Recall Reissued for Millions of Dangerous Dehumidifiers

THE ABC NEWS FIXER— -- A recall of millions of dangerous dehumidifiers that can overheat, smoke and catch fire has been reannounced, in an effort to get more consumers to check their units.

Gree USA and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission jointly publicized the recall again Tuesday. The recall affects about 2.5 million dehumidifiers sold in the United States and 55,000 sold in Canada.

The defective dehumidifiers are implicated in about 450 reported fires and $19 million in property damage, according to the CPSC.

The CPSC first announced the recall in September 2013, before updating it in Oct. 2013 and expanding it in January 2014.

The appliances were manufactured by Gree Electric Appliances of China and sold under various brand names including Danby, De’Longhi, Fedders, Fellini, Frigidaire, GE, Gree, Kenmore, Norpole, Premiere, Seabreeze, SoleusAir and SuperClima.

Retailers that sold them included AAFES, HH Gregg, Home Depot, Kmart, Lowe’s, Menards, Mills Fleet Farm, Sam’s Club, Sears, Walmart and other stores nationwide and in Canada, and online at Amazon.com and Ebay.com.

The recall involves various models of 20, 25, 30, 40, 45, 50, 65 and 70-pint dehumidifiers.

For a full list of affected model numbers, click here.

The model number and date code are on a sticker on the back, front or side of the dehumidifier.

If you have one of these dehumidifiers, immediately unplug and stop using it and contact Gree for a full refund. You may call toll-free at (866) 853-2802 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday or go to www.greeusa.com and click on “Recall” for more information.

This is not the only recent recall of dehumidifiers.

Earlier this month, Midea announced a recall of 3.4 million units – for similar reports of smoke and fire -- sold under these brands: Airworks, Alen, Arcticaire, Arctic King, Beaumark, Coolworks, ComfortAire, Comfort Star, Continental Electic, Crosley, Daewoo, Danby, Danby & Designer, Dayton, Degree, Diplomat, Edgestar, Excell, Fellini, Forest Air, Frigidaire, GE, Grunaire, Hanover, Honeywell, Homestyles, Hyundai, Ideal Air, Kenmore (Canada), Keystone, Kul, Midea, Nantucket, Ocean Breeze, Pelonis, Perfect Aire, Perfect Home, Polar Wind, Premiere, Professional Series, Royal Sovereign, Simplicity, Sunbeam, SPT, Sylvania, TGM, Touch Point, Trutemp, Uberhaus, Westpointe, Winix, and Winixl.

ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross uncovered availability of recalled dehumidifiers for sale on Craigslist in a 2014 ABC News “20/20” investigation, underscoring the need for consumers to check all products they purchase – especially on the secondary market.

Dehumidifiers are often run for long periods of time out of view in basement rooms, which amplifies the risk of having a recalled unit.