Appliance Age Finder: Whirlpool

Whirlpool date code and serial number lookup: how old is the unit?

Enter a Whirlpool serial number and the tool reads the Whirlpool date code to give a manufacture week and year. It covers Whirlpool-built appliances made from 2010 to 2020, and it says so when a unit falls outside that window.

Free tool

Look up a Whirlpool serial number

Choose Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid or Amana (appliances) for a refrigerator, range, dishwasher, washer or dryer. Choose Whirlpool (water heaters) for a tank water heater. Results are estimates; the rating plate and Whirlpool are the authority.

Where to look

Where to find the Whirlpool date code: the serial number

On an appliance, the serial number is on the rating plate, usually inside the door frame or on the back. The Whirlpool date code is part of that serial, and the model number printed beside it is a different string.

On a Whirlpool-branded water heater the plate is on the side of the tank. The serial there starts with digits, not letters, and it follows a different rule from the appliance code.

Whirlpool does not publish a consumer decoder, so every Whirlpool serial number lookup you find online is a third-party chart. Every chart you will find online comes from a parts retailer, a trade group or a repair guide. That is why this page states what we could and couldn’t confirm.

The format

How the Whirlpool serial number lookup reads a 2010 to 2020 unit

Since 2010, a Whirlpool appliance serial is one or two plant letters, then one character for the year, then two digits for the week of the year (01 to 53), then a five-digit sequence number.

Part	What it means	Example: M41402320
Plant letter(s)	The factory or division	M
Year character	0 to 9 mean 2010 to 2019; X means 2020 (and some 2010 units)	4 = 2014
Week	Week of the year, 01 to 53	14
Sequence	Five-digit running number	02320

M41402320 is week 14 of 2014. Other documented serials: C 0 41 01002 is week 41 of 2010, FX2510000 is week 25 of 2020, and a serial starting K905 is week 5 of 2019. The same rule applies to Maytag, KitchenAid, JennAir, Estate, Roper and Whirlpool-built Kenmore.

Where it stops

What the Whirlpool lookup can't read

Two gaps matter for an apartment portfolio, and both are deliberate.

Appliances made before 2010. Older Whirlpool serials use letters in the same spots, and the same character meant different years in different eras. We found no trustworthy chart, so the tool returns “can’t date” instead of a guess. For a 2005 dishwasher, that is the right answer.

Appliances made in 2021 or later. The year letters A to F appear to mean 2021 to 2026, but the same letters appear in the old system. If the tool read them as years, a 1990s range could show up as nearly new. So it doesn’t. Check the owner’s manual or the rating plate for these units.

The X year. An X in the year position means 2020, but some 2010 units also carry an X. The tool headlines 2020 and lists 2010 in the “may be from” line. Decide with the style of the appliance and the building’s year built.

Our source for the year table is a parts retailer. The only other source we used confirms the layout and says plainly that Whirlpool publishes no decoder.

Water heaters

Whirlpool water heater age uses a different code

For Whirlpool water heater age, choose Whirlpool (water heaters) in the tool above. A Whirlpool-branded tank water heater is reported to be built by American Water Heaters, an A. O. Smith company. The serial starts with two digits for the year and two digits for the week.

Example: 0128104380 is week 28 of 2001. A second documented style, 1104T403904, is week 4 of 2011. This is a medium-confidence rule. Three third-party sources agree on it, but neither Whirlpool nor A. O. Smith confirms the link.

For A. O. Smith and State units, see the A. O. Smith page. Their current serials use the same year-and-week idea.

One rule, many badges

Brands covered by the Whirlpool appliance rule

Whirlpool Corporation sells under several names. In the tool, the Whirlpool appliance brand covers all of them.

Maytag and KitchenAid

A Maytag serial number or KitchenAid serial number uses the same plant-letter, year-character, week layout from 2010 onward.

Amana appliances

Amana-brand refrigerators, ranges and washers follow this rule. Amana heating and cooling does not. See the Amana page.

Amana, two ways

JennAir, Estate, Roper, Kenmore

JennAir, Estate and Roper use it, as do Kenmore appliances that Whirlpool built. A Kenmore built by another maker will not decode.

Typical life

How long Whirlpool-built appliances last

There is no Whirlpool-specific lifespan in the sources we used. These are the published ranges by product type.

Product	Published ranges	Source
Refrigerator	13 years standard, 9 compact; 9 to 13	NAHB; InterNACHI
Range	13 electric, 15 gas	NAHB
Dishwasher	9 years	NAHB and InterNACHI
Washer	10 years; 5 to 15	NAHB; InterNACHI
Dryer	13 years	NAHB and InterNACHI
Tank water heater	10 gas, 11 electric; 6 to 12	NAHB; InterNACHI

Read more in washer and dryer life expectancy. The Department of Energy suggests considering a replacement when a washer passes 10 years, as an efficiency prompt rather than a lifespan.

For operators

Using a decoded Whirlpool date in replacement and move-out decisions

A Whirlpool washer decoded to 2014 is now past the 10-year mark in the table above, which puts it near the end of the published range. A dryer from the same year is still inside its 13-year range. The decode only helps if the date reaches the record.

When you enter the item in the asset inventory, add the serial, the make and model, and a photo of the plate tagged as a serial plate. The item then carries a life-used bar and Repair, Monitor or Replace guidance.

At move-out, the Prorate Calculator uses age, lifespan and condition. A decoded manufacture date is a few months earlier than the install date, so the unit has been in service slightly less than its decoded age. Confirm with the plate before it supports a charge.

Serial plate photo stored with the item
Expected life editable per item
Life used shown on the unit page

Whirlpool serial number questions

How do I do a Whirlpool serial number lookup for age?

For a unit made from 2010 to 2020, find the year character right after the plant letters, then the two-digit week. Enter the serial above and the tool does the reading. For any other year, check the rating plate or the owner’s manual.

What is the Whirlpool date code on a 2010 to 2020 appliance?

It sits in the serial: one or two plant letters, one year character, two digits for the week and a five-digit sequence number. The year character is 0 to 9 for 2010 to 2019 and X for 2020. M41402320 is week 14 of 2014. Confirm against the rating plate.

Why can't the tool date my Whirlpool appliance made before 2010?

Before 2010 the same serial character meant different years in different eras, and we found no trustworthy chart. Guessing could put an old unit in the wrong decade, so the tool declines. Use the plate or the manual.

Why doesn't it read units made in 2021 or later?

Letters A to F appear to mean 2021 to 2026 but collide with the older letter system. Reading them would show some 1990s appliances as nearly new. The tool returns “can’t date” for those, and you should check the plate.

Does the same rule work for Maytag, KitchenAid and Amana?

Yes for appliances. Maytag, KitchenAid, Amana, JennAir, Estate, Roper and Whirlpool-built Kenmore share the layout from 2010. Amana heating and cooling is different, so use the Amana HVAC brand for furnaces and air conditioners.

How accurate is the date?

It is an estimate of the build week. Install usually comes a few months later. The year table rests on one parts retailer, and Whirlpool publishes no decoder, so the manufacturer or the rating plate is the authority.

Sources

Checked October 2026.

Record the plate once and plan from the date

See an item in the demo with its serial, photos and life used. No signup and sample data only.