STAR).
• Federal limits. A washer built on or after January 1, 2018, had to meet the efficiency and water limits still in force in 2026. Basis: official (10 CFR 430.32).
• Samsung top-load recalls by date. CPSC recall 17-028 (November 2016, about 2.8 million washers) covered 34 listed top-load models sold from March 2011 to November 2016, whose tops could detach during use. Whether a unit of those models is included depends on its serial number, which Samsung confirms. Recall 23-080 (December 2022, about 663,500) covered six top-load model series with super speed wash (WA49B, WA50B, WA51A, WA52A, WA54A and WA55A), sold from June 2021 through December 2022, that could short-circuit and overheat; the fix is a software update. That notice lists the serial range for each model. If a Samsung top-loader’s serial dates to those years, check its model number in the recall check and confirm on the notice. Basis: official (CPSC).
• Hoses age separately. Whirlpool’s owner’s manual for a residential top-load washer advises replacing inlet hoses after 5 years of use, and sooner if they show bulges, kinks, cuts, wear or leaks. It also suggests writing the replacement date on the hose label. On a used washer, ask when the hoses were last changed; if nobody knows, plan on new ones. Basis: official (Whirlpool).

If the label is missing or unreadable

• Check every spot. Top-loaders can carry the label on the back panel as well as under the lid.
• Use the model number alone. It gives the era and lets you run a recall check, but not the build month.
• Ask the seller for the receipt, manual or registration card.

If there’s no age evidence at all, treat the age as unknown when you judge the price. The used washer price page shows how much age moves value.

What the age means for a washer

Washers typically last about 10 years, with published figures from 5 to 15. A washer’s age tells you how much of that typical life may be left: see how long washing machines last. By simple subtraction (our estimate), a washer built in 2016 or earlier has reached that typical age in 2026; the Whirlpool above, from February 2016, turned 10 in February 2026. Weighing a repair? Use the repair or replace calculator.

Limitations

• The serial shows the build date, not the sale, installation or service history.
• Only GE and LG have published their date rules. The others come from well-corroborated independent references.
• Samsung’s 2026 year code isn’t confirmed by any source yet.

Next steps

1. Enter the brand and serial in the checker above.
2. Run the recall check with the model number.
3. Inspect the washer with the used appliance buying checklist.

Checked against the sources below on 26 September 2026; documented washer examples, recall dates and federal, ENERGY STAR and hose guidance added on 16 October 2026.