What the number opens up
Two ranges that look identical in a showroom can have different igniters, elements, control boards and even different gas orifices. The model number is what separates them, and nearly every useful thing about your range is filed under it: the owner's manual, the installation instructions with the anti-tip bracket and gas or electrical requirements, the parts diagrams and any conversion kit for propane.
It also answers the safety question every owner should ask once: is this range under a recall? The Consumer Product Safety Commission lists recalls by product and model, and a manufacturer's recall page asks for the same number. A code on the display, likewise, means something only for the model family that shows it.
Source: CPSC — Recalls — Federal listing of consumer product recalls, searchable by product and brand
The usual hiding places on a range
GE publishes the longest list of possible locations, because it has built ranges in many layouts over the years. Whirlpool's own answer for its gas and electric ranges is shorter: the frame of the oven or the frame of the storage drawer. Work through the spots below in order and you will usually find the tag in the first two or three.
- Behind the oven door, on the front frame of the cavity.
- Inside the frame under a front control panel, on ranges with controls at the front.
- On the frame of the storage drawer, or on the left leg behind the drawer or kick panel.
- On gas ranges with a back panel, on a metal flag behind the middle of the rear control panel that swings up to show the label.
- On coil ranges, under the left front element.
- On ranges with a lift-up top, centered or on the right under the top.
- On commercial-style ranges, on the ceiling of the oven cavity.
Freestanding ranges with a back panel
Start with the oven door and the storage drawer. If neither has the tag, the rear panel is next: on some GE gas models you reach behind the middle of the panel from the front, feel for a thin metal flag and rotate it up. Do this with every burner off and the grates cool, and never reach across a lit burner.
Slide-in and front-control ranges
With no back panel, the controls sit along the front edge, and GE notes the tag may be inside the frame just below them, visible once the oven door is open. Check the frame edges on both sides and the strip across the top of the opening before you move on to the drawer.
Pro-style and commercial-style ranges
Heavy ranges with knobs across the front do not always follow the usual pattern, and Whirlpool lists the ceiling of the oven cavity for its commercial-style models. Open the door, shine a light upward and look for a plate or sticker near the front edge. On ranges with two ovens side by side, check both.
Source: GE Appliances — Range model and serial numbers — Tag locations: behind the door on the front frame; inside the frame under a front control panel; behind the rear control panel on gas models via a metal flag rotated up; under the left front coil; under a lift-up top; on the left leg behind the drawer or kick panel; front frame inside the drawer; model numbers begin with a letter; P-numbers on caution labels are not model numbers; some tags have QR codes; Whirlpool — Model and serial number location, all appliances — Gas or electric ranges: on the frame of the oven or of the storage drawer; commercial-style ranges: on the ceiling of the oven cavity
Reading the tag correctly
The tag usually shows several lines of small print: the model number, the serial number and other ratings or codes. GE's rule for its own ranges is that the model number always begins with a letter; it gives examples such as JGB700SEJSS and PGS960FELDS. The warning and caution labels nearby carry part numbers that end in a P followed by digits, and those are not the model.
Copy the full string, including every letter at the end, and take a photo of the whole tag. Some newer tags carry a QR code that opens the maker's page for that exact model on your phone.
- Model number: starts with a letter, identifies the design.
- Serial number: identifies your own unit among all those built to that design.
- Caution labels with P-numbers: part numbers, not the model.
Source: GE Appliances — Range model and serial numbers — Tag locations: behind the door on the front frame; inside the frame under a front control panel; behind the rear control panel on gas models via a metal flag rotated up; under the left front coil; under a lift-up top; on the left leg behind the drawer or kick panel; front frame inside the drawer; model numbers begin with a letter; P-numbers on caution labels are not model numbers; some tags have QR codes
When the tag is missing or unreadable
Heat and cleaning products can wear a sticker blank over the years, and a tag on the oven frame gets the worst of both. Before you pull anything apart, look for the number somewhere it was written down when the range was new: the front page of the owner's manual, a product registration, the delivery paperwork or the receipt, or the manufacturer's app if the range is connected to Wi-Fi.
If none of those exist, a technician can often identify the range from its layout and parts during the visit. What we ask is that you do not slide the range out to look for a tag on the back. That means releasing it from the anti-tip bracket and, on a gas range, flexing the gas connector, both jobs for someone who will put them back correctly.
