OPSS warns 85,000 UK tumble dryers could ignite during normal use
OPSS has warned that around 85,000 heat pump tumble dryers across eight brands can ignite mid-cycle. The latest chapter in a decade-long white goods fire problem that has already killed two men in Llanrwst and destroyed a west London tower block.
INFIRISK Team·5 min read·
On 10 December 2025 the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) issued an urgent warning covering around 85,000 heat pump tumble dryers sold under eight brands in the UK: Haier, Baumatic, Candy, Caple, Hoover, Iberna, Lamona and Montpellier. The regulator says an internal short circuit can occur during normal use, causing the appliance to ignite. Owners have been told to stop using the dryer immediately, unplug it, and book a free safety repair from the manufacturer.
What went wrong — and why the fix came twice
The recall is, in effect, a restart. Haier had originally launched a corrective action programme covering 103,000 machines, but the OPSS told the company to halt it after raising concerns that the modification was still unsafe. Following an updated repair procedure, the programme has resumed and affected customers are being contacted again. According to Which?, depending on demand, engineer appointments may take one to six weeks, meaning unrepaired dryers will remain in homes for weeks after the warning lands.
A pattern fire services know far too well
Tumble dryers are not an occasional fire hazard. Electrical Safety First recorded around 1,140 accidental electrical fires involving white goods in England in its most recent review — roughly three a day. South Wales Fire and Rescue Service reports that tumble dryers alone accounted for 57% of white goods fires in Wales over a recent three-year period. In London, the Brigade has said that white goods are behind almost one fire a day across the capital.
Shepherd's Court, 19 August 2016
The reference point for most UK fire and rescue services is still the Shepherd's Court tower block fire in west London. It took 120 firefighters to bring it under control; two flats were destroyed, two more severely damaged, 26 homes evacuated, and around 20 families were rehoused in temporary accommodation. London Fire Brigade investigators concluded that "all the physical evidence in the flat clearly indicated that the fire had started in the tumble-dryer", an Indesit model that was under a manufacturer corrective action scheme and due to be modified by an engineer within days of the blaze.
Shepherd's Court became the catalyst for LFB's Total Recalls campaign, which has spent the last decade pushing Government and manufacturers for a single, centrally managed recall database and for stronger enforcement powers. The Brigade publicly reported 189 tumble dryer fires and 670 white goods fires across London in the period following the Shepherd's Court blaze.
The two men whose deaths should never be forgotten
Doug McTavish, 39, and Bernard Hender, 19, died in a flat fire in Ancaster Square, Llanrwst, in October 2014. A coroner's inquest, reported by North Wales Live, returned a narrative verdict from assistant coroner David Lewis: "On the balance of probabilities, the fire was caused by an electrical fault in the tumble dryer in the laundry room of the flat." Expert witness Dr Paul Jowett identified the likely cause as a fault in the dryer's door switch. The machine was a Hotpoint within the same 2004–2015 production window later covered by the Whirlpool-branded recall.
The scale of the Whirlpool problem — which is not yet over
In November 2015, Whirlpool disclosed that 5.3 million Hotpoint, Indesit, Creda, Swan, Proline and Ariston dryers sold in the UK between April 2004 and September 2015 contained a defect: excess fluff could fall onto the heating element during operation and catch fire. A 2018 report by the Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee concluded that the defect had been responsible for at least 750 fires in the UK since 2004, and described Whirlpool's response as "woefully inadequate", including the use of non-disclosure agreements as a condition of refunds. Whirlpool itself has estimated that around 800,000 of the affected machines may still be in use in British homes. Owners can check serial numbers through Electrical Safety First.
What this means on the ground for fire safety professionals
Two separate populations of unsafe tumble dryers are now in circulation at the same time: the heat pump models covered by the December 2025 OPSS notice, and the residual tail of the legacy Hotpoint/Indesit/Creda vented and condenser units. Visibility remains the weakest link, consumer recalls rely on owners knowing a recall exists, remembering the brand on a machine bought years ago, and acting on a notice that competes for attention with every other piece of household post. For anyone managing a risk assessment in an HMO, a student let, a block of flats with communal laundry facilities or a property management portfolio, tumble dryer make, model and serial number belong in the asset register alongside the smoke alarms and the electrical installation condition report.
Practical takeaways
If you own a heat pump tumble dryer from Haier, Baumatic, Candy, Caple, Hoover, Iberna, Lamona or Montpellier, check the serial number on the brand's recall page now, and unplug the appliance until a Haier engineer has carried out the updated repair.
Do not assume the earlier Whirlpool/Hotpoint recall is closed. Around 800,000 of the 2004–2015 machines may still be in British homes. Anyone with a Hotpoint, Indesit, Creda, Swan, Proline or Ariston dryer from that window should verify against the Electrical Safety First product recall database before the next cycle.
Never run a tumble dryer overnight, while asleep or while out of the property. The majority of fatal white goods fires are discovered too late precisely because the household is not there to notice the early signs.
Clean the lint filter after every cycle and check that the vent and exhaust ducting are unobstructed. A clogged filter remains the single most common ignition source in tumble dryer fires.
For landlords, HMO managers and facilities teams: record the make, model, manufacture date and serial number of every dryer in your property risk assessment, and re-check each one against the current recall lists at least annually.
If a dryer begins to smell hot, shows scorching around the drum or vent, or trips a breaker mid-cycle, stop using it immediately. That is the same early pattern that preceded both Shepherd's Court and Llanrwst.
