Bryant furnace and AC age by serial number
Bryant heating and cooling units use a serial format in which the week and year of manufacture come first. Enter the serial from your furnace, air conditioner or heat pump in this Bryant serial number lookup to get the Bryant manufacture date.
Where do I find the serial number?
For a Bryant furnace, remove the burner or blower door. The data plate is fixed inside the cabinet, usually on the left or right wall. A Bryant outdoor unit has its plate on an outside panel, often low down near the service valves. Keep a flashlight handy, as these labels fade.
How to read a Bryant serial number
Read a Bryant serial from the left: two digits for the week, two for the year, a plant letter, then five sequence digits. For example, 3216E54321 reads as week 32 of 2016.
- Used
- About 1980 to present
- Format
- Week, year, plant letter, sequence
- Example
- 4006A17330
Example, read
Check the brand first
A Lennox serial has the same shape but means something different: there the third and fourth digits are the year. Always decode with the brand printed on the unit.
Units made before about 1980 used letter-coded formats that we do not decode yet.
Where to find the serial number
For a Bryant furnace, remove the burner or blower door. The data plate is fixed inside the cabinet, usually on the left or right wall. A Bryant outdoor unit has its plate on an outside panel, often low down near the service valves. Keep a flashlight handy, as these labels fade.
Brands with the same format
Questions
How old is my Bryant furnace?
Start with the first four digits. The first pair is the week and the second pair is the year.
Does Bryant use the same serial format as Carrier?
Yes. Bryant, Carrier and Payne serials all follow the week, year, plant letter, sequence pattern, so the same reading applies to all three.
Why did my Bryant serial not decode?
Check that you have typed a zero and not the letter O, and that the serial has ten characters. Bryant units from before about 1980 used older letter formats that we do not cover yet.
How accurate is a week-based date?
The week pins the build to within seven days. We describe it as early, mid or late in a month, which is close enough for judging the age of a furnace or AC.
Can two Bryant serials that look alike be decades apart?
Yes. The year is just two digits, so a serial starting 3286 and one starting 3216 are thirty years apart. Read the third and fourth digits carefully.
Can I look up a Bryant model number here?
No. We only read the build date from the serial. A Bryant model number describes what the unit is, such as its type and capacity, rather than when it was made.