- Written by ApplianceWorth Editorial Team
- Technically reviewed by Victor — appliance technician
- Applies to Whirlpool appliances
- Date formats covered 4
- Sources Manufacturer service documentation, field-repair experience and owner-confirmed serial numbers · Methodology · Report a correction
How Whirlpool serial numbers encode the date
Whirlpool does not print the manufacture date in plain text on most units — it is encoded into the serial number. The decoder recognises 4 formats for this brand:
Format 1: Repeating year code with production week
The 2nd character is the year code, followed by 2 digits at the 3rd character giving the production week of that year.
Applies to serial numbers 4–9 characters long.
| Year code | Means |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1970 · 1980 · 2010 |
| 1 | 1971 · 1981 · 2011 |
| 2 | 1972 · 1982 · 2012 |
| 3 | 1973 · 1983 · 2013 |
| 4 | 1974 · 1984 · 2014 |
| 5 | 1975 · 1985 · 2015 |
| 6 | 1976 · 1986 · 2016 |
| 7 | 1977 · 1987 · 2017 |
| 8 | 1978 · 1988 · 2018 |
| 9 | 1979 · 1989 · 2019 |
| K | 2000 |
| L | 2001 |
| M | 2002 |
| P | 2003 |
| R | 2004 |
| S | 2005 |
| T | 2006 |
| U | 2007 |
| W | 2008 |
| Y | 2009 |
Format 2: Repeating year code with production week
The 2nd character is the year code, followed by 2 digits at the 3rd character giving the production week of that year.
Applies to serial numbers 4–9 characters long.
| Year code | Means |
|---|---|
| X | 1990 · 2020 |
| A | 1991 · 2021 |
| B | 1992 · 2022 |
| C | 1993 · 2023 |
| D | 1994 · 2024 |
| E | 1995 · 2025 |
| F | 1996 · 2026 |
| G | 1997 · 2027 |
| H | 1998 · 2028 |
| J | 1999 · 2029 |
Format 3: Repeating year code with production week
The 3rd character is the year code, followed by 2 digits at the 4th character giving the production week of that year.
Applies to serial numbers of at least 10 characters.
| Year code | Means |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1970 · 1980 · 2010 |
| 1 | 1971 · 1981 · 2011 |
| 2 | 1972 · 1982 · 2012 |
| 3 | 1973 · 1983 · 2013 |
| 4 | 1974 · 1984 · 2014 |
| 5 | 1975 · 1985 · 2015 |
| 6 | 1976 · 1986 · 2016 |
| 7 | 1977 · 1987 · 2017 |
| 8 | 1978 · 1988 · 2018 |
| 9 | 1979 · 1989 · 2019 |
| K | 2000 |
| L | 2001 |
| M | 2002 |
| P | 2003 |
| R | 2004 |
| S | 2005 |
| T | 2006 |
| U | 2007 |
| W | 2008 |
| Y | 2009 |
Format 4: Repeating year code with production week
The 3rd character is the year code, followed by 2 digits at the 4th character giving the production week of that year.
Applies to serial numbers of at least 10 characters.
| Year code | Means |
|---|---|
| X | 1990 · 2020 |
| A | 1991 · 2021 |
| B | 1992 · 2022 |
| C | 1993 · 2023 |
| D | 1994 · 2024 |
| E | 1995 · 2025 |
| F | 1996 · 2026 |
| G | 1997 · 2027 |
| H | 1998 · 2028 |
| J | 1999 · 2029 |
Worked examples
Each example below is decoded by the same engine that powers the tool on this page, so what you see here is exactly what you would get by typing it in.
This tool returns February 2019 · production week 8 · high confidence
Matches the digit-year format used in Whirlpool's own service documentation.
This tool returns October 2020 · production week 42 · medium confidence
The same code could also mean 1990.
A letter in the year position. This one used to fail entirely; it now decodes, with the alternate year disclosed.
Why the year can be ambiguous
Whirlpool reuses the same year character across repeating cycles, so one character on its own cannot pin down an absolute year. When that happens the tool picks the most recent year that has already occurred, marks the result medium confidence, and lists the other years the same code could mean.
Where to find the Whirlpool serial number
The serial number is printed on the rating label, usually alongside the model number. Depending on the appliance it may be inside the door frame, under the lid, behind a drawer or on the rear panel. Our label location guide shows where to look for each appliance type.
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