Heat Pump Tumble dryer urgent fire risk safety notices

UPDATE: This safety warning was originally published in August, but new impetus has been given to the warning after over 80,000 affected dryer “repairs” designed to make them safe, have been classed as ineffective. This means they are back to square minus-one. They now have to contact the 80,000 people that had the original modification to try again. This means if you are only just hearing about this, you are going to be very much at the back of the queue. However, you must not use any affected dryer as there is clearly a real risk of it catching fire!

My original article follows below, with 2 extra brands added –

An urgent appliance safety alert has been issued for a number of heat pump tumble dryers due to a potential fire risk. Various brands are involved, though most if not all appear to be ultimately made by the same manufacturer who owns multiple brands. It appears to affect some of their built-in models. These are the brands that have issued the warnings as of time of writing –

• Candy Tumble Dryers
• Haier Tumble Dryers
• Hoover Tumble Dryer
• Lamona Tumble Dryers
• Baumatic Tumble Dryers
• Iberna Heat Pump Tumble Dryers
• Montpellier
• Iberna

What to do if you have a built-in heat pump dryer

If you have a built-in heat pump tumble dryer from one of the brands listed above, you need to check to see if your model is one of the ones affected, and carry out the instructions given by the manufacturer. Do not use the dryer until the manufacturer has attended to it — and disconnect it from the mains electricity. Click the appropriate link inside the list above for full details.

There is obviously a common design, or specific part, that is shared across all these dryers. It’s a good time to remind everyone that this is one important reason why we should always register any new appliance that we buy.

What is wrong with the dryers?

According to the official notices there is a possibility that something inside the dryer could short out and cause a fire. This could happen under normal usage so don’t take any chances. Do not use again until fixed. Also, never leave tumble dryers running totally unattended such as when no one is in the house, or overnight.

Did you register your appliance with the manufacturer?

When safety notices are issued, an appliance manufacturer should contact all the people that have registered a purchase with them. If you haven’t registered an appliance, they don’t know you have one. It’s therefore down to luck, or chance, as to whether you become aware of the threat via the media. (Should you always register the guarantee of a new appliance?)

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