Guide · 5 min read
How to Find Your Model Number
Manufacturers put the rating plate in a different place on every category of equipment, and sometimes somewhere genuinely unhelpful. Here is where to look, by equipment type.
Electric water heaters
Look for a vertical or horizontal label on the side of the tank jacket, usually toward the top. It carries the model and serial together, along with voltage and element wattage.
If the label has faded — common on tanks in damp basements — the element wattage is stamped directly on the flange of the element itself. Kill the breaker, remove the access panel and the insulation behind it, and it will be visible on the element's face. That stamped figure is the number that matters most.
Electric furnaces and air handlers
The rating plate is inside the blower compartment, visible once you take the front panel off. Most manufacturers put it on the inside face of the door or on the cabinet wall beside the blower.
Critically, if your unit has an electric heat kit, that kit usually carries its own separate label. The air handler model alone is often not enough to identify the element — the kit label carries the kW rating and part number that actually determine the match. Photograph both.
Heat pump air handlers
Same as electric furnaces: rating plate inside the access panel, heat kit label on the kit assembly. The outdoor condenser unit has its own plate, but that one identifies the heat pump rather than the strips, so it is not what we need for an element.
Kilns
A metal or foil plate on the control box, or occasionally on the kiln stand. It carries model, serial, voltage and amperage.
The serial number matters more here than anywhere else. Kiln manufacturers revise element specifications during a model's production life, so two kilns with the same model name built years apart can take genuinely different element sets. Never order kiln elements on the model number alone.
Commercial HVAC and duct heaters
Usually on the control panel or the access door. Commercial equipment often carries several plates — one for the unit, one for the heater section, sometimes one per component. Photograph all of them; sorting out which matters is our job.
When the plate is gone
It happens. Rating plates fade, corrode, get painted over, or fall off. You still have options:
- The element itself. Wattage and voltage are frequently stamped on the flange or terminal end.
- Physical measurement. Dimensions, mount style and terminal arrangement narrow it down substantially.
- Original paperwork. Installation manuals, inspection stickers and service tags often record the model.
- The installer's sticker. HVAC contractors and plumbers commonly leave one on the equipment with the model recorded.
- Home inspection reports. If you bought the property recently, the inspection report almost certainly lists the equipment.
Send us whatever you have. Working from photographs and measurements is routine for us — the majority of enquiries we handle start with someone who cannot find a part number.
Photograph, do not transcribe
Model numbers are long, and the difference between a working match and a wasted order can be a single character. A photograph has no typos, and rating plates carry more information than most people think to copy down.
Common questions
The plate is there but completely illegible. What now?
Try a raking light — hold a flashlight almost flat against the surface. Stamped and embossed plates often become readable that way even when the ink has gone entirely. A phone photo with the flash on at an angle sometimes picks up what the eye cannot.
Is the serial number really necessary?
For kilns, yes — manufacturers revise element specifications across production runs, and the serial is what tells us which revision you have. For water heaters and furnaces it is less critical, but it helps confirm the build year and rules out mismatches.
Can you identify an element from a photo of the old part alone?
Often, yes. Dimensions, mount style, terminal arrangement and any stamped ratings narrow it down considerably. It is better with the rating plate as well, but a clear photo of the element against a tape measure is a workable starting point.
Get a quote
Send us your model number or a photo
Most people who contact us do not know their part number, and that is fine. A photo of the rating plate or the old element is enough for us to identify the exact replacement.