By Scott Stump - TODAY
Gree Electric Appliances, Inc. is recalling 1.56 million dehumidifiers from brands such as Kenmore and GE, which were sold between 2011 and 2014, due to fire and burn hazards, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
Zhuhai, China-based Gree has received reports of at least 23 fires, 688 incidents of overheating, and $168,000 in property damage caused by recalled dehumidifiers, CPSC said in a news release.
The decision affects 42 models of dehumidifiers manufactured in China, between January 2011 and February 2014, and that were sold under the brands Kenmore, GE, SoleusAir, Norpole and Seabreeze.
The dehumidifiers, which cost between $110 and $400, were sold between 2011 and 2014.
The dehumidifiers, which cost between $110 and $400, were sold between 2011 and 2014 at Home Depot, Lowe's, Menards, Sam's Club, Sears, Walmart and other stores across the country, CPSC said.
Consumers can find their device's model number and date code on the unit. Anyone who has an affected device should immediately stop using it and contact Gree for a refund.
Gree USA, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of the Chinese appliance company, was sentenced in April to pay a $500,000 criminal fine after pleading guilty to failing to notify CPSC that millions of dehumidifiers it sold were defective and could catch fire, according to a Justice Department news release.
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The fine was part of a $91 million settlement with three Gree companies: one based in California, one in Hong Kong and one in Zhuhai.
The three companies knew their dehumidifiers were defective, did not meet safety standards and posed a fire hazard, but did not report it to CPSC for months, according to court records cited by the Justice Department.