The Whalen Company® HVAC age

How to determine the date of production/manufacture or age of The Whalen Company® brand HVAC Systems.

The industry average service design life for most forced air furnaces is 15-20 years, and the industry average service design life for most air conditioning condensing units is 10-15 years. The average service design life of boilers can vary from as little as 10 years to as many as 50 years depending on the type and quality of materials used in their manufacture. Routine upkeep/maintenance, regional weather/climate, and location/placement of the mechanical systems will all play critical roles in the longevity of these systems.

See also: Estimated Useful Service Life Expectancies

Parent Company: The Whalen Company

Subsidiaries or other related brands: Cold Point Corporation (Adirondack Aire)

The date of production/manufacture or age of The Whalen Company brand HVAC equipment can be determined from the serial number located on the rating data plate.

Established in 1962, The Whalen Company is a pioneering manufacturer of vertical stack riser heat exchanger fan coil units and water-source heat pumps for hotels, apartments, condominiums, and other similar multi-story buildings. Current popular models include Inteli-line, Innoline, Whisperline, Whisperpack, Whispertherm and Closetline systems.

Example serial number styles/formats found:

  • Style 1:    403 2017053 0015
  • Style 2:    403 28027 0005
  • Style 3:    H52423

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

Style 1:   403  2017053  0015

Serial number separated into 3 groups. The middle group typically has 7 digits.

Year of manufacture can be determined by using the 4th through 7th positions of the serial number (or first 4 numbers of second grouping)

In this example, this is the 15th unit produced for job #053 in 2017

Note: This style has been used since 2010

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Style 2:   403  28027  0005

Serial number separated into 3 groups. The middle group typically has 5 digits.

Year of manufacture can be determined by using the 4th & 5th positions of the serial number (or first 2 numbers of second grouping)

In this example, this is the 5th unit produced for job #027 in 2008

Note: This style was used PRIOR to 2010

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Style 3:   H52423

Serial number beginning with a Letter followed by 5 digits.

Year of manufacture can only be estimated at this time. Must use other details included on the data plate such as company address, or installation records if available.

In this example, the data plate includes the company address (city) it is no longer located as of 1979

Note: This style is presumed to have been used circa 1962-1979

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The Whalen Company® History¹
  • 1962 - Company established by James Whalen in Laurel, Maryland
  • 1972  - Developed vertical water-source heat pump.
  • 1975 - Hurricane flooded their original facility, and they temporarily relocated to Baltimore.
  • 1979 - Newly built facility with new machinery is finished and occupied in Easton, Maryland - where they company headquarters remain today.
  • 1985 - First valve-controlled fan coil unit developed.
  • 1995 - Expanded market into Canada.
  • 1999 - Whisperpack hybrid heat pump introduced
  • 2014 - Developed Inteli-Line slide out coil pack
  • 2017 - ClosetLine packaged water-source heat pump and Whispertherm ERV water-source heat pump introduced.
  • 2017 - Acquired Cold Point Corporation (Adirondack Aire)
  • 2018 - Introduced industry first 2-stage vertical stack heat pump
  • 2019 - Broke ground in Rome, New York for new Cold Point Corporation facility

¹Excerpts from https://whalencompany.com/about-us/history-expertise

Every effort is undertaken to offer you correct and concise information to assist you in determining the age or manufacture date of HVAC/R equipment. Users relying on this information do so at their own risk.
Page last updated: 10/29/2023