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How old is my Kelvinator appliance?
Type the serial number from the Kelvinator label to see when it was built. Kelvinator units are built by Electrolux, so the serials follow that company's format.
Reading a Kelvinator serial number
Kelvinator is an Electrolux brand. Its serials use the Frigidaire code: year digit third, then the week.
About Kelvinator
- Kelvinator started in Detroit in 1916 and made the first self-contained electric home refrigerator in 1925.
- Kelvinator merged with Nash in 1937 and became part of American Motors in 1954. American Motors sold Kelvinator to White Consolidated Industries in 1968.
- In 1999, 70 percent of US-made freezers still came from former Kelvinator factories owned by Electrolux.
Source: Kelvinator Corporation - Encyclopedia of Detroit, Detroit Historical Society
Electrolux plant, product, year digit and week
Used 1986 to today. Example: 3F91400621
The first character is the plant and the second letter is the product type. The third character is the last digit of the year, and the fourth and fifth are the week. The decade is not in the serial, so one code fits a year in each decade.
Worked example: KG44312523 fits Week 43 of 1994 (around October) or Week 43 of 2004 (around October) or Week 43 of 2014 (around October) or Week 43 of 2024 (around October). The page above explains how to tell which.
The full lookup tables are on the Electrolux page, since Kelvinator uses the same code.
Sources: Electrical-Forensics: Electrolux date codes, Building Intelligence Center: Frigidaire