BIONAIRE FIRE HAZARD SPACE HEATER MICATHERMIC RECALL DANGEROUS

[LROBLROB]

Kevin, thanks for posting this. Our Bionaire heater, same model, purchased from Home Depot, had a similar problem. Didn't see any flames, but it gave off a horrible (Probably toxic) smell. Opened it up to find a melted control panel. I am going to contact the consumer product safety commission.

[TheRavdukes]

12-8-11 my parents have a 3930u heater with the built in thermostat. Last night they went to bed and an hour later they woke up from the fire alarm, the heater had burst into flames and filled the house with smoke, luckly the hiuse had not caught on fire, my father is in a wheel chair. that was a scary night

[napolil]

I have a bionaire heater that we bought at Costco a couple of months ago. It's been working great until today. Left the room for a couple of minutes and when I came back it was crackling and smoke was coming out everywhere. I shudder to think what would have happened if I'd taken another minute to return to the room!

[2632jibaro]

could not believe the video. here's a rule only plug a space heater in a wall outlet no power strips. Keep the space heater 3 feet away.

My Bionaire model BB1551 improved desgin controls the heater it self. New knobs for heat adjust and the bionaire new body black. I hope mine works good. The company patto. Replace my heater Puh9000 if you want that model great heater....

[OregonArts]

Our 1994 Delongi space heater was an oil filled radiator design. The switch failed in 1999 and the plastic end section burned in the night. We didn't wake up from the alarm right away. Dark smoke with PCBs? filled our house. Firemen came after I had carried it outside. The damage cost our insurance company $10,300 to repair and paint and clean the whole house. They couldn't clean our lungs! Black soot filled our nasal passages. We notified the government, but never saw any recalls.

[2632jibaro]

do you have any prove there was every a recall? I own the New Model BH1551-U never had a problem with mine it's black redesigned controls shape....

Would like more information on any recalls if you have any information.

[pauldalenevins]

On 2/2/2011 I awoke to see a huge shower of sparks and flames shooting out of my Bionaire tower space heater. I happened once before on 12/04/2010 and I took it back thinking it was just one bad apple. But now, all I can say is that in my opinion any space heater made by Bionaire is like purchasing death in a box. In my opinion, stay away from any of their space heater products if you value your life. Or purchase one for an enemy if you would like to be sneaky in the realm of revenge.

[cplbrookes]

Yep the company is aware they burst into flames but have not recalled them, kinda like Ford with the Pinto.

[a1mint]

Every electric space heater is 100% efficient, because 100% of the electricity used is converted into heat. There is no other form of energy the electricity ends up in. In fact, it's a 100% loss. All of the electricity used is "lost" in the form of heat.

So that means that people should not think that one heater is more efficient than another, because that is impossible.

A good choice IMO are the oil radiator based ones, because there is less chance of an object hitting the actual element.

[a1mint]

Also, the heat in the oil based radiator ones carry the concentrated heat from the element around the radiator. Now, I don't have evidence for this or have done any scientific studies or anything. I *think* logically that is how it works. I've also read elsewhere that those are a better choice.

Anyway, this "bionaire" thing, that's just appalling. They MUST take those heaters off the market like PRONTO!

[lrd9999]

@a1mint Well put; there is a lot of BS surrounding supposed "miracle heaters". The oil filled ones work well, but one that I owned was recalled for leaking and bursting into flames (mine made a burnt smell, but never really leaked). I'd get any model with no oil or plastic parts, the $19 "work-site" style box heaters look safe enough, not pretty, but safe.

[a1mint]

@lrd9999 I have not read anywhere that the oil filled based ones have a risk of leaking and busting into flames. Please provide a link to your claim.

[lrd9999]

@a1mint Try a Google search on "delonghi oil heater recall" (it will auto-complete that phrase). If you do a news-archive search, you'll see a NYT article on the original recall from 1991. A normal search brings up a number of references, including an Amazon review by someone who was replacing one that was leaking (brave guy). We had 2 in my father's house, I never used the older one, which stank, unless I stayed in the room with it. Both did a great job of heating, though.

[lrd9999]

@a1mint I should add that the recall seems to have pertained to the control panel catching fire not the leaking, but if the panel caught fire on one that had already leaked, I'm sure the oil would burn. You would think they could have used anti-freeze or even distilled water (though managing the expansion would be a challenge). The elements of the Bionaire look safe enough, but they had to screw it up by adding too much plastic.

[a1mint]

@lrd9999 I'll have to keep my eyes peeled on these heaters then. Thanks for the info. I rely on 3 of these heaters heating rooms at night time during the winter. I set the house thermostat really low at night.

I also have smoke detectors in all these rooms.

[lrd9999]

@a1mint No problem; good luck with them.

[cplbrookes]

My name is Kevin Brookes Box 261 Ardrossan, Alberta, Canada, now the comapny has all my info to contact me about this incident

[houseofchintz]

@cplbrookes I just had a Bionaire Humidifier bust into flames right beside me in my living room. I'm glad I was in the room when it happened!

[cplbrookes]

the company is fully aware these thing catch on fire, and god for bid it burns down a house, this youtube video is evidence that the company was informed of the problem and ignored the warnings, they have never return my calls and never investigated the reason why this product catchs fire.????????

[TheTincanrider]

I am not surprised. I just bought a Bionaire ceramic tower heater at COSTCO which I will be return ASAP. This unit is an oscillating heater. When I started to attach the base I could not believe dangerous design. The power cord makes a sharp 90 degree bend from the heater into the base. The power cord WILL FLEX EVERYTIME THE HEATER OSCILLATES. It is only a matter of time before the power cord will fail in this small confined space, probably setting the carpet on fire.

[mccmediacom]

I have two of these and one has started having the very same problem - smoke and a plastic burning smell from the same are where yours melted.

[HappyDiscoDeath]

wow. not cool when a defective product sneaks past quality control and in the case of space heaters, darn near sets a house on fire. Last winter, I returned (exchanged) multiple units of one Holmes radiant heater, that kept falling apart. I'm sticking to tough metal "milkhouse" utility heaters after that one, and avoiding Homes. thanks for the video!

[websuspect]

Thanks for the warning. I been using ceramic heaters with no problems.

[325152379]

i hate BIONAIRE

[edg131]

good looking out. I won't be dealing with this company

[cplbrookes]

09 Apr 20 got a letter from bionaire called them that day they are aware of the fire and I told them the unit was picked up by the county fire marshall they are sending an incident letter out.

[trucksoner]

make sure you have working smoke alarms on each floor and in each bedroom as well. my friend almost died recently because his outlet was worn out and the plug for his heater wasn't tight enough in there and heated up (from arcing in the outlet) and caught fire in his bedroom. he didn't have a smoke alarm in there and he would have died if his alarm clock hadn't been set for that time!

now he and i are now careful about making sure our smoke alarms have fresh batteries!

[W900FLASH]

A big thank-you for the info,this just happened to us! What was your final outcome?

[cplbrookes]

purchased 06 Dec 6, caught fire on 09 Feb 10, we have emailed bionaire and spoken with call center nobody has called back as of 09 Feb 15.

[hdyudu]

look like i might have been a faulty connection to one of the heating element coils or controls

[cplbrookes]

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