Where to find the model and serial number on your appliances

Sooner or later something breaks, and the first question from the repair shop, the parts website or the manufacturer's support line is the same: what's the model number? The answer is printed on a small label that's almost never where you'd look first.

Here's where to find it on the appliances in most homes, and how to make sure you only have to hunt for it once.

Model number or serial number?

They're usually on the same label, and you'll want both.

• The model number identifies the product line. It's what you need to order parts, find the manual or check whether a recall applies to you.
• The serial number identifies your particular unit. Warranty claims and some recalls ask for it, and it often encodes when the appliance was made.

If you're not sure which is which, the label usually says "Model" and "Serial" (or "S/N") next to each. On GE and GE Profile appliances, GE says the model number always begins and ends with a letter.

Where the label usually is

Locations vary by brand and model. The ones below come from Whirlpool's product help pages, which cover Whirlpool appliances; other brands often put the label in similar places, but not always.

Refrigerator

Inside the fresh-food compartment, on a side wall. Whirlpool puts it on the left side for top-freezer, bottom-freezer, French-door and four-door models, and on the right side for side-by-side models. Take out a shelf or a crisper drawer if one is in the way.

Freezer

On an upright freezer, on the right side near the top. On a chest freezer, on the left interior wall.

Dishwasher

Open the door and look at the edge of the tub. On Whirlpool's built-in dishwashers it's on the left side of the tub frame. Drawer dishwashers have it on the right side of the top drawer.

Range and oven

On the frame around the oven door opening, or on the frame behind the storage drawer, so pull the drawer out. Built-in ovens usually have it at the top of the oven opening.

Cooktop

On a rating plate on the underside. That's awkward to reach once it's installed, which is exactly why it's worth writing down when you do find it, or checking the manual and the original paperwork first.

Microwave

For an over-the-range microwave, open the door and look at the front frame. Built-in models have it under the control panel.

Washer and dryer

On a top-load washer, lift the lid and look at the rim of the tub. On a front-load washer or a dryer, open the door and look around the rim of the opening.

Water heater and furnace

A tank water heater has its rating label on the side of the tank. A furnace usually has it inside the access panel on the front, so you'll need to take the panel off. Turn the furnace off at its switch before you do.

If you can't find the label

• Look in the owner's manual. Many have a page for writing the numbers down, and some already have them printed.
• Check the receipt, the delivery paperwork or the order confirmation email. Online orders usually list the model number.
• If you registered the appliance with the manufacturer, your account on their website may have it.
• Use the manufacturer's model-number finder. Whirlpool and GE both have one that walks you through where to look for each kind of appliance.

Write it down once

Labels fade, get covered by a new cabinet, or end up behind a fridge you can't move on your own. The day you find the numbers is the day to record them somewhere you'll find them again.

In HomeHero, give your appliances an item type with fields like Model number, Serial number and Purchase date. Every appliance you add then gets the same fields, so you record them the same way every time. A few tips:

• Take a photo of the label and attach it to the item. HomeHero doesn't read text from photos, so type the numbers into the fields as well. The photo is your backup if you mistype a digit.
• Save the product page in the item's product link field. With Premium, pasting that link drafts the item for you, though it won't fill in a serial number, because a product page doesn't know which unit you own.
• Attach the manual and the receipt as files, so a warranty claim needs one item, not a search through your email.

Then link your maintenance tasks to the same item. Our home maintenance schedule has the ones worth setting up.

Sources

• Whirlpool, Where is my model and serial number located?
• GE Appliances, Find your model and serial numbers