Homeowners and prospective home buyers frequently call our Conroe plumbing company to ask how to determine the age of a water heater. Because a water heater’s lifespan is typically between 10 and 15 years, these people want to get an idea of how long it will be before they need a water heater replacement. You probably can’t correctly guess the age of a water heater just by glancing it over, but you can get the exact date of manufacture just by looking at the serial number. Unfortunately, not all water heater manufacturers use the same method for coding the manufacture date into the serial number, but here is a run down of how some popular water heater companies are indicating the year of manufacture.
Rheem & A.O. Smith (up to 2008)
- To find the year of manufacture for a Rheem or A.O. Smith water heater, look at the third and fourth digits of the serial number.
- For example, if the first four digits are 8792, the year of manufacture would be 1992.
- If this method doesn’t work for an A.O. Smith water heater, it was manufactured after 2008, and you’ll need to follow the instructions listed below under State Industries.
State Industries & A.O. Smith (after 2008)
- The second and third digits of the serial number will indicate the year of manufacture.
- For example, if the first three digits are B09, the year of manufacture is 2009.
American Water Heater Company
- The first two digits indicate the manufacturing year.
- For example, if the first two digits are 05, the year of manufacture is 2005.
Lochinvar & Bradford-White
- The first letter of the serial number indicates the year of manufacture.
- They don’t use the letters I, O, Q, R, U, and V. They began 20 year cycles in 1964 with the letter A; then in 1984 they started with A again; then in 2004 they started with A again.
- For example, if the first letter of a Lochnivar or Bradford-White serial number is D, the water heater was manufactured in 1967, 1987, or 2007.
Our Conroe plumbers hope this information helps take some of the guesswork out of determining water heater ages! For water heater repairs, water heater installations, or any other plumbing service in or around Conroe, Tomball, Klein, or Cy-Fair, give Rooter-Man a call!
