Gree’s Three-Year-Old Dehumidifier Recall Reinitiated After 450 Fires Reported

Gree Dehumidifier Recall Reinitiated After 450 Fires

In September 2013, when the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) first announced the recall of 2.2 million Gree dehumidifiers that pose “fire and burn hazards to consumers,” there were 325 incidents of units overheating (including 71 fires) and around $2.7 million in property damages. But as ABC News revealed in their 2014 investigation; unsafe recalled dehumidifiers are sold everyday on secondhand markets like craigslist—usually without the seller having any idea that the product was ever recalled. As the CPSC has struggled to get the hazardous dehumidifiers out of consumer’s homes, both fires and the subsequent property damages have not ceased.

Last week, after discovering the number of Gree dehumidifiers overheating had swelled to 2,000 (including 450 fires) and the property damages increased to more than $19 million, the CPSC reissued an announcement of the three-year-old recall, which now affects 2.5 million units sold in the U.S. and 55,000 in Canada. The faulty dehumidifiers that can erupt into flames, were manufactured by Gree in China and then sold under 13 different brand names in North America, including GE and Kenmore. The dehumidifiers in question were sold from $110 to $400 at national retailers like Home Depot, Lowe’s and Walmart from January 2005 to August 2013.

Recent Dehumidifier Recalls

Earlier this month another manufacturer in China, GD Midea Air Conditioning Equipment Ltd., was forced to recall over 4 million separate dehumidifiers sold in North America from 2003 to 2013. Those units could also overheat, smoke, and catch fire. The Midea recall affected 52 brands (once again including GE and Kenmore) and has led to 28 incidents of overheating units that caused $4.8 million in property damages thus far.

Any consumer who purchased a dehumidifier in the past decade should shut it down and check to see if their unit is affected by either recall before use. Based on history more fires and property damages will come before all of the dangerous units can be replaced. If you find that your dehumidifier has been recalled, stop using it immediately, and contact the manufacturer with your brand name, model, and serial number for your refund options.

To see if you have one of the 52 brands manufactured by Midea:

https://www.recallrtr.com/dehumidifier

To see if you have one of the 13 brands manufactured by Gree:

http://www.greedehumidifierrecall.com/ProductEntry.aspx