KitchenAid serial number lookup: where the tag is and how to read it

Where the tag is on KitchenAid appliances

KitchenAid says all its appliances carry an adhesive model and serial label, usually silver on major appliances.

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.

Dishwashers

• Built-in dishwasher: left side of the tub frame. Open the door and look along the left edge where the door closes against the tub. KitchenAid’s own guide describes it as “the left edge of the dishwasher’s door.”
• Double-drawer dishwasher: right side of the top drawer.

Refrigerators

KitchenAid notes that the registration card that comes with every refrigerator also shows the model and serial. It’s worth asking a seller for it, especially on a quad-door model that’s already built in.

Cooking

Basis: official (KitchenAid Product Help location pages and KitchenAid’s “Locate Model Number” page).

How to read a KitchenAid serial

KitchenAid serials follow Whirlpool’s layout:

1. Plant code: one letter, or occasionally two
2. Year code: the next character
3. Week: the two digits after it (01–53)

On most serials the year is the 2nd character. If a two-letter plant code pushes it to the 3rd, the digits after the year will still be a real week number, and that’s how you tell which reading is right.

Year codes by decade

Basis: KitchenAid publishes no decoder. This is electrical-forensics.com’s Whirlpool-family table, which matches other independent references. Digits can also mean the 1980s (and 1970s) on very old units. The letters I, O, Q, V and Z aren’t used (sources disagree about N).

Worked examples

The first two are illustrative serials showing the method, not real units:

• Serial starting F522…: F is the plant, 5 = 2015, week 22 → late May 2015.
• Serial starting RC10…: R is the plant, C = 1993 or 2023, week 10 → early March of one of those years. A current-style dishwasher with app-connected controls would be 2023.
• Serial starting CR39… (an illustrative Whirlpool-family serial): C is the plant, R = 2004 in electrical-forensics’ table (Sears PartsDirect reads R as 2005), week 39 → late September 2004 or 2005. The decade is never in doubt for these letters.

For decodes of real Whirlpool-family serials, see the Whirlpool and Maytag pages.

The decade problem

Letters X and A–J repeat every 30 years (for example C = 1993 or 2023), and digits can mean the 2010s or the 1980s. For a KitchenAid:

• Model lookup. Enter the model number in KitchenAid’s Product Lookup. If current manuals and parts appear, the older cycle is ruled out.
• Manual print date. It’s on the front or back cover of the use-and-care guide.
• Registration card or delivery paperwork.

What the age means for a used KitchenAid

KitchenAid says its standard limited warranties typically run a year from the date of delivery (as of September 2026). A build date alone doesn’t prove coverage, so ask for delivery paperwork on a nearly new unit.

For remaining-life context, see how long dishwashers last and how long refrigerators last. For a range or wall oven, weigh age against repair cost with the repair or replace calculator.

Limitations

• KitchenAid countertop products such as stand mixers aren’t covered here. This page is about major appliances.
• The serial date is the build date, not the install date. Built-in appliances in a house sale may have been installed long after they were made.
• Whirlpool-family tables from some third-party sites list different letters. Stick to one table and check it against a unit whose age you know.

Next steps

1. Enter the serial in the checker above.
2. Run a recall check with the model and serial.
3. Go through the used appliance buying checklist.
4. For a fridge, compare with how old is my refrigerator.

Checked against the sources below on 26 September 2026.