GE's own appliance-support page states its serial-number date rule directly and completely: the serial opens with two letters, and those two letters alone give the month and year. The first letter is the month, running A for January through Z for December using GE's own twelve-letter table, which is not a simple alphabetical sequence. The second letter is the year, chosen from a different twelve-letter set that repeats on a twelve-year cycle, so a single letter always points to more than one possible year across the decades.
GE's own page gives the example directly: the letters AD together can mean January of 2002 or January of 2014, twelve years apart, and recommends checking the appliance's owner's-manual print date to decide which twelve-year cycle actually applies. Because GE publishes the complete tables itself, this is one of the most directly confirmed rules on this site, limited only by the cycle's own built-in decade ambiguity.
Try it
Decode your own serial number
What this covers
- GE major appliances with a serial number opening in two letters (month, then year)
- Reading the month from GE's own twelve-letter month table (A=January through Z=December, non-alphabetical order)
- Reading the year from GE's own twelve-letter year table, understanding it repeats every 12 years
What it does not cover
- ×Resolving which 12-year cycle applies from the serial alone — GE's own page recommends the owner's-manual print date for that
- ×Any GE unit whose data plate leads with digits rather than a leading letter pair
- ×Haier-manufactured GE-branded products not confirmed to share this exact system
Try in this order
0 of 4 completedLocate the serial label
ReversibleCheck the appliance's door frame, cabinet edge or rear panel depending on the type.
Read the first letter as the month
ReversibleUse GE's own twelve-letter table: A=January, D=February, F=March, G=April, H=May, L=June, M=July, R=August, S=September, T=October, V=November, Z=December.
Read the second letter as the year, within its 12-year cycle
ReversibleGE's own table repeats every 12 years — the letters AD, for example, can mean January 2002 or January 2014.
Resolve the cycle with another date clue
ReversibleGE's own page recommends checking the owner's manual's print date to decide which 12-year cycle applies.
Evidence ledger
Sources behind this answer
Where the manufacturer's article stops. GE's own page states both letter tables and the 12-year cycle directly and gives its own worked example; it does not by itself resolve which 12-year cycle a given letter falls in.
Exact questions
Questions about Decode a GE appliance serial number
How do I know which 12-year cycle my GE serial letter means?+
GE's own page does not resolve this from the serial alone — check the owner's manual's print date, or another independent clue, to pick between the two (or more) candidate years.
Is GE's month table just A-B-C in order?+
No. GE's own table uses a specific, non-alphabetical letter order for the months, so match against the exact table rather than assuming A is January and B is February.
Does this apply to every GE-branded appliance?+
GE's own page states this for GE major appliances generally; this page has not separately confirmed it for every licensed or co-branded GE product.
Where do I find the GE appliance serial number?+
Look for the rating plate or label on the unit, usually on the frame edge, inside the door or on the back panel. Photograph it before you start, since the label can be hard to read once the appliance is installed.