7 Ways To Find How Old Your Appliance Is?

 Moving out to the new house must be exciting. If your new house has old appliances, you need to check their working condition and age to avoid unexpected repairs. You are at the right place if you want to learn different ways to determine the appliance’s age.

You can find out how old an appliance is by checking the serial or model numbers, contacting the manufacturer, looking up the manufacturing date on the manufacturer’s website, or contacting customer service. Also, a repair technician may be able to provide an estimate of the appliance’s age based on its condition and features.

In this article, you will learn 7 different ways to determine the age of the appliances in your new house. So, continue reading. 

How to find out the age of my old appliance? 

When moving out to a new house, one of the most important things to do is to check the quality of the appliances in the house. 

The appliance’s age is the essential factor that can help us determine its quality. 

Checking the quality of the appliance in the house will help us determine which appliances need to be replaced and which are good to go. 

Budgeting the total cost of moving out to the new house is essential. 

Sometimes, repairs to the appliance will cause sudden expenses you were not ready for. 

In order to avoid those sudden expenses, it is best to know the appliance’s age to determine its quality and estimate the time to replace it in the future. 

I have a similar experience to share. 

Two years back, I moved out to a house. 

It was not in a new house. 

I did not check the quality of the appliances. 

All the appliances looked good outwards, and I automatically assumed that all the appliances were in good condition. 

But after six months, to my surprise, the washing machine and refrigerator malfunctioned. 

When I consulted professionals, I came to know it needed costly repair. 

I was not expecting such appliance repairs, which was an awful experience. 

You are already reading this blog, so you will not experience such an incident. 

You can determine the appliance’s age by following the 7 ways listed below. 

1. Check the manufacturer’s label

The easiest method to determine the age of any electric appliance is to check the manufacturer’s label. 

You can find the manufacturer’s label on every electrical appliance. 

The location of the manufacturer label differs based on the appliance. 

Here are some familiar places to find the manufacturer’s label on electric appliances. 

• Back of the appliance: Access the back side of the appliance and check at the top and bottom for a manufacturer label. Most of the appliances contain manufacturer labels on the backside to avoid interfering with appliance usage. 
• Bottom of the appliance: Some appliances have manufacturing labels at the bottom to prevent them from getting damaged by regular usage. For example, a Whirlpool washing machine has a manufacturing label at the bottom. It might be challenging to access the bottom of the appliance. In such a case, someone can help move the appliance to access the bottom. 
• Inside the door of the appliance: Some appliances may contain a manufacturer label inside the door. For example, most dishwashers contain manufacturers’ labels inside it at its side. If you can’t find manufacturing labels at the back and bottom, look at the appliance’s interior to find the information. 
• Near the control panel of the appliance: Appliances like microwave ovens may contain manufacturing labels near the control panel. Check near the control panel to access the manufacturing label. 
• Near the power cord of the appliance: In rare cases, the manufacturer label can be found near the power cord of the appliances. After locating the manufacturer’s label, you must understand the date format mentioned on the label. The date format may vary based on the brand and model of the appliances. 

Here are some tips for understanding the format of the manufactured date mentioned on the label. 

• The manufactured date on the label will be mentioned as the month and year. You can find the date with the abbreviation of MFG DATE. 
• The format of the manufactured date may vary from one appliance to another. Some companies use numbers to mention the date; others may use letters as a code to denote the manufacturing date. For example, 0418 may be used to denote April 2018. And other companies may use letters to mention the month. For example, A19 for January 2019. 
• Once you understand the format, you can decode it to determine the appliance’s age. Some appliances will have a particular code to denote the year of manufacturing.

In addition to the manufacturing date, The manufacturer label will contain other important information. 

The other pieces of information will be found on the manufacturer’s label which are mentioned below.

• Model number: A manufacturer gives a unique model number to every appliance to differentiate it from other appliances. Using a model number, you can determine the age of the appliance. 
• Serial number: A serial number is also a unique identifier given to each appliance to keep track of the appliance production and warranty information. 
• Electric power requirement: A manufacturer label also contains a power requirement to run the particular appliances. It helps to avoid understanding the voltage, current, and frequency required to run particular appliances. 
• Safety warning: A safety warning instruction will be helpful to avoid any hazards while using the appliance. 
• The energy efficiency of the appliance: In rare cases, you can also find energy efficiency information on the manufacturer label. It indicates how efficiently this particular appliance uses energy. 

2. Look up the model number online

If you can’t find the manufacturer label on your appliance, you can find the model and serial number online. 

You can visit the manufacturer’s website and try contacting customer care. 

You can share the details of the appliance, and the customer care support team will help you find the model number to determine the appliance’s age. 

You can also find the serial number of the appliance to determine the exact age of the appliance. 

Here is how you can find the model and serial number for different electric appliances. 

• Refrigerator: When it comes to refrigerators, serial and model numbers are located inside them. Either at the side or at the top right corner. You can also check behind the door to find the serial number of your refrigerator. 
• Microwave oven: You can find the serial number of the microwave inside the storage drawer. The serial number will be located either inside the drawer storage or in the frame of the storage container. 
• Dishwashers: The serial and model numbers are located in the door’s interior space. You can find it either at the right or the left edge. 
• Front-load washers: In most front-loading washing machines, you can find the serial and model number on the door frame. 
• Top load washers: A top-loading washing machine will contain the serial and model number on the lid’s frame. 
• Dryers: You can find the dryer’s serial number at the door or on the right side of the door frame. 

3. Contact the manufacturer

Once you find the model and serial number, you can contact the appliance manufacturer to find the exact age of your appliance.

For example, you have a Samsung washer in your house, and you need to know its age. Therefore you decide to contact a manufacturer to determine the appliance’s age. 

In such a case, follow the steps below. 

• Start by visiting the Samsung official appliances website. 
• After visiting the website, click the support option. 
• Once you click the support option, you must click the contact us option. 
• Now, a drop-down menu will appear. Select product support from the option. 
• Now you have to enter the model number of your appliance in the search bar. 
• Select the appropriate question from the option according to your query. 
• Next, select the mode of communication from the option. You can choose email, phone, or chat options to clear your doubt. 
• Once you are connected to the executive, tell them that you want to determine the age of the particular appliance. 
• Give them the serial and model number of your appliance. 
• Wait patiently until they reply to you because it might take some time for them to research your appliance to come up with the exact age of the appliance. 
• If they cannot determine the appliance’s age, they will provide you with other resources to solve your query. 

4. Check the warranty

Another straightforward way to determine the age of your appliance is by checking the warranty card. 

When you move to the new home, ask for warranty documents for the appliance from the previous house owners. 

If you get warranty documents from them, it will be easy to determine the age of every appliance. 

A warranty card or a document will contain the exact date of manufacturing. It will also be helpful to know if the appliances are in the warranty period or have exceeded it. 

It will also give you a clear picture of when to replace the appliance. 

5. Check with a professional

If you still can’t find the appliance’s age, you can hire a professional to look at your appliances. 

Professionals are experienced in working with several appliances. 

They can help you determine the model or serial number by looking at the features of the appliances. 

Here are some of the ways in which a professional can help you determine the age of the appliance: 

• A professional will do a thorough physical check of the appliance. A professional will take note of the physical features of the appliance, like door style, button styles, interior components of the appliance, and type of motor used. He will also take a look at the compressor to determine the model of the appliances. 
• A professional will have access to the manuals and catalogs of the particular appliance and will refer to them to help you determine the age of your appliance. 
• He will have contacts of the brands and owners through which he can contact the manufacturer to determine the appliance’s age. 
• Above all, a professional can quickly tell if the appliance is in good condition or should be replaced by physical examination. Even if you don’t know the exact age, you can make an informed decision with the help of a professional. 

6. Ask your previous house owners

Another way to determine the age of your appliance is to contact the previous house owners. 

You can get their contact number from the contact details in the property documents. 

When contacting the previous owners, you must be polite and patient. 

Communicate that you are trying to determine the age of your appliance to get an idea of when to replace them after moving out of the house. 

You can ask crispier and shorter questions to know if the appliances are working well or have been repaired. 

You can also ask if they have any documents regarding the appliance, like warranty or receipts. 

If they have not responded appropriately, you can follow up politely. 

Sometimes, previous house owners may not have all the information if they bought that house from someone. 

In such a case, you can ask for any documentation or try another way to determine the appliance’s age. 

7. Use date-code search tools 

Even though you found the model or the serial number of the appliances, it would not be easy to decode it as different brands use different codes. 

In such a case, you can use code search tools like Appliance 411 search forms to determine the appliance’s age. 

All you have to do is enter the model and serial number of the appliance to get the exact age. 

How to determine if I should replace the appliance? 

After determining the appliance’s age, you will get an idea if the appliance is new or old. 

Consult a professional to know the exact life span of each appliance. 

For example, a refrigerator will last up to 20 years. 

The refrigerator in your new house is just 4 years old and functioning well; you do not need to replace it. 

If the refrigerator is 25 years old already, repairing it is not a good idea.

Comparing the cost of buying a new refrigerator and the cost of repair to make an informed decision. 

Also, if appliances like water heaters and washers are not functioning efficiently, it is better to replace them immediately. 

Or else they will cause trouble most unexpectedly, as happened with me. 

Final thoughts

If you have brought a new home winch that comes with appliances, you must not be careless about the functioning efficiency of the appliance. It might seem trivial initially, but it may cost you money and time later. 

You must determine the appliance’s age to know when to replace or repair it. Determining the appliance’s age will be easy if you know it’s serial and model number. 

A warranty card will also come in handy to determine the appliance’s age. Or else you will need to hire a professional to inspect appliances in your new house. 

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_appliance 

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