Action to Improve Safety of Halogen Torchiere Floor Lamps

Action to Improve Safety of Halogen Torchiere Floor Lamps NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 Note: change in instructions and contact information for obtaining wire guard FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Ken Giles Originally issued August 21, 1997, Last revised April 8, 2004 (301) 504-7052 Release # 97-173 CPSC and Industry Announce Corrective Action to Improve Safety of Halogen Torchiere Floor Lamps WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the halogen lamp industry are cooperatively recalling for in-home consumer repair some 40 million halogen torchiere floor lamps. According to CPSC, the halogen bulbs in these lamps can cause fires. CPSC is aware of at least 189 fires and 11 deaths since 1992 involving halogen torchiere floor lamps. The industry is making free wire guards available to consumers through a cooperative effort with many retail stores. Installing the wire guard over the glass bulb shield will reduce the potential fire hazard by making it harder for flammable materials to touch the lamp's halogen bulb. For the guard to be effective, consumers must use only halogen bulbs of 300 watts or less in the lamp. Halogen torchiere floor lamps are free-standing lamps with a shallow bowl-shaped light fixture mounted on top of a 6-foot pole and illuminated by a tubular halogen bulb. These lamps first became available in the United States in 1983 and sales have grown significantly in the 1990s. The tubular halogen bulbs operate at temperatures much hotter than regular bulbs, and can pose a fire risk if curtains, clothing, or other flammable materials contact the bulb. A revised Underwriters Laboratories (UL) standard for halogen torchiere floor lamps manufactured after February 5, 1997, offers an improved level of safety. Most halogen torchiere floor lamps meeting the revised UL standard already are equipped with a glass or wire guard over the glass bulb s