How long home equipment lasts
The age of a unit only means something next to how long that kind of equipment normally runs. These are the typical service lives published by industry and government sources.
| Equipment | Typical service life |
|---|---|
| Tank water heater | 10 to 15 years |
| Tankless water heater | about 20 years |
| Furnace | 15 to 22 years |
| Central air conditioner | 10 to 21 years |
| Heat pump | 15 to 16 years |
| Refrigerator | 12 to 14 years |
| Clothes washer | 10 to 13 years |
| Clothes dryer | 13 to 14 years |
| Dishwasher | 9 to 15 years |
| Range or oven | 13 to 17 years |
Each range runs from the lowest to the highest figure among three kinds of source: the home builders’ survey of 2007, ENERGY STAR’s savings assumptions, and the average lifetimes in the US Department of Energy’s most recent rulemaking for the product. Each page lists the figures one by one, because they do not measure the same thing.
Find the age first
The build date of a unit is coded into its serial number. Use the serial number decoder, or start from the list of brands.