The date of manufacture is encoded in the serial number on the data plate of almost all air conditioners. Go to the outside unit (condenser) and look for the metal plate or sticker on the side with the manufacturer’s data. Each manufacturer has their own system. Sometimes it’s the first two numbers, or second two numbers, or second and fourth, or even a letter code. Find your brand in the list below and click on it to go to the page with specific instructions for determining when your unit was produced, with actual data plate examples.

Affinity  Airdach  Aire-Flo   Airquest  AirTemp 
Allied Air  Amana   American Standard   
Ameristar  Aquatherm   Arcoaire  
Armstrong  Aspen   Bard  BDP  Broan
Bryant  CAC/BDP   Carrier  Champion    
ClimateMaster  Coleman  Coleman-Evcon
Comfort Pack  Comfortmaker   Concord
Cumberland  Daikin  Daizuki Day & Night  
DiamondAir Ducane DuctlessAire EcoTemp
Fedders  First Co.  FHP (Florida Heat Pump)  
Franklin   Fraser-Johnston 
Friedrich Fujitsu Frigidaire 
General Electric (GE)  Gibson  Goodman    
Grandaire  Gree  Guardian  Haier   Heil
International Comfort Products (ICP) 
Intertek ETL Inter-City Products   Janitrol   
Johnstone  KeepRite    Kelvinator   
Kenmore  Lennox  Lennox mini-split  
LG   Luxaire  MagicAire Magic Chef 
Magic-Pak Maytag Midea Miller 
Mitsubishi MrCool National Comfort
Nordyne   Nortek  NuTone  Oxbox 
Panasonic  Pioneer  Payne
RADCO  Stylecrest Revolv   Rheem
Ruud  RunTru  Samsung  Sanyo 
Sears Kenmore Senville  Singer  
SpacePak  Tappan Tempstar  
Thermal Zone  Trane  Unitary Products  
U.S. A/C Products WeatherKing   
Westinghouse   Xenon   York 
Zoneline (GE)

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Field Guide for Home Inspectors, a quick reference for finding the age of 154 brands of HVAC systems, water heaters, and electrical panels, plus 210 code standards for site-built and manufactured homes, and the life expectancy rating of 195 home components. Available at amazon.com for $19.95.
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    To determine other key specs of your HVAC system, see one of these other blog posts: 

• How can I find out the SEER of my air conditioner?

• How can I tell whether the condenser (outdoor unit) is an air conditioner or heat pump? 

• How can I find out the size of my air conditioner?  

  To learn more about heating and air conditioning systems, see these other blog posts: 

• My air conditioner won't turn on. What's wrong? 

• How can I find out the size of my air conditioner? 

• Where is the air filter for my central air conditioner and furnace? I can’t find it? 

• Does an old air conditioner use more electricity as it ages? 

• How did homes stay cool in Florida before air conditioning? 

• What is wrong with an air conditioner when the air flow out of the vents is low?

• Why has the thermostat screen gone blank? 

• Why does it take so long to cool a house when an air conditioner has been off for a while? 

• Why is my air conditioner not cooling enough? 

• What are the most common problems with wall/window air conditioners?  

• Will closing doors reduce my heating and cooling costs? 

   Visit our HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING page for other related blog posts on this subject, or go to the INDEX for a complete listing of all our articles.