From Serial Number to Age: Everything you need to know about your air conditioner

You can tell the age of your air conditioner using its serial number by trying a few common conversions or using a website to find it for you.

Regular inspections and maintenance are important to keep your air conditioner as effective and efficient as possible for as long as possible.

If you have a well-maintained air conditioner but you have no idea how old this unit is, you need to find the serial number of your unit to calculate how old it is.

Why regular maintenance on air conditioners is vital

Regularly inspecting your air conditioning unit, regardless of its size or how much you use it, can ensure that your unit is more energy-efficient.

Clean filters, coils, and components allow the system to function optimally, reducing energy consumption and lowering utility bills.

Regular maintenance can also help you spot potential faults or places where repairs need to be done and this can help you get ahead of any potentially big problems before they become serious.

This is a proactive and cost-effective approach to preserving the efficiency, reliability, and longevity of your air conditioning unit.

It’s advisable to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for maintenance tasks and schedules outlined in the user manual.

If you’re unsure about performing maintenance tasks, consider seeking professional assistance from HVAC technicians.

Age of air conditioner by serial number

Well-maintained air conditioners can last up to 20 years, and this means that many homeowners move into houses in which there are already air conditioners installed.

This means that when your air conditioner is giving you problems or if you have found out that some of the unit’s components need replacing, you may not even know how old your air conditioning unit is.

Older air conditioners may have parts that are no longer being manufactured and air conditioners that are not too old may still have some of their components covered by the initial warranty. This is why it is important to know the age of your air conditioner.

The most important thing to look for when you want to know the age of your air conditioner is the manufacturer tag or label.

If you are lucky, this label will have the date of manufacture printed on it, but if this is not the case, you will be able to find the serial number of your unit on this tag, and this serial number can help you figure out how old your air conditioner is.

Every manufacturer has their own system for the way they include manufacturing dates in the unit’s serial number.

Although you can work through a few of the more common ways to figure it out yourself, it will be much more accurate to just contact the manufacturer directly with the serial number or to type the serial number into a website to find this information.

How to find the manufacturer tag on your air conditioner

The name plate or manufacturer label of your air conditioner will usually be located on the unit itself.

This is usually a metal plate with the manufacturer’s logo, the serial number, model number, and other important servicing information about the unit on it.

For single units, this name plate should be somewhere on the unit itself. For split units, it is usually located on the side of the outside unit, close to where the important electrical components are.

In this case, you may need a bolt wrench to access the service panel in order to read the name plate.

Different ways that manufacturers include the age in the serial number

Every manufacturer has their own system for serial numbers and some manufacturers have even changed their own systems over time, so this may not be applicable to every air conditioner.

However, some of the most common ways that manufacturers include the date of manufacture on their air conditioners are as follows:

Common inclusions Example
Week and year A serial number starting with “0219” indicates that the unit was manufactured in the second week of 2019
Year and month An “0210” serial number indicates that the unit was made in October of 2002
Year and letter month An “02B” serial number indicates that the unit was made in February (second month, second letter of the alphabet) of 2002

You can then work backwards from this manufacture date to find out how old your air conditioner is.

Using websites to find the age of your air conditioner

Since it can be so confusing to figure out how the serial number of a unit translates to the date that it was manufactured, it is often best to contact the manufacturer directly with your serial number, through the contact details on their website.

However, there are also third-party websites like the Building Centre website, where you can choose your air conditioner manufacturer and input your serial number to find the date that your air conditioner was manufactured.

You will then be able to find out the age of your air conditioner from this information.

3 thoughts on “From Serial Number to Age: Everything you need to know about your air conditioner”

  1. How do you find the manufacturer of your air conditioner if it is not readable ? I have the model number HABA F48SG and the serial number W0D5849553

    Reply
  2. That is of the YORK family of units (YORK, Luxaire, Fraser Johnson, etc…) and it is from 2005 from the serial number.

    W (0) D (5) 849553

    Reply

Leave a Comment