How Old Is My Dryer? Whirlpool, Maytag, GE and Other Brands
Find how old your dryer is from its serial number: Whirlpool, Maytag, GE, LG, Samsung, Kenmore and more. Pick your brand, enter the serial, and we'll decode the manufacture date.
Where’s the serial number?↓
- Inside the door opening, on the rim or frame visible when the door is open.
- On the back panel, near the top edge.
- Behind the lower access or lint-filter panel on some front-control models.
- Under the lint-filter housing — lift the filter out and look down into the slot.
Not the model number on the same plate. Dryers often print both together with the model number first.
- Dryers are the most repairable major appliance — belts, rollers and elements are cheap and the machines are simple. Age alone is rarely a reason to replace one.
- Whirlpool-built dryers cover Maytag, KitchenAid and Amana and share a single serial scheme.
Is your dryer broken, or are you just checking?
The age means different things depending on the answer. Pick one and we'll show you only what applies.
What the age actually means for a dryer
A dryer typically lasts 10–15 years, averaging about 13.
What does the age mean if something is wrong?
Age changes the economics; symptoms tell you what to diagnose. Neither alone determines the answer.
Usually worth diagnosing/repairing
Replacement becomes more worth considering when
Still not sure? See the full repair-or-replace guide →
And the money: A repair on a dryer deserves closer comparison with replacement much later than on other appliances, since dryer repairs stay comparatively inexpensive for most of the machine's life.
Where a dryer sits in its lifespan
10–15 years
Typical range
~13 years
Planning average
Early life (Years 1-5)
Thermal fuses and door switches, very often triggered by restricted venting rather than a faulty part — examples, not the only possibilities.
Mid-life (Years 6-10)
Drum belts, idler pulleys and rollers are examples of the source of squealing or thumping. All are inexpensive.
Planning window (Years 11-15)
Heating elements, motors and timers are examples of repairs that come up. Dryers are simple enough that even these are often still worth fixing.
Beyond typical range (Years 16+)
Past typical service life, though a well-vented dryer frequently outlives every other appliance in the house.
*Actual lifespan depends on usage, maintenance and quality. Well-maintained appliances often exceed these averages.
If there’s a problem, age changes the repair economics; if it’s working, maintenance is the next step.
Dryers last 10 to 15 years, averaging 13 — and they're the exception to almost everything true about appliance replacement elsewhere on this site. Because they're mechanically simple (a drum, a belt, a motor, a heating element), repairs stay worth paying for much later than on any other appliance in the house. A heating element or motor replacement at year 12 is frequently still worth it, where the equivalent repair on a dishwasher of the same age would not be.
On a younger dryer, a large share of faults aren't really faults at all — see `diagnoseFirst` below before pricing anything. As a dryer ages, a failed motor, a cracked drum or worn bearings become more relevant to the repair-vs-replace decision, though even these are often still worth fixing given how inexpensive the parts and labour are relative to a new unit.
The screening line still applies, just later than on other appliances: a repair approaching half the price of a comparable new dryer installed is worth treating as a warning sign — but because dryer repairs stay comparatively cheap for most of the machine's life, that line rarely arrives before year 12. Age, repair history and the specific failure still matter more than any single number.
Things worth knowing about your dryer
The vent is the real safety item
Clothes dryers cause thousands of US house fires every year, and failure to clean lint is consistently the leading cause. The lint screen is only the first stage — the duct run behind the machine matters more, and almost nobody clears it.
The most repairable machine you own
A dryer is a drum, a belt, a motor, a heat source and a thermostat. Belts, rollers and thermal fuses are inexpensive and reachable, which is why age alone is a weak argument for replacing one — a 15-year-old dryer with a fresh belt can outlive a new washer.
Heat pump dryers changed the ceiling
Conventional dryers heat air and throw it outside. Heat pump models recycle that heat instead, cutting energy use sharply at the cost of longer cycles and a higher purchase price — the newest reason a dying dryer might be worth replacing rather than fixing.
Common questions
How old is my dryer?
Find the serial number inside the door opening or on the back panel and enter it above. Most manufacturers encode the manufacture month and year into the serial.
Where is the serial number on a dryer?
Open the door and check the rim or frame of the opening first. If it is not there, look at the back panel near the top, or lift out the lint filter and check inside the slot.
How long does a dryer last?
Dryers last 10 to 15 years, averaging about 13, and often longer with clear venting. Restricted vents are the single biggest cause of early failure.
Is it worth repairing an old dryer?
More often than with any other appliance. Belts, rollers, thermal fuses and heating elements are inexpensive and the machines are mechanically simple, so repairs frequently make sense even past 12 years.
For dryers that are still working, clearing the vent run is the single most practical thing you can do for it.
Recommended products
Help an aging dryer last
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. How this works
The tool above reads these automatically — this is the reference if you want to check it yourself, or your brand isn’t listed above. Where the sticker is on a dryer is covered in step 1 — below is how each brand encodes the date once you’ve found it.
How old is my Whirlpool, Maytag or KitchenAid dryer?
- Covers:
- Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Amana, Jenn-Air, Roper, Inglis, Kenmore (Whirlpool-built) — they share one dating scheme.
- What the serial looks like:
- A letter, then a year code (letter or digit), then digits — e.g. C21234567. The 3rd-4th digits are the week (01-53).
- Reading the year:
- Whirlpool reuses letter year codes about every 30 years (e.g. A = 2021 or 1991) — the week digits and your purchase era settle it.
- Don’t use:
- Not the model number (starts with letters like WRF, MVW, KDT). The serial is the second code on the same tag.
- Worked example:
C21234567 → March 2012
How old is my Kenmore dryer?
- Covers:
- Kenmore, Kenmore Elite, Kenmore Pro, Sears — they share one dating scheme.
- What the serial looks like:
- Whatever the actual builder uses — Sears sold other makers' machines under the Kenmore name. Enter the serial and, if you have it, the model number.
- Reading the year:
- Kenmore units were built by Whirlpool, LG, Frigidaire and others, each with its own dating scheme. Where a serial reads plausibly on more than one of them, the model number settles it.
- How we narrow it down:
- We identify the actual builder from the model number's 3-digit prefix and defer to that builder's own scheme in full — including every plausible cyclic year, not just its top pick — rather than collapsing to a single guess. For a specific model line where we've found dated corroboration, we narrow further: one LG-built Kenmore refrigerator line (prefix 795.72043) is bounded to before 2015 based on owner reports and a contemporaneous review of the sibling product line. See our full case log.
- Don’t use:
- The MODEL number is genuinely useful here (it starts with three digits and a dot, e.g. 110.45862400) — it tells us who built the unit. Enter it in the model box if the serial alone is ambiguous.
- Worked example:
810KWXX12345 → October 2018
How old is my GE dryer?
- Covers:
- GE, General Electric, GE Profile, Café, Monogram, Hotpoint (US only) — they share one dating scheme.
- What the serial looks like:
- Two letters + 6 digits, sometimes a letter at the end (e.g. TL123456B)
- Reading the year:
- GE reuses year letters every 12 years, so one serial can match two or three plausible years — pick the one that matches when you bought or moved in.
- How we narrow it down:
- When we can find a dated GE spec sheet or a retailer's listing history for the specific model, we narrow the cycle automatically instead of defaulting to the newest option — for example, GE's own GSD2100V/2101V dishwasher spec sheet is stamped April 2011, which rules out a 2024 or 2000 reading of that model's serial. See our full case log.
- Don’t use:
- Not the model number (the longer code with digits and letters mixed throughout, e.g. GTS18GTHWW).
- Worked example:
TL123456 → October 2018
How old is my Samsung dryer?
- What the serial looks like:
- 15 characters — the 8th is the year letter, the 9th the month (on short 11-character serials it's the 4th and 5th)
- Reading the year:
- Samsung reuses year letters every 20 years, so the letters that have come round again (L, R, T, W, X, Y) match two plausible years — your purchase era settles it.
- Don’t use:
- Not the model number (starts with RF, WF, DW etc.). The serial is on the same sticker, usually below a barcode.
- Worked example:
0AB74AEKA00123Z → October 2018
How old is my LG dryer?
- Covers:
- LG, Kenmore (LG-built) — they share one dating scheme.
- What the serial looks like:
- Starts with 3 digits: first = year, next two = month 01-12 (e.g. 810KW... = Oct 2018)
- Reading the year:
- The year is a single digit, so it repeats every 10 years (8 = 2018 or 2008) — your purchase era settles it.
- How we narrow it down:
- When a dated LG spec sheet, press review, or discontinued-model listing exists for the specific model, we use it to rule out impossible cyclic years instead of assuming the newest one — for example, LG's own WM2455 washer spec sheet is dated February 2008 and the model is on LG's discontinued list, which rules out a 2019 reading of that model's serial. See our full case log.
- Don’t use:
- Not the model number (starts with letters, e.g. LFXS26973S).
- Worked example:
810KWXX12345 → October 2018
How old is my Frigidaire or Electrolux dryer?
- Covers:
- Frigidaire, Electrolux, Kenmore (Electrolux-built), Gibson, Kelvinator, Tappan, White-Westinghouse — they share one dating scheme.
- What the serial looks like:
- Usually two letters + digits; some 10-character serials use digit + product letter (e.g. 4A53011705). Date starts at character 3: year digit + week.
- Reading the year:
- Only the last digit of the year is encoded, so it repeats every decade (8 = 2018, 2008 or 1998) — go by when you bought the home or unit.
- How we narrow it down:
- For models with a traceable retail history, we check when the exact model was actually being sold rather than assuming the newest decade — for example, the Frigidaire FFBD2406N dishwasher shows up in retailer archives from early 2013 with no listing after 2015, which rules out a 2022 reading of that model's serial. See our full case log.
- Don’t use:
- Not the model number (mixes letters throughout, e.g. FFTR1814TW).
- Worked example:
NF81064326 → March 2018
How old is my AEG dryer?
- What the serial looks like:
- An 8-digit serial such as 13500016: 1st digit = year's last digit; digits 2-3 = production week (01-52).
- Reading the year:
- Only the last digit of the year is encoded, so the serial alone cannot distinguish decades (for example, 1 could mean 2001, 2011, or 2021). Check the machine's age and keep the alternatives in view.
- Don’t use:
- Not the PNC (Product Number), a separate number on the same plate that is often 9 digits and may start with 9. Enter the number labelled Serial number.
How old is my Electrolux (Europe) dryer?
- Covers:
- Electrolux (Europe), Zanussi — they share one dating scheme.
- What the serial looks like:
- A short all-digit number with no letters (e.g. 61300719): 1st digit = year's last digit, 2nd-3rd digits = week 01-52. Different from North American Electrolux, which is the separate "Electrolux (North America)" option built by Frigidaire.
- Reading the year:
- Only the last digit of the year is encoded, so it repeats every decade (a 1 could be 2021, 2011 or 2001) — go by when you bought the home or unit.
- Don’t use:
- Not the Product Number (PNC) — a separate number on the same plate, often 9 digits starting with "9", that is not a date. Look for the field actually labelled "Serial number", not "Prod. No." or "PNC".
- Worked example:
13500016 → September 2021
How old is my Bosch dryer?
- Covers:
- Bosch, Thermador, Gaggenau, Siemens, Neff — they share one dating scheme.
- What the serial looks like:
- The FD number: "FD" + 4 digits (FD 0301 = Jan 2023), often with extra digits after it (FD030100233 works too)
- Don’t use:
- NOT the E-Nr — that's the model number, and it's the first thing you'll see on the tag. The date lives only in the FD number next to it.
- Worked example:
FD030100233 → January 2023
How old is my Speed Queen dryer?
- Covers:
- Speed Queen, Alliance Laundry, Huebsch, UniMac — they share one dating scheme.
- What the serial looks like:
- All digits, usually 10, starting with the two-digit year — e.g. 1505000001 = May 2015
- Reading the year:
- The year and month are both stated in full digits, so there is no decade or cycle to guess between.
- Don’t use:
- Not the model number (letters and digits mixed, e.g. TR7003WN). The serial is the all-numeric code.
- Worked example:
1505000001 → May 2015
How old is my Fisher & Paykel dryer?
- Covers:
- Fisher & Paykel, DCS — they share one dating scheme.
- What the serial looks like:
- Two or three letters then digits — e.g. RPU766991. The first letter is the year, the second is the month.
- Reading the year:
- The year is one letter for the final digit of the year, so it repeats every 10 years (B = 2004 or 2014) — your purchase era settles it.
- Don’t use:
- Not the model or product code (E522B, RF522BLPX6, DD24DDFTX2) — that names the model line, not the build date.
- Worked example:
RPU766991 → July 2016
How old is my Crosley dryer?
- What the serial looks like:
- Whatever the actual builder uses — Crosley units are made by Whirlpool (laundry, fridges) or Frigidaire (dishwashers). Enter the serial and, if you have it, the model number.
- Reading the year:
- Crosley is built by Whirlpool or Frigidaire depending on the appliance, each with its own dating scheme. Where a serial reads on both, the year is only reported if they agree.
- Don’t use:
- Not the model number (e.g. CAE2743BQ0, VRT21F5AW) — though it is worth entering too, since it identifies the builder.
- Worked example:
C21234567 → March 2012
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The Dryer Series
- 1How Old Is My Dryer? Whirlpool, Maytag, GE and Other BrandsYou’re here — the tool above.
- 2How Long Does a Dryer Last?What changes as it ages, what can shorten it, and the gas-vs-electric answer.
- 3How Much Does It Cost to Replace a Dryer?Unit price by fuel type, installation cost, and repair costs by part.
- 4Should You Repair or Replace a Dryer?The decision, in one place — including the vent check that fixes most complaints for free.