Vornado Air Recalls Electric Space Heaters Due to Fire and Burn Hazards

[a440]

I posted this because I think a few in the club have talked about their Vornado Heaters.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Communications
4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814
www.cpsc.gov

1. Vornado Air Recalls Electric Space Heaters Due to Fire and Burn Hazards

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1. Recall Date: August 14, 2014

Recall Number: 14-256

Vornado Air Recalls Electric Space Heaters Due to Fire and Burn Hazards



WASHINGTON, D.C. - Consumers should stop using this product unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.



Recall Summary



Name of Product: Electric space heaters



Hazard: The heater can overheat and cause the units to melt, catch fire and ignite nearby items, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers.



Remedy: Replace



Consumer Contact: Vornado toll-free at (844) 205-7978 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday or online at www.vornado.com and click on the recall graphic in the lower right corner of the homepage for more information.

Recall Details



Units: About 79,000



Description: This recall involves Vornado VH110 Whole Room Vortex electric space heaters sold in two colors, black and white. The heaters measure about 10.5 inches high, 9 inches deep and 10.5 inches at the base growing narrower at the top. The on/off switch and the high/low heat settings are located on top of the unit. The Vornado logo appears with a gray “V” on the front of the unit. Recalled heaters have the numbers 1 and 3 as the fourth and fifth digits of the serial number. The model and serial numbers appear on a silver decal located on the bottom of the unit.



Incidents/Injuries: Vornado has received 29 reports of units overheating and melting, including seven reports of heaters catching fire, resulting in one report of smoke inhalation and one report of property damage caused by soot and smoke.



Remedy: Customers should immediately turn off and unplug the electric space heater and contact Vornado for instructions on how to receive a free replacement unit, including free shipping.



Sold at: Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, Menards, Orchard Supply, Target and other retailers nationwide and online at Vornado.com and Amazon.com from June 2013 through May 2014 for about $60.



Importer/Distributor: Vornado Air, LLC, of Andover, Kan.



Manufactured in: China

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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to a product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about your experience with the product on SaferProducts.gov.



Media Contact

Please use the phone numbers below for all media requests.

Phone: (301) 504-7908

Spanish: (301) 504-7800

Vornado Air Recalls Electric Space Heaters

Customers should immediately turn off and unplug the electric space heater and contact Vornado for instructions on how to receive a free replacement unit, including free shipping.

www.cpsc.gov

 

[gansky1]

Thanks, Brent.  I have two Vornado heaters but neither are this model.  

Vornado makes some really great products and between the fans and heaters, we use "V" almost year-round.

 

Have you seen the "Vintage" collection from Vornado?  They did this a few years back and brought it out again, in more colors this year.

http://www.vornado.com/circulators/Vintage-Collection

 

[washman]

As usual

the unit is made in China. Seems to be a said refrain these days.

 

[a440]

Thanks for the link Greg. The vintage remakes are very nice.
I can't get over how pricey these are! (New V's)
I would see the vintage Vornado's years ago at estate sales and such. I have not seen any in quite some time. I had no idea they were such neat heaters, not to mention collectible. Live and learn I guess.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I am so grateful for your posting the recall and even MORE grateful that my wonderful Vornado heater is not this model. I love my heater. It sits beside my desk in the winter for when I feel a chill. Mine says nothing about being made in China, just Andover, KS. It has a red V on the front.

 

[circlew]

To me, common sense should dictate that an electrical item that produces heat should not be made of plastic.

My friend Jay's plastic Chinese toaster caught fire.

 

[tomturbomatic]

On the other hand, there is probably less of a shock hazard with a plastic case, if it's made correctly. Friends bought a Braun electric heater for their bathroom in the 80s. Oh my, very stylish in light gray, but the thing had a hair trigger limit thermostat that shut the whole damn thing down after about 3-4 minutes of operation AND, the limit switch controlled the fan as well as the heating element so you could not run the fan to cool down the touchy limit switch. The whole thing just died. It would have taken a complete rewiring to have the fan not be in the high limit circuit, but you still needed the fan to be on before the heat. It is non-functional art; pardon me, Allen. Maybe it just needed a shield on the high limit switch, who knows? I don't think the plastic was as good as what's on my Vornado heater so maybe it needed the hair trigger switch. It probably would have worked much better if the housing were metal.

 

[jmm63]

THANK YOU!!!!

Brent,
I can't thank you enough for posting this link. I happen to have one of the recalled heaters! I bought it last year and use it all the time in my family room in the winter. What a scary thought to have not have known that it was defective until possibly to late. I followed the instructions on the website, cut the cord of the thing, emailed them a picture along with the serial number and chose a new one. Even though they are replacing it, I still will feel uneasy about using it.

Thanks again so much!!! One more reason why I love this website and the members who care enough to pass on info like this!!