Recalled glass cooktops can turn on by themselves and start fires

Glass cooktops starting by themselves and causing fires seems like something out of a futuristic horror movie. The reality of it happening, however, caused Whirlpool to recall about 29,200 cooktops over three brands.

The exact problem, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recall notice: “The recalled cooktop surface elements can turn on by themselves, posing burn and fire hazards.”

And the notice says Whirlpool knows of this happening 133 times.

“This resulted in 14 reports, including 13 in the U.S. and 1 in Canada, of heat damage to nearby items and four reports of items catching on fire, including one report of property damage,” the notice says. “Two minor burn injuries have been reported.”

The recall covers three brands: Whirlpool, model Nos. WCE97US0HS, WCE97US0HB, WCE97US6HS, and WCE97US6HB; KitchenAid, model Nos. KCES950HSS, KCES956HSS, KCES950HBL and KCES956HBL; and JennAir, model Nos. JEC4430HS; JEC4430HB; JEC4536HS; JEC4536HB; JEC4424HB; JED4430GB; JED4536GB; JED4430GS; and JED4536GS. Look under the cooktop for the model numbers.

People with any of the above models should turn the unit off at the circuit breaker. Then, contact Whirlpool at 888-900-7897, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Eastern time or via the website.

Various stores, including The Home Depot, Lowe’s and Best Buy, sold the cooktops since March 2017 for between $1,150 and $2,500.