Model & Serial Tags
Appliance Age Decoder: Read the Tag, Know the Age
Where each appliance hides its rating tag, how major brands encode the build date in the serial, and why age decides the repair math.
Serving Thompson's Station & Williamson County · Mon–Fri 7AM–7PM · Sat 8AM–4PM · 24/7 Emergency
How to Read Your Appliance's Age From Its Tag
Every major appliance carries a model and serial tag, and on most brands the serial number encodes the manufacture date, often as a year and month or a year and week. Find the tag (locations below), read the serial, and match the brand's pattern. When a pattern is ambiguous, the manufacturer's own support line or site can decode it exactly from the full serial.
Where the tag hides, by appliance
| Appliance | Usual Tag Location |
|---|---|
| Refrigerator | Inside the fresh-food compartment side wall, or behind the kick plate |
| Washer | Under the lid, on the back of the control panel, or inside the door rim (front-load) |
| Dryer | Inside the door frame or on the door itself |
| Dishwasher | On the door edge or the tub frame just inside the door |
| Range / oven | Behind the storage drawer front, inside the oven door frame, or on the back |
| Microwave | Inside the door frame or on the back panel |
| Wine cooler | Inside wall or on the back panel |
How the major brands encode dates
- Whirlpool family (Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Amana): serials typically encode year and week of manufacture in designated character positions that vary by era and plant; the brand's support resources decode exact serials.
- GE Appliances: the first letters of the serial traditionally map to month and year through a repeating letter code published by GE.
- Samsung and LG: serials include year and month digits in fixed positions described in their support documentation.
- Frigidaire / Electrolux: serials typically carry year and week digits after the plant code.
- Bosch: the FD number printed on the tag encodes the production year and month in its digits, and Bosch support can decode the exact date from the full FD and serial numbers.
Brand patterns change over decades and production runs. Treat any pattern as a lead, then confirm with the manufacturer's support resources for an exact build date. We decode tags on every service visit as part of the diagnosis, because age drives the repair math.
Why age matters before you call
Age plus the failed part decides repair versus replace more than any other two facts. Read the tag, check the lifespan chart, and you will arrive at the same first conclusion we would. Gather the numbers with our before you call checklist and the first visit gets faster.
All Makes & Models
Brands We Service
We service these brands and many more. Not sure about yours? Call (615) 583-1836 or see our full brands page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Take a photo with flash at an angle; raking light reveals stamped characters. Failing that, model numbers appear in purchase and closing documents, and we can often date a unit approximately from its design generation during a visit.
Not always: builder stock and remodels can sit for months. For repair math, manufacture age is the honest baseline; install date matters for warranty questions, where your closing or purchase paperwork rules.
Often, yes, or close enough to guide the repair decision. Have the full model and serial ready when you call (615) 583-1836, and see the brand notes above for what we will be looking at.
Because owners hunt for it in the wrong place for years: it is on the door edge or tub frame, visible only with the door open, on most models. The table above lists the usual spots for every appliance we service.
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An Appliance Down in Thompson's Station?
One call gets a technician on the way. We serve all of Thompson's Station and Williamson County, Mon–Fri 7AM–7PM, Sat 8AM–4PM, with 24/7 emergency service.
Mon–Fri: 7AM – 7PM · Sat: 8AM – 4PM · 24/7 Emergency