Whirlpool, and the family of brands behind it
Whirlpool makes just about every major appliance in a house. Refrigerators, washers, dryers, dishwashers, ranges, wall ovens, cooktops and microwaves all carry the name. The parent company, Whirlpool Corporation, also owns Maytag, KitchenAid, JennAir and Amana, and a lot of the engineering is shared across those brands. So parts are easy to find, and a tech who knows one of these brands can generally work on the rest.
You can see the overlap in small things. Whirlpool and Maytag front-load washers publish the same error-code list, so F5 E2 on one means exactly what it means on the other.
Where Whirlpool puts the model and serial tag
With the model number in hand when you call, the technician can check parts before the visit. Most models keep it in one of these spots.
- On a French door, bottom-freezer or top-freezer fridge, open the fresh-food door and check the left-hand wall.
- A side-by-side is the exception, with the tag on the right-hand wall of the fresh-food side.
- Lift a top-loader's lid and look along the rim of the tub.
- Front-load washers and dryers have it on the edge around the porthole, visible with the door open.
- Open a dishwasher and the tag is on the tub frame, along its left edge.
- Ranges have it on the frame behind the oven door or behind the storage drawer.
- Open an over-the-range microwave and check the frame right around the door.
A few habits that head off service calls
When the filter light comes on, or roughly six months after the last change, put in a new refrigerator water filter. Ice production drops off as an old one clogs. Vacuum the condenser area behind the base grille too. In a house with pets or a lot of dust, that can be an every-other-month job.
For the washer, run the Clean Washer cycle once a month and stick to HE detergent in the recommended amount. Dishwasher filters need a rinse about once a month, and twice as often in a house that runs the dishwasher every day. Clean the dryer lint screen every load and keep the vent run free of kinks and lint.
Garages, cold snaps and Florida summers
Whirlpool rates its refrigerators for rooms between 55 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Put a standard model in an unheated Minnesota or Wisconsin garage, or a shut-up Florida garage in August, and it can end up outside that range and have trouble holding temperature.
Still under Whirlpool's factory warranty? Check your paperwork before you book anything. Your warranty sheet or receipt will show exactly what's covered on your model.