Free, no sign-up
Free Appliance Repair Tools
Calculators and lookup tables for the questions that come up when an appliance acts up: how old it is, whether a repair still makes sense, and what the code on the display means.
- Built on manufacturer-published rules
- Every source named and dated
- 43 error code and symbol guides
- 9 brands covered
Featured tool
Appliance Age Calculator
Enter the serial number and get the build date, the age today and how much of its typical life is left, then a clear repair-or-replace verdict.
- Decodes GE, Monogram, Bosch and LG air conditioner serials
- 12 appliance types, compared with NAHB typical lifespans
- Runs Consumer Reports’ 50 percent repair test
Every path tested on the live page, October 25, 2026.
Tools
Calculators
Each one does a single job, shows where its numbers come from, and works on a phone.
Appliance Age Calculator
Find how old a refrigerator, washer, dryer, dishwasher, range, microwave or room AC is from its serial number or purchase year, and whether a repair is still worth it.
Water Heater Age Calculator
Read the build date from a Bradford White, A.O. Smith or Rheem serial number, see how much of a gas, electric or tankless heater’s typical life is left, and get a repair-or-replace verdict.
Power Outage Food Safety Checker
Pick the fridge or freezer, the hours without power and the food. It applies the USDA’s 4-hour fridge rule and 48 and 24-hour freezer estimates, then FoodSafety.gov’s food-by-food charts, and tells you whether to keep, refreeze or throw it out.
Lookups
Error code and symbol lookups
Find your brand, then the appliance. Each guide lists what the codes or icons mean and what to check first.
Samsung7 guides
Whirlpool7 guides
Maytag7 guides
KitchenAid3 guides
Miele2 guides
Kenmore1 guide
Method
How we build our tools
A tool that guesses is worse than no tool. These are the rules every calculator here follows.
Only published rules
We decode a serial number only when there’s a published rule to follow. GE, Bosch, LG (for air conditioners) and Bradford White publish their own. For A.O. Smith and Rheem water heaters we use the rules published by City of Palo Alto Utilities. Where we couldn’t find a rule, as with Whirlpool, Samsung or Ruud, the calculator asks for the year instead of guessing.
Named, dated sources
Every number traces back to a source we name on the tool page with the date we checked it: manufacturers’ support pages, the NAHB life expectancy study, Consumer Reports, ENERGY STAR, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, FoodSafety.gov and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Tested before it ships
Each tool runs through a scripted test on the live page: every appliance type and brand, wrong inputs, edge dates, and the buttons. On the live pages the Appliance Age Calculator passes all 83 checks, the Water Heater Age Calculator 67 and the Power Outage Food Safety Checker 109.
For press and site owners
Facts from building these tools
- Of the brands we checked, only GE, Bosch and LG publish how to read a build date from the serial number, and LG only for its air conditioners.
- GE’s serial year letters repeat every 12 years, so a GE serial on its own can’t tell a 2013 appliance from a 2001 one.
- Bosch’s published FD-number formula only runs to FD 99, which is 2019. Bosch hasn’t published how newer FD numbers read.
- Typical lifespans in the NAHB study run from 9 years for dishwashers, microwaves and compact fridges to 15 years for gas ranges.
- Bradford White’s year letters repeat every 20 years, so a serial starting with A, B or C now fits two dates: 2004 or 2024, 2005 or 2025, 2006 or 2026.
- NAHB puts a gas tank water heater at 10 years and an electric one at 11. Tankless heaters last more than 20.
Using or citing a tool
You’re welcome to link to any tool on this page or quote the facts above. Each tool page lists its sources and the date they were checked.
Spotted an error, or know of a manufacturer that publishes its serial date rule? Tell us on the contact page and we’ll check it and add it.