Merkury Innovations Heating and Cooling Fan Recalled in Canada After Two Reports of Catching Fire at HomeSense and Winners Stores

Health Canada issued a consumer product recall for the Merkury Innovations Hot + Cool Heating and Cooling Fan on April 29, 2026. The recall number is RA-81984.

The problem is inside the power connector. According to Health Canada, the connector can corrode over time, causing the fan to overheat. Two Canadian consumers have reported their fans catching fire when connecting the unit to a power source. No injuries have been reported in either incident.

About 1,800 units were sold in Canada. The fans were available at HomeSense, Winners, and Marshalls stores between June and October 2025. Merkury Innovations, based in New York, manufactured the product in China.

The recalled fan is a bladeless heating and cooling tower unit. The model number is MIC-DHC02, and it appears on a label affixed to the bottom of the fan. If you bought a Merkury-branded fan from a TJX store last summer, flip it over. That is the fastest way to confirm whether yours is affected.

The fan was sold in a single colour and configuration. There are no other Merkury fan models included in this recall — only the MIC-DHC02.

The steps are straightforward:

1. Unplug the fan and stop using it right away. Do not wait for visible signs of damage.
2. Return it to any HomeSense, Winners, or Marshalls location for a full refund. TJX Canada operates roughly 581 stores nationwide, so there is likely a location near you.
3. No receipt is needed. The recall applies to all units of model MIC-DHC02 regardless of when or where they were purchased within the TJX family of stores.

If you have questions, you can contact Merkury Innovations directly at 1-888-637-5879 (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET) or by email at recalls@merkuryinnovations.com. You can also reach Health Canada's consumer product safety line at 1-866-662-0666.

A recall covering 1,800 units might seem small. But fire-hazard recalls carry a different weight than most product safety notices. The failure mode here — a corroding power connector that causes ignition on contact — means the risk is not gradual. It is binary. The fan either works or it catches fire. There is no warning sign a consumer can watch for.

This is also worth noting for anyone who may have purchased the fan secondhand or received it as a gift. Under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act, it is illegal to sell, redistribute, or give away a recalled product. If you passed this fan along to someone else, let them know about the recall.

Homeowners who have dealt with other recent fan recalls will recognize the pattern: compact, electrically heated appliances with internal wiring faults that only surface after extended use. The SNOOZ Breez recall earlier this year involved a similar overheating mechanism in a bedroom fan sold through mainstream retail channels. When two products in the same category fail the same way within months of each other, it suggests a broader supply-chain quality issue worth paying attention to.

If you use any portable heating or cooling appliance, it is worth checking Health Canada's recall database periodically — particularly for products purchased from discount or off-price retailers, where inventory turnover can make recall awareness harder to track. Off-price stores like Winners and HomeSense source inventory through opportunistic buying channels, which means products may arrive in stores after a recall has already been issued elsewhere. That is not a criticism of those retailers — TJX has cooperated with this recall and is offering refunds at all locations — but it does mean consumers need to be more proactive about checking recall notices for products bought through those channels.