Glow-worm data plate: where the serial number and GC number are

Where is the data plate on a Glow-worm boiler?

On the underside of the appliance on every current Glow-worm range except the Compact and the MicraCom. Glow-worm's manuals call the same label a data plate on some ranges and an identification plate on others, and either way it carries the serial number barcode and the GC number together rather than splitting them across two labels. On an Energy7, an Ultimate 3, an Easicom 3, a Betacom 4 or an Essential you are reading it from below. On the Compact and the MicraCom, which sit on Glow-worm's newest platform, the plate is fitted to the rear of the electronics box and to the upper side of the appliance instead.

Glow-worm's homeowner guidance says you will usually find the serial underneath the boiler or on the control panel. What sits at the front on an Energy7 is the magnetic short-instructions card, which the manual lists as carrying the type designation and the serial number. The published instructions do not describe a way of calling the serial up on the display, so when a plate has faded, go to that card, the stickers on the electronics box or the Benchmark logbook rather than scrolling through diagnostics codes hoping it appears.

What is a GC number?

A GC number is the Gas Council number, a seven digit reference written in the form 00-000-00 that identifies one exact appliance variant. It stays with the appliance whatever the range is called in the current brochure, which is why merchants, parts catalogues and record forms lean on it rather than on a model name. Two boilers can wear the same Energy or Betacom badge, take different parts and carry different GC numbers. On a Glow-worm the plate carries it beside the serial number, labelled GC no.

What do the digits in a Glow-worm serial number mean?

The middle digits carry the build date and the model. Glow-worm's installation manuals print the positions in a table next to the plate diagram, and the same table appears word for word in the Energy7, Ultimate 3, Easicom 3, Betacom 4 and Essential manuals. Glow-worm is part of the Vaillant Group, so the format will look familiar if you have decoded a Vaillant.

The Compact and MicraCom manuals compress the same rule into one line, giving the third to sixth digits as the production date in year then week order and the seventh to sixteenth as the article number. They say nothing about a place of manufacture block, and their article numbers start 8000 rather than 0010. Either way, write the serial down in full, because the whole string is what Glow-worm's service desk and a warranty claim will ask for.

How old is my Glow-worm boiler?

Read the third and fourth digits of the serial for the year and the fifth and sixth for the week. Group the string as you read it and the blocks fall out. A serial running 21 19 34 0010021204 and onwards is a 2019 build from week 34, and the article number 0010021204 is the Betacom 4 24c. A serial running 21 21 08 0010021404 and onwards is a 2021 build from week 8, and 0010021404 is the Ultimate 3 30c. Neither is lifted off a real appliance; both use article numbers Glow-worm publishes for those models to show how the blocks line up. If the age settles a warranty question, let Glow-worm confirm it from the full serial rather than resting the answer on four digits you read upside down.

The same serial number is what registers the boiler and settles its guarantee. myGlow-worm Web is Glow-worm's free online portal for homeowners, covering the boiler's guarantee, repair and service information, and it is where a boiler is registered and an annual service booked. Registration has to happen within 30 days of installation. Doing it over the phone instead needs the serial number, the installer's Gas Safe registration number, the date of installation and the installation address, so the plate reading you take on site is the first thing the customer will be asked for. Glow-worm's guarantee page sets standard cover by range, from two years on a MicraCom up to seven on an Energy, with longer terms where a myREWARDS installer registered the boiler. Booking a repair through the portal needs the boiler type and the serial number too.

What is the GC number for my Glow-worm?

Match the designation on the plate against the lists below. Glow-worm prints the article number and the GC number together in the validity section at the front of each current manual, and the plate itself shows the full designation, for example Energy7 25c -A (H-GB). Every row here was read off Glow-worm's own manual for that model.

Glow-worm now lists the Betacom 4 and the Essential among its legacy ranges, along with older names such as Betacom C and Flexicom. They are still on plenty of walls, and the older manuals print the GC number on the front cover rather than burying it inside.

For any Glow-worm not listed here, open that model's manual from Glow-worm's literature library and look at the front: current manuals carry the article number and GC number in the validity section on the first page or two, and the older ones print the GC number on the cover next to the output.

How do you read the plate without wasting the visit?

What goes on the record?

• Make and model exactly as written on the plate, not as described by the customer.
• GC number in full, including the dashes, so the variant is unambiguous.
• Serial number in full, which also fixes the year and week of build.
• Gas category and connection pressure, so the appliance can be checked against the supply on site.
• Anything that does not match the Benchmark logbook or the previous record, noted as found.

Whichever Glow-worm is on the wall, the record is the same job every time. Manifold builds the CP12 and service record from the check on your phone, reads the make, model and GC number off the plate with PlateScan, and keeps the property's appliance history ready for the next visit.