© 2025 WGCU News
PBS and NPR for Southwest Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

About 2 Million Dehumidifiers In The U.S. Have Been Recalled Over Possible Fire Hazard

This photo provided by Consumer Product Safety Commission shows a dehumidifier made by New Widetech. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, about 2 million dehumidifiers made by New Widetech are being recalled in the U.S. because they can overheat and catch fire, posing fire and burn hazards.
AP
This photo provided by Consumer Product Safety Commission shows a dehumidifier made by New Widetech. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, about 2 million dehumidifiers made by New Widetech are being recalled in the U.S. because they can overheat and catch fire, posing fire and burn hazards.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says about 2 million dehumidifiers made by New Widetech are being recalled in the U.S. because they can overheat and catch fire, posing fire and burn hazards.

The recall also includes about 380,000 dehumidifiers in Canada and about 25,000 in Mexico.

New Widetech is aware of 107 incidents of the recalled dehumidifiers overheating and/or catching fire, resulting in about $17 million in property damage. No injuries have been reported.

The dehumidifiers were sold at Lowe's, Costco, Walmart, Menards and other retailers in the U.S. from February 2009 through August 2017 for between $120 and $430.

The dehumidifiers impacted are 25-, 30-, 35-, 45-, 50-, 60-, 65-, 70-, and 74-pint dehumidifiers with the brand names including AeonAir, Amana, ArcticAire (Danby), Classic (Danby/Home Hardware Stores), Commercial Cool, Danby, Danby Designer, Danby Premiere, De'Longhi, Edgestar, Friedrich, Generations (Danby), Haier, Honeywell (JMATEK/AirTek), Idylis, Ivation, perfect aire, SuperClima, Whirlpool and Whynter.

The brand name, model number and pint capacity are printed on the nameplate sticker on the back of the dehumidifier.

Consumers should stop using the dehumidifiers immediately and contact New Widetech for a refund. The amount of the refund will be pro-rated based on the age of the dehumidifier.

Consumers can contact New Widetech toll-free at 877-251-1512 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or online at www.recallrtr.com/nwtdehumidifier or http://www.newwidetech.com/en/ and click on "Recall Information" at the bottom of the page for more information.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

The Associated Press
[Copyright 2024 NPR]
Trusted by over 30,000 local subscribers

Local News, Right Sized for Your Morning

Quick briefs when you are busy, deeper explainers when it matters, delivered early morning and curated by WGCU editors.

  • Environment
  • Local politics
  • Health
  • And more

Free and local. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

More from WGCU
  • Halloween is a holiday that brings to mind creatures of the night such as bats and many spiders. These nocturnal creatures are ones we have some unease about because we rarely see them, encounter them by surprise in the dark, and often have little understanding of their role in nature. We often misinterpret their behavior and they sometimes leave us with a sense of fear of what they might do to us. Yes, tropical American vampire bats drink blood and in doing so can transmit disease to its victims. North American and most other bats are insect eaters that provide an important service in consuming mosquitos that can transmit diseases to the animals they bite. Most bats also consume large numbers of moths and other insects that feed on plants that our livestock or we depend on.
  • In Florida, roughly 300,000 people live with vision impairment. Those dealing with vision impairment are forced to live with unfair stigmas, which include being described as helpless or incompetent.
  • Showers and thunderstorms during the first half of the workweek could put down around an inch of precipitation, with heavier accumulations expected in the Florida Panhandle.