Willow and Hearth

Modine Manufacturing is recalling about 6,061 Airedale heat pump units in the U.S. after their ventilation fans were linked to 11 fires and more than $2.7 million in property damage, according to the CPSC’s recall notice. These aren’t household ceiling fans — they’re the built-in outdoor-air and exhaust-air ventilation fans inside Airedale ClassMate and SchoolMate heating and cooling units, the kind installed on schools, offices, and other commercial buildings, though a homeowner with one of these units on a larger property should check it too.

Key Points

1. Roughly 6,061 units are affected in the U.S., plus about 735 more in Canada.
2. The ventilation fan motor can short-circuit if water reaches its circuit board, causing the unit to overheat.
3. Eleven fires have been reported, causing over $2.7 million in property damage combined. No injuries were reported.
4. Units were sold through independent HVAC dealers nationwide from August 2013 through January 2026.

What’s Affected

• Product: Airedale ClassMate DX Cooling and Air Source Heat Pumps, and SchoolMate Water/Ground Source Heat Pumps
• Models: CMD, CMP, SMG, SMW, and CMS
• Sold: August 2013 through January 2026, through independent dealers
• Price: $15,000 to $25,000 for a complete unit; $250 to $450 for a replacement ventilation fan alone

The failure mode here is straightforward: these units pull in outside air, and if water intrudes far enough to reach the fan’s circuit board, the motor can short-circuit and overheat rather than simply shutting off. Eleven confirmed fires from a single component failure is a high number for a recall of this size, and the $2.7 million property-damage figure reflects fires serious enough to cause real structural loss, not minor smoke incidents.

What Building Owners Should Do

1. Check your unit’s model number and serial number, located on the control panel, against the affected list on Modine’s recall page.
2. If you have an affected unit, unplug the ventilation fan or switch its internal disconnect to “off” until it’s inspected.
3. Contact Modine at 888-636-8627 or [email protected], or visit modine.com/recall, to arrange a free inspection and repair through a Modine distributor.
4. Don’t attempt to bypass or rewire the fan yourself — the fix requires a distributor-installed repair, and the unit should stay off until that happens.

Most residential ceiling fan or bathroom exhaust fan owners have nothing to check here — this recall is squarely about commercial-grade rooftop and packaged heat pump equipment. But if your property has a ClassMate or SchoolMate unit serving an addition, a converted outbuilding, or a mixed-use space, the fix is free and the fire risk from water intrusion is exactly the kind of slow-building problem that doesn’t announce itself until it does.