Day & Night^® Water Heater age

How to determine the date of production/manufacture or age of Day & Night^® 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: Carrier (no longer manufacturing water heater systems)

Subsidiaries: Defunct water heater brand - Name used for HVAC systems now.

Any water heater encountered with the "Day & Night" or "Day-and-Night" branding will have greatly exceeded the average service design life... a testament to their enduring quality.

Although Day & Night namesake remains in use for HVAC systems (revived by ICP in the early 2000's), Day & Night water heaters are now a defunct water heater brand. JETGLAS brand water heaters (once formerly a model type produced by Day & Night) are now part of Bradford White Corporation (since 1977). - See our brand history section below for related information.

The date of production/manufacture or age of Day & Night brand Water Heater equipment cannot be verified from the serial number or registration number, but can be estimated from the additional information located on the rating data plate.

We believe that Day & Night brand water heaters simply used a sequential "registration" numbering system for which there is no known decipher. Other sources indicate Day & Night potentially included the year and week of manufacture in various locations of the first segment of the registration number. Lack of unanimous agreement and unverifiable documentation unfortunately prevents us from providing a definitive decoding format.

Should you have additional information and photos of data rating plates to assist us in our research, please contact us via the form located HERE.

Example serial number styles/formats found:

→Style 1: 540170 024771

→Style 2: C1061 57961

→Style 3: KDAAA 43327

→Style 4: EC 46402

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

→Style 1: 540170 024771

JETGLAS models first appeared under the Day & Night brand in 1953 and believed to have been last manufactured by Day & Night in 1977. If you encounter a Day & Night brand JETGLAS JUPITER model water heater, it will have been manufactured during this 24 year era.

Some sources indicate the first two digits of this style represent year of manufacture, followed by the week in the next two digits. Other sources indicate the year is represented in the fifth and sixth digits of the serial number. We have been unable to confirm either.

→Style 2: C1061 57961

Some sources indicate the first letter of this style represents month of manufacture (A-L for Jan-Dec), followed by the year in the next digit (1970's decade). We have been unable to confirm this.

→Style 3: KDAAA 43327

Some sources indicate the first letter of this style represents month of manufacture (A-L for Jan-Dec), followed by the year in the second letter (A-H for 1970-1979). We have been unable to confirm this.

→Style 4: EC 46402

This is from a unit likely manufactured between WWII and Korean War efforts (mid-1940's to early-1950's). We are unable to confirm, but believe more likely Korean War vintage (post-WWII) as Day & Night began to focus more on gas and electric units rather than the solar systems they had made their name with.

Day & Night Water Heaters^® History¹

1909 - William J. Bailey began the Day & Night water heater company with Bailey's invention of a solar water heater in Monrovia, California. Bailey’s patent for his innovative system was registered in 1910 and he set to work developing and selling his product. The "Day & Night" name reflected Bailey's design that combined a solar heating element collecting heat in the daytime, and an insulated hot water storage container that would continue to provide domestic hot water during the night - providing "hot" water both day and night. Bailey's concept of a well-insulated hot water storage tank was a key feature that he later extended to a gas-fueled water heater.
1916 - Christmas 1916 Monrovia Daily News. "In July came the announcement of the organization of the Solar Heater Company, to be promoted and managed by W. J. Bailey who had leased the Paul Bachert Building, where the heater was to be manufactured and sold. Mr. Bailey absorbed the "California (Walker) Solar Heater," by the purchase of patents. The use of solar heat in tropical countries to supply residences with hot water has been very highly developed by Mr. Bailey, and his company, now operating under the name of Day and Night Heater Company, has achieved a high degree of success." - John L. Wiley, History of Monrovia, 1927 p 112. _{source citation}
1920's - Working from the Monrovia, California factory with a main sales office in downtown Los Angeles and branches at Ontario, San Diego, Oxnard, Visalia and Fresno, the Day and Night Solar Heater Company claimed, by the early 1920s, to have installed over 4,000 solar heaters in houses, hotels and public facilities throughout greater Los Angeles.
1923 - Bailey sold his patent rights to Charles Ewald who founded a solar water heater company in Miami, FL. Between 1935 and 1941, more than half of Miami's population (6,000 at that time) used solar energy.
1926 - With the increasing use of natural gas, only 350 Day & Night units were installed in 1926, according a 1979 Washington Post article titled “A Solar Energy Heyday”. Four years later, as the Great Depression heated up, only 40 Day & Night units were sold by the company.
1930's - Day & Night ventures into space heating.
1942 - World War II halted the solar industry since the government stopped the use of copper to support the war effort — one of the main components of solar. After the war, cheap electricity, higher material prices for solar systems, and older systems were replaced by newer water heaters powered by electricity and gas.
1945 - Some sources indicate Dresser Industries acquired Day & Night (not verified)
1949 - Bryant, Day & Night and Payne Furnace Co. merger to form Affiliated Gas Equipment, Inc. (AGE). All companies were then part of Dresser Industries at time of merger according to several sources.
1953 - First use of "JETGLAS" model water heaters under the Day & Night^® Water Heater brand. _{source citation} Jetglas referred to a liner coating the interior of the hot water storage tank that provided longer service life, a feature that the company promoted in advertisements which warned of leaky water heaters from its competitors.
1955 - Carrier merged with Affiliated Gas Equipment, Inc., which owned Bryant Heater Co., Day & Night Water Heater Co., and Payne Furnace & Supply Co., and moves Bryant’s corporate headquarters from Cleveland to Indianapolis (now Carrier headquarters).
1971 - Factory located in Collierville, TN still referred to by locals as Day & Night-Payne Company, indicating a potential yet unconfirmed company merger prior to 1949 Affiliated Gas Equipment formation. _{Source citation}
1974 - Carrier creates "BDP" company comprised of Bryant - Day & Night - Payne HVAC brands.
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. _{source citation}
1990's - Carrier stops using the Day & Night brand name (believed circa 1997). BDP company still in use.
1999 - Carrier/United Technologies acquires Inter-City Products whose name was changed to International Comfort Products (ICP). Carrier becomes the parent company of ICP, thus incorporating all ICP brands under the Carrier umbrella.
2006 - Day & Night HVAC brand revived by ICP between 2006-2009 (sources for date vary). Unverified, but presumed to be the end of "BDP Company". Bryant and Payne currently listed under Carrier HVAC brands. Day & Night listed under ICP HVAC brands.
2020 - Carrier completes separation from United Technologies as an independent, publicly traded company - Carrier Global Corporation. The separation process was started in 2018. Carrier retains ICP and their brands. Day & Night (HVAC) remains listed under ICP brands.

_{^1- History excerpts from various sources}

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: 08/14/2024

Any of the trademarks, service marks, collective marks, design rights or similar rights that are mentioned, used or cited in the articles of the Building Intelligence Center (www.building-center.org) are the property of their respective owners. Their use here does not imply that you may use them for any purpose other than for the same or a similar informational use as contemplated by the original authors of these articles under the CC-BY-SA and GFDL licensing schemes. Unless otherwise stated Building Intelligence Center (www.building-center.org) sites are neither endorsed by nor affiliated with any of the holders of any such rights and as such Building Intelligence Center (www.building-center.org) cannot grant any rights to use any otherwise protected materials. Your use of any such or similar incorporeal property is at your own risk. This guide is intended to assist Commercial/Residential Building Inspectors, HVAC professionals, Facilities Managers, HOA’s, etc.., in determining the date of manufacture and/or age of HVAC equipment to determine the expected useful life (EUL). This web site should not be relied upon for commercial use or interpretations. Accuracy and reliability of the information provided is believed accurate but is not guaranteed. The burden for fitness of information provided relies solely and completely with the user. In no event will Building Intelligence Center or its representatives be liable for any loss or damages whatsoever for consequential, incidental, indirect, special, or tort damages of any kind, including but not limited to loss of data, lost profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or other pecuniary loss that might arise from the use of or reliance on the information provided within.

HVAC Index

Water Heater Index

Day & Night® Water Heater age