HVAC Index

Water Heater Index

Bradford White® Water age

How to determine the date of production/manufacture or age of Bradford White® brand Water Heater Systems.

Water heaters in general have an average estimated useful service life of 10-12 years, though water quality, routine upkeep/maintenance, and location of the water heater will all play critical roles in the longevity of these systems.

Parent Company: Bradford White Corporation

Subsidiaries: Bradford White Water Heaters, LAARS Heating Systems Company, Niles Steel Tank (NST), Bradford White Canada, Electro Industries

The date of production/manufacture or age of Bradford White brand Water Heater equipment can be determined from the nine or ten character serial number located on the rating data plate. The serial number begins with two (2) letters followed by a sequential production number (seven digits in length before December 2007, and eight digits in length thereafter).

Example serial number styles/formats found:

Style 1: DG6322957
Style 2: OA8226825 (Unique computer error serial number beginning with the letter "O").
Style 3: BL. CA-051306 _{(Tankless - See Rinnai)}
Style 4: 8370-855-00015-7735003001 _{(Tankless - See Bosch)}
Style 5: 04. 03-102521 _{(Tankless - See Rinnai)}
Style 6: 0306 B 1377 _{(Oil-fired water heater made by Aero Environmental under the Bradford White label - See Aero HVAC and oil-fired note near bottom of this page)}

Legend: Year is RED; Month is GREEN; Week is BLUE

Note for Bradford White Tankless Units Only:

In 2006, Rinnai Corporation entered into agreement and began manufacturing tankless units for Bradford White. We have discovered that other companies such as Bosch have manufactured tankless units for Bradford White as well. As such, serial numbers for these tankless systems may or may not follow traditional Bradford White styles, but instead may use Rinnai or Bosch brand serial number styling respectively.

If you encounter one of these Bradford White tankless systems with a serial number style different than their traditional style 1 (AB1234567) listed above, it was likely manufactured by another brand using their unique serial number styles. We would love to have clear photos of these systems and their full data plates to help us with our research. Please send any photos and information you have using our submission form.

Style 1: DG6322957

Year of manufacture can be determined by using the 1^st letter of the serial number (see table)

Month of manufacture can be determined by using the 2^nd letter of the serial number (see table)

How to determine the age or manfacture date of a Bradford White Water Heater

Bradford White® utilizes a rotating 20 year letter cycle to encode the year. (e.g., the letter "M" represents both 1995 and 2015 year of manufacture).

Production Year Codes:

A= 1984 or 2004 or 2024
B= 1985 or 2005 or 2025
C= 1986 or 2006 or 2026
D= 1987 or 2007 or 2027
E= 1988 or 2008 or 2028
F= 1989 or 2009 or 2029
G= 1990 or 2010 or 2030
H= 1991 or 2011
J= 1992 or 2012
K= 1993 or 2013

Production Year Codes:

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

Production Month Codes:

A= January
B= February
C= March
D= April
E= May
F= June

Production Month Codes:

G= July
H= August
J= September
K= October
L= November
M= December

It is common to encounter a Bradford White® water heater that may be difficult to determine which specific 20 year designation the letter code represents. In order to accurately determine which 20 year cycle the letter may represent, one must also look at other determining factors.

The ANSI standards compliance date is the most common key indicator to assist with this determination (see our sample style 1 photo below).

In the photo example below, the first letter "D" in the serial number can represent both 1987 and 2007.

The ANSI compliance date on the data tag indicates compliance with ANSI Z21.10.1a-1985. where 1985 is the year revision for ANSI Z21.10.1a- compliance standard.

This code is typically revised every 6-8 years, which indicates two common sense considerations...

1. This water heater cannot have been manufactured prior to 1985.
2. This water heater is more likely to have been manufactured in 1987 (within 6-8 years of 1985 code revision) as opposed to 2007.

In absence of the listed ANSI year revision, one must rely on other factors or clues including but not limited to:

- physical appearance,
- dates on the building or health department (authority having jurisdiction AHJ) inspection tag or sticker,
- service tags (if present),
- age of the structure it is installed in,
- and simple common sense.

If all else fails, contact Bradford White with the model and serial number (including "dash number") for assistance.

Style 2: OA8226825

Due to a computer error there were some Bradford-White® Serial Numbers that began with the letter "O" which were mistakenly released into the market.

("O" as well as I, Q, R, U, & V were otherwise not used as part of their serial number nomenclature system.) .

These units were manufactured only in January, 1997. Should you encounter one of these rare unicorns....

Style 3: BL. CA-051306

Tankless systems made by Rinnai - See Rinnai

Style 4: 8370-855-00015-7735003001

Tankless systems made by Bosch - See Bosch

Style 5: 04. 03-102521

Tankless systems made by Rinnai - See Rinnai

Style 6: 0306 B 1377 (Aero manufactured oil-fired systems under Bradford White brand label)

Aero style serial number - see Aero

Note for Oil-fired tank water heaters only :

Aero Environmental was a Canada-based manufacturer of oil-fired HVAC and water heater systems. They were acquired by Bradford White in 2002. Some oil-fired water heaters encountered under the Bradford White branding still used the Aero serial number styles which represented year and month of manufacture within the first four digits of the serial number (see example below depicting the manufacture date as 6^th month of 2003). A key indicator of Aero manufacture and serial number style is the use of Aero branded burner components with these oil-fired systems.

Oil-fired water heaters are no longer manufactured or offered by Bradford White.

Should you encounter one of these rare unicorns, it has likely exceeded its service design life. Bradford White no longer offers an oil-fired water heater, but does suggest replacement with an indirect storage tank heated by an oil-fired furnace or boiler.

Aero serial number styles are decoded at Aero HVAC

_{Rating plate image courtesy of Steven Walker - Walker Inspections}

Bradford White® History¹

1881 - Began as Pennsylvania Range Boiler Company
1959 - Company reorganized under new name: The Pennsylvania-Bradford Appliance Corporation
1968 - Merger between Pennsylvania-Bradford and White Products of Middleville, Michigan under new company: Bradford-White Corporation
1977 - JETGLAS^® trademark officially registered (filed in 1976) by Bradford White Corporation. Presumed to be the acquisition and end of Day & Night brand water heaters (not the Day & Night HVAC assets which remain with Carrier)._{source citation}
1992 - Becomes employee owned Bradford White
1995 - First in industry to increase tank warranty to six years
1998 - First in industry to make six year parts warranty standard on all residential water heaters
2002 - Bradford White purchases Niles Steel Tank Company (Niles, Michigan) and Aero Environemental Ltd. (Canada). Aero was a manufacturer of oil-fired HVAC and water heater systems for residential and commercial use. Some Bradford White branded units used the Aero serial numbering styles for a brief period. Bradford White no longer offers an oil-fired water heater.
2003 - Introduces FVIR compliant Defender Safety System® technology
2004 - Introduces EverHot® line of tankless water heaters
2005 - Purchases Laars Heating Systems (Rochester, NH) to further expand plumbing and HVAC offerings
2021 - Purchases assets of Keltech, Inc. from Bradley Corporation. Keltech manufactures commercial electric tankless water heaters. Since the Keltech line was introduced in 1987, it has been known for commercial and industrial water heating systems. The Keltech acquisition will also begin a new partnership between Bradford White and Bradley. Some of Bradley's key products are complemented by a portion of the Keltech electric tankless water heater portfolio. Bradford White will supply those models directly to Bradley under the "Bradley powered by Keltech" brand.

¹Excerpts from various industry sources and https://www.bradfordwhite.com/timeline

Every effort is undertaken to offer you correct and concise information to assist you in determining the age or manufacture date of water heating equipment. Users relying on this information do so at their own risk.

Page last updated: 02/03/2025

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