This month, CBC News reported that a recall across Canada has been issued by Health Canada for 1.5 million Kidde smoke and carbon monoxide detectors due to the potential risk of them malfunctioning and being unable to work in the event of an emergency when urgently needed.
CBC News stated that:
“The recall applies to two Kidde NightHawk models that are hard-wired into a home’s electricity and were manufactured between June 2004 and March 2011. The affected models are:
- KN-COSM-IBCA, which has a battery backup
- KN-COSM-ICA, which doesn’t have a battery backup
The issue is the alarm may no longer chirp in the model with battery backup even after the original batteries have been replaced. In the case of the model without battery backup, the chirp may not work if power is removed and then restored.”
If your smoke or carbon monoxide detector isn’t working properly, it can be dangerous to your safety. In the event of a fire, you may only have a few short minutes to get out of your home – and in instances of an accident occurring in the middle of the night, a faulty detector could result in injury or be fatal.
According to CBC News, “In Canada, there haven’t been any reported incidents, according to Health Canada, but there have been eight in the U.S., where 3.6 million units of the models have been sold. Health Canada did not detail in its recall notice the nature of those incidents, but said there have been no injuries.”
Along with regular HVAC maintenance and other preventative professional maintenance around your home, you should also be having your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors regularly checked to ensure that they are functioning properly.
It is advised that if you have one of the recalled alarms in your home to stop using it immediately and contact Kidde Canada here or by phone at 1-800-239-0490 from 8AM-5PM.
For more information and the complete CBC News articles, click here.
Delta Air Systems is happy to answer any questions you may have about home comfort system safety. Contact us today.