How old is my Rheem?

1. Find the rating label. Where to look on each kind of appliance.
2. Take a photo of the whole label, or note the model and serial numbers.
3. Use the lookup below. It is free, and no account is needed. A date is shown only when the available evidence supports it.

Rheem water heater age: month/year versus week/year

Rheem tank-water-heater formats documented in technical bulletin 1207 · Sources checked October 12, 2026

Rheem’s technical bulletin documents a month/year arrangement and a different plant/week/year arrangement. In its month/year example, the opening 09 and 12 represent September 2012, followed by a plant-line character and sequence digits.

The bulletin describes a plant/week/year format introduced at particular plants in 2012. A leading plant character is followed by two week digits and two year digits. Do not read that week as a month or treat the plant character as a year code.

Check the whole rating plate for a printed manufacture date and keep any prefix or suffix visible. The documented transition happened by manufacturing plant, so a single calendar-year cutoff is not enough to identify every serial format.

This water-heater guidance is not a Rheem furnace, air-conditioner or heat-pump serial rule. Preserve unfamiliar codes and use manufacturer confirmation when the format or era is unresolved. Installation and warranty dates must be checked separately.

• Rheem official technical bulletins: bulletin 1207 and its format scope
• Rheem/Ruud/Richmond bulletin 1207: both serial layouts and plant transitions
• Rheem official water-heater age lookup

Rheem appliances

How to find the age, the serial number, typical life and parts for each:

• Rheem water heater (tank)8–12 yrs
• Rheem tankless water heater15–20 yrs
• Rheem furnace15–25 yrs
• Rheem boiler15–30 yrs
• Rheem air conditioner12–17 yrs
• Rheem heat pump10–15 yrs

Rheem's line covers gas and electric tank, tankless, heat pump and solar water heaters, furnaces, air conditioners, heat pumps, mini-splits, air handlers, boilers and combi boilers, plus pool and spa heaters and commercial equipment.

Rheem Manufacturing makes water heaters and home heating and cooling equipment, and is one of the best-known water heater names in North America. Based in Atlanta, it has been owned by Japan's Paloma since 1988 and also sells under Ruud, Richmond and several other names.

Owned by

Paloma Co., Ltd. (Japan), through its subsidiary Rheem Manufacturing Company

Headquarters

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Founded

1925

Sister brands: Ruud, Richmond, Sure Comfort, WeatherKing, Raypak, Eemax, Solahart, Splendid.

• 1925: Brothers Richard and Donald Rheem started the company in Richmond, California, making steel drums.
• 1960: Rheem bought Ruud Manufacturing, the Pittsburgh water heater maker founded by Edwin Ruud.
• 1988: Japan's Paloma Industries acquired Rheem's parent company, and Rheem has been privately held under Paloma since.
• Today: The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and runs a separate Canadian site at rheem.ca.

Every Rheem check is compared with Health Canada, U.S. CPSC and U.S. NHTSA recall notices.