About FactoryDate
FactoryDate answers the first question people ask about a water heater, furnace, air conditioner or boiler: how old is it? The answer is almost always in the serial number, but every manufacturer writes it differently, and the references are scattered across one-brand tools, inspector tables and forum threads.
Here you type the serial once and get the month and year it was made, how old that makes it, and where that age sits on the typical life for that kind of equipment. Homeowners use it when something acts up, buyers and inspectors when a house changes hands, landlords for planning, and techs for warranty questions.
What we promise
- Every rule is tested against real serial numbers with independently known dates before it goes live. See the methodology.
- If a serial could mean two dates, we show both. If we can't read it, we say so. We never guess.
- Every brand page links the sources its rules came from and says when they were last verified.
- We're independent: not affiliated with, endorsed by or paid by any manufacturer.
How we make money
We don't, yet. The site is free and has no ads.
Who we are
FactoryDate is run by Northwoods Ventures LLC. Corrections, serials that didn't decode, or questions: support@factorydate.com, or the submit a serial form.
Other sites from Northwoods Ventures
Northwoods Ventures LLC also builds and runs these sites:
- TradeSalary — pay for the skilled trades by state and city, including what it's worth after the cost of living.
- UsedScore — which model years of a used car to avoid, based on federal complaint and recall records.
- DamageScore — send a photo of damage to your home and learn which trade you need, how serious it is, and what repairs typically cost.
- BillAverage — what electricity and natural gas cost in every state, and what heating oil costs across the Northeast.
- EnoughPizza — how many pizzas to order for a party or an office lunch.
- Baby Names of Ireland — what Irish baby names mean, how to say them, and where they come from.
- HTSLookup — every US tariff code in plain English, with the duty Customs collects on it today by country of origin.
- LakeLevelToday — today's water level for more than a thousand US lakes and reservoirs, straight from the agencies that measure them.
- PropertyRoofs — how commercial roof systems compare for building owners, from how each goes on and handles hail to what public owners have paid.
See the full Northwoods Ventures portfolio.