Costco lists Vornado heater recall, urges members to stop using units

Costco is warning members about a Vornado SRTH small room tower heater recall that reaches back years, not weeks. The recalled units can overheat, melt, and create a fire hazard, and Costco’s recall page lists the affected product as item 1002889 for all U.S. locations.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says consumers should stop using the heaters immediately and contact Vornado for instructions on submitting photos of the product and proof of destruction to get a full refund. Vornado says the recall covers all SRTH Small Room Tower Heaters made between June 2013 and August 2022, sold in black and white, about 12.5 inches high and 6 inches in diameter. The model identifier appears as TYPE SRTH on the silver rating label on the bottom.

The defect is specific: Vornado says the heater’s fan blade can detach from the motor shaft, slowing or stopping the fan and leading to overheating and melting of the enclosure and internal parts. Vornado says disabling the product is mandatory to receive the recall remedy, and it tells consumers to cut the cord about 2 inches from where it enters the product so the heater cannot be used or resold.

For Costco front-end assistants, returns clerks, and member-service teams, the bigger issue is how often a recall like this shows up long after the original purchase is forgotten. Older seasonal and household items often come back with vague dates and incomplete receipts, so the practical work is to verify the model, confirm the recall status, and keep the exchange moving without turning a safety issue into a longer problem at the desk. Costco says recall information is released on its recalls page as soon as possible, and members can often find item numbers on in-store receipts, email confirmations, or product listing pages.

The pattern is not new for Costco. In 2018, the warehouse chain’s notice on another Vornado heater said customers may have bought the VH101 Personal Vortex Heater between 2009 and 2018, a reminder that recalls can surface years after a sale and still land in the warehouse workflow. Costco’s current recalls page also lists a separate Gas-X recall, underscoring how multiple product categories can hit the same service counters at once and why clear training matters for older merchandise that can still pose an active safety risk.