How long should a refrigerator last?

Refrigerators commonly remain in service for roughly 10 to 15 years. Chest and upright freezers often last longer. That is a typical range rather than a deadline — plenty run well beyond it, and a small number fail much earlier.

Is a 15-year-old refrigerator worth repairing?

It depends on the fault and the quote. A door seal or a thermostat is usually worth fixing at any age. A failed sealed system — compressor or refrigerant circuit — on a 15-year-old unit is normally the point at which replacement makes more sense, both because of the cost and because the efficiency gain is largest on refrigeration.

Where is the model and serial number on a refrigerator?

Inside the fresh-food compartment in almost every case: the ceiling near the front, the left-hand wall, or the wall behind the crisper drawers. Some models place it behind the bottom kick plate instead.

How old is my refrigerator?

Refrigerators are the appliance people most often need to date, usually because one has been inherited with a house and nobody knows how much life is left in it.

Date your refrigerator

Refrigerators put their data plate in awkward places. Unlike a washing machine, where the label is usually right around the door opening, a refrigerator label can be on the ceiling of the fresh-food compartment, behind the crisper drawers, on the left-hand interior wall, or occasionally behind the kick plate at the very bottom. Empty the shelf you need to reach and use a torch — the print is often small and the plate is frequently obscured by frost or condensation.

Every brand we support makes refrigerators, so the more useful question is what kind of precision you can expect. Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag and Amana encode the production week, so you get to within a few days. GE and Hotpoint encode the month. Frigidaire and Electrolux encode the week but not the decade. Bosch gives an exact month and year from the FD number.

Refrigerator age matters more than for most appliances, because efficiency has moved so far. A unit built in the mid-2000s can use substantially more electricity than a current equivalent, so a large repair bill on an older refrigerator is worth weighing against the running cost of keeping it. That said, refrigerators are also the appliance most likely to keep going quietly for twenty years, so age alone should not condemn a working unit.

One frequent source of confusion: the compressor sometimes carries its own date sticker that differs from the appliance's build date. If the compressor has been replaced, that sticker will be newer. Always work from the main data plate.

Where to find the label on a refrigerator

Work through these in order — the first two cover the large majority of models.

1Open the fresh-food compartment and look at the ceiling near the front edge.
2Check the left-hand interior wall, at eye level and again near the bottom.
3Pull out the crisper drawers and look at the wall behind them.
4If the fridge has a bottom kick plate, look behind it.
5On side-by-side models, check the inside face of the freezer door surround.

Full guide to finding model and serial numbers

Manufacturers we support for refrigerators

Only brands with a source-backed rule for this category are listed.

Typical service life

Refrigerators commonly remain in service for roughly 10 to 15 years. Maintenance, how hard it is used, water quality and build quality all move that figure considerably in both directions.

This is a typical range, not a prediction. Plenty of appliances run well past it, and a small number fail early. Nothing here says your appliance is about to break.

Date-code limitations for this category

Frigidaire and Electrolux refrigerators do not encode the decade at all, so expect a shortlist of years rather than one answer.
GE and Hotpoint refrigerators reuse their year letter every twelve years.
A replaced compressor or a replaced door will carry its own date, which is not the appliance's build date.
The build date is not the purchase date. Refrigerators frequently sit in distribution for several months.

Common questions

How long should a refrigerator last?: Refrigerators commonly remain in service for roughly 10 to 15 years. Chest and upright freezers often last longer. That is a typical range rather than a deadline — plenty run well beyond it, and a small number fail much earlier.
Is a 15-year-old refrigerator worth repairing?: It depends on the fault and the quote. A door seal or a thermostat is usually worth fixing at any age. A failed sealed system — compressor or refrigerant circuit — on a 15-year-old unit is normally the point at which replacement makes more sense, both because of the cost and because the efficiency gain is largest on refrigeration.
Where is the model and serial number on a refrigerator?: Inside the fresh-food compartment in almost every case: the ceiling near the front, the left-hand wall, or the wall behind the crisper drawers. Some models place it behind the bottom kick plate instead.