Furnaces Recalled in California

Advisory Report - July 2001

Furnaces Recalled in California
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is announcing a recall of about 30,000 furnaces sold in California. Seven firms are offering to repair or replace certain furnaces, which were sold under their own labels, but were manufactured by Consolidated Industries Inc. The units involved are gas-fired horizontal furnaces equipped with steel "NOx" rods installed above the burners and are commonly called NOx rod furnaces. These furnaces pose a substantial risk of fire.

CPSC has received 50 reports of fires associated with the 140,000 horizontal furnaces manufactured by Consolidated Industries Inc. No injuries have been reported. All the furnaces can be identified by the steel rods installed above the burners. The firms participating in this recall are Amana Company, L.P., of Amana, Iowa; Bard Manufacturing, of Bryan, Ohio; Carrier Corporation, of Syracuse, N.Y.; Goettl Air Conditioning Inc., of Phoenix, Ariz.; Goodman Manufacturing Company L.P., of Houston, Texas; Heat Controller Inc., of Jackson, Mich.; and The Trane Company, a division of American Standard Inc., of Tyler, Texas.

Private labelers sold these furnaces in California under the following brand names and model numbers, which are written on a label on an outside panel of the furnace.

Home, hardware, specialty stores and independent contractors sold these furnaces in California from January 1983 through December 1992 for about $2,000.

Consumers should check to see if their furnace is part of this recall immediately. If so, or for more information, consumers should call toll-free at (877) 347-6456 anytime, or visit the recall Web site at www.furnaceinspect.com. Consumers should have the brand name, model number and serial number of their furnace available when they call or visit the Web site. The recall program offers free inspection and repair of the furnaces. Consumers can elect to receive a new furnace, free of charge, except for installation costs.

U.S. Inspect reported on the safety alert warning about these furnaces in September 2000 issued by the CPSC. Consolidated Industries (formerly Premier Furnace Co.), which is being liquidated under Chapter 7 bankruptcy laws, manufactured approximately 140,000 of these furnaces for sale in California between 1983 and 1994 under many different brand names.  About 110,000 of these furnaces were manufactured and distributed under the Premier/Consolidated labels. They are not covered by this recall program. However, there is ongoing private litigation which could enable consumers to recover at least some of their out-of-pocket expenses for replacement or repair of the Premier/Consolidated brand furnaces.

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