Model Number Decoder for Kenmore Appliances

ℹ General estimate

Find out who most likely built a Kenmore appliance from its model number, and its size where a government record or manual lists that exact model.

What this model number tells you

Enter the model number from the rating plate to see who made it and whether a published record gives its size.

Purpose

Kenmore never built its own appliances. Sears bought them from other manufacturers and gave each maker a three-digit source code, which is the part of the model number before the dot. Knowing who built your appliance tells you whose parts and service information apply, and which owners' discussions will be about the same machine.

The other question people ask about a Kenmore model number is what size the appliance is. This tool answers that only when a published record lists the exact model, and says plainly when none does.

Methodology

Who made it. The three-digit prefix is looked up in a table compiled for this site from independent reference lists kept by repair and parts specialists. Lists that copy one another count once: three of the best-known lists share the same typos, so they are treated as a single source. The answer says how well each maker is supported: agreed by two or more independent lists, or named by only one, which is common for less-used prefixes. Where the lists disagree, the tool follows the most trusted list, Appliance411, the largest and longest-running of them, and shows every other attribution alongside.

What size it is. The full model number is compared with public records that list Kenmore models and their capacity:

ENERGY STAR's certified-product data, which also gives height and width for refrigerators;
ENERGY STAR's archived 2013 list of qualified refrigerators, which reaches back to models first sold in the 2000s;
the US Department of Energy's certification database;
for Power Miser water heaters, the specification tables printed in the owner's manuals.

These records write model numbers with wildcards, such as 253.6182*01, where the asterisk stands for a colour or trim digit. A record matches only when every written character of it matches your number. Every value is shown with the model number it was recorded under and, where the record gives one, the date that model came to market.

Formula or decision basis

There is no calculation, because none is possible. No digit of a Kenmore model number encodes the capacity. The published records show this directly: 253.6182 and 253.6882 are both 18.2 cubic feet, while three current models that share every digit but one range from 18.1 to 25.0 cubic feet. Rules found online, such as "the third digit after the dot is the size", fail on the government data.

When two records give different volumes for the same model, both are listed. Government test procedures and volume definitions have changed over the years, and the tool does not decide which figure is right.

Worked example

Entering 253.61822010 returns:

Likely original maker: Frigidaire, which built Kenmore refrigerators under its Gibson name. Three independent lists agree.
Published record: 18.2 cubic feet total volume, top-freezer refrigerator, from ENERGY STAR's August 2013 list (record 2536182*01, on the market from June 2010).

Entering a number that no record lists, such as an older 106 side-by-side, returns the maker and a plain statement that its size can't be read from the number, with where to find it instead.

Assumptions

The model number is copied from the rating plate, including the three digits before the dot. The number printed on the front of the appliance, such as "Elite" or a series number, is a marketing name and won't decode.

Reference lists record which maker used which source code. They were compiled from service experience, not published by Sears, so a prefix can occasionally have been used by more than one maker over the decades.

Limitations

Most Kenmore appliances older than about 2008 are not in any public record, so for them the tool can name the maker but not the size. The government databases hold current models, and the 2013 list adds only the refrigerators that were ENERGY STAR qualified at the time.

Heating and cooling equipment is not covered. Neither is serial-number dating: the published date formats vary by maker and repeat every decade or more, so an age from a serial number would be a guess.

Government data is published without a warranty of accuracy. Treat a capacity shown here as the figure in that record, and check the rating plate when an exact size matters, for example before buying a replacement to fit a cabinet opening.

FAQ

Where is the model number on my refrigerator?

On the rating plate, usually a label on a side wall of the fresh-food compartment, near the top or by the crisper drawers. It reads something like 253.70413410. The serial number is printed on the same label.

Can I tell the cubic feet from the model number?

No. The digits identify the product family and the variant, not the size. Look up the exact number here, or read the capacity from the rating plate or the specifications for that model.

What does the 6 in Power Miser 6 mean?

It is the length of the limited tank warranty in years. Each Power Miser 6 owner's manual states a six-year tank warranty.

Who made Kenmore Power Miser water heaters?

Kenmore water heaters with the 153 prefix are attributed to State Industries of Ashland City, Tennessee, which A. O. Smith bought at the end of 2001.

Why won't the tool name a maker for my prefix?

None of the reference lists covers it. Kenmore owners discussing the same prefix in the appliance forums are often the quickest route to an answer.