Navien Recalls Tankless Water Heaters and Boilers Due to Risk of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Recall Insight

This CPSC action (record #19057) was formally reported on December 20, 2018. It is classified under Moderate severity, with a current status of Active. Kyung Dong Navien Co. Ltd, South Korea is listed as the recalling firm. Federal records indicate About 3,400 units are affected.

The documented reason for this recall is: A kit installed on the tankless water heaters and boilers to convert them from natural gas to propane can cause the unit to produce excessive amounts of carbon monoxide, posing a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning to con… Distribution information was not included in the agency filing, so consumers should assume broad potential exposure until the firm publishes point-of-sale details. The remedy documented by the agency is: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled water heaters and boilers that are using propane gas and contact Navien for a free replacement conversion kit. Consumers who continue use of the w… — consumers holding this product should act on that instruction rather than relying on general guidance.

To put this record in context, PlainRecalls indexes 83,949 recalls across the FDA, CPSC, NHTSA and USDA FSIS going back to 1995. Within the same product category, the database holds 6 closely related recalls. That clustering is a signal — repeated actions in a narrow category often indicate a systemic quality-control issue, a supplier-wide contamination, or a design defect that has propagated across product lines. This recall is roughly 8 years old; older recalls can remain relevant because many units enter resale, rental, and secondary-market channels where the original warning never reaches the end user. Always cross-check the recall number against the official agency page before relying on any summary.