The failure of the wall mounted panel heater caused a fire to start in the wall of the house directly behind the heater, causing moderate damage to the lounge and a bathroom.

A forensic examination of the panel heater took place in an independent testing laboratory with representatives from all interested parties.

With the removal of a piece of the front panel it was found that the internal damage was located around the self-resetting thermal cut out and has radiated out from there. There were significant signs of charring present around the self-resetting thermal cut out, which was almost entirely consumed.

We were able to confirm from this examination that the mode of failure with this heater appears to be the same as other recorded incidents, which involved the failure of the self-resetting thermal cut out.

As a result of this investigation the supplier of the heater agreed to conduct a voluntary safety recall.