In the field it can be difficult to determine the age of a Bradford White water heater. The company uses a letter system in which each letter represents the year it was made. Each letter in the serial# will represent a new year every 20 years. If the first letter is say “Y” that could mean it was made in 2002 or 2022. A water heater that is 20 years old vs a new one will usually be easy to determine and you can use your experience to figure out which is the correct year to note. Below is a graph from Bradford White that will help you determine the age.
- A = 1984 or 2004
- B = 1985 or 2005
- C = 1986 or 2006
- D = 1987 or 2007
- E = 1988 or 2008
- F = 1989 or 2009
- G = 1990 or 2010
- H = 1991 or 2011
- J = 1992 or 2012
- K = 1993 or 2013
- L = 1994 or 2014
- M = 1995 or 2015
- N = 1996 or 2016
- P = 1997 or 2017
- S = 1998 or 2018
- T = 1999 or 2019
- W = 2000 or 2020
- X = 2001 or 2021
- Y = 2002 or 2022
- Z = 2003 or 2023
There was a computer error in 1997 which these models will have “OA” in the serial number. If yours has those letters then it means it was manufactured in 1997. If you need help finding the age of your Bradford White water heater feel free to give us a call at 407-633-1661 or visit our website.