FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 9, 2001 Release # 01-189

Furnace Recall Hotline: (877) 347-6456

CPSC CONTACT: Ken Giles (301) 504-0580 Ext. 1184

CPSC Announces Recall of Furnaces in California WASHINGTON, D.C. -

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is announcing a recall of about 30,000 furnaces sold in California. Seven firms are offering to repair or replace certain furnaces, which were sold under their own labels, but were manufactured by Consolidated Industries Inc. The units involved are gas-fired horizontal furnaces equipped with steel "NOx" rods installed above the burners and are commonly called NOx rod furnaces. These furnaces pose a substantial risk of fire. CPSC has received 50 reports of fires associated with the 140,000 horizontal furnaces manufactured by Consolidated Industries Inc. No injuries have been reported. All the furnaces can be identified by the steel rods installed above the burners. The firms participating in this recall are Amana Company, L.P., of Amana, Iowa; Bard Manufacturing, of Bryan, Ohio; Carrier Corporation, of Syracuse, N.Y.; Goettl Air Conditioning Inc., of Phoenix, Ariz.; Goodman Manufacturing Company L.P., of Houston, Texas; Heat Controller Inc., of Jackson, Mich.; and The Trane Company, a division of American Standard Inc., of Tyler, Texas.

These gas-fired horizontal furnaces have steel rods (right) installed above the burners.

Home, hardware and specialty stores, and independent contractors sold these furnaces in California from January 1983 through December 1992 for about $2,000. Consumers should check to see if their furnace is part of this recall immediately. If so, or for more information, consumers should call toll-free at (877) 347-6456 anytime, or contact the recall web site at www.furnaceinspect.com. Consumers should have the brand name, model number and serial number of their furnace available when they call or contact the web site. The recall program offers free inspection and repair of the furnaces. Consumers can elect to receive a new furnace, free of charge, except for installation costs. CPSC issued a safety alert warning about these furnaces in September 2000. Consolidated Industries (formerly Premier Furnace Co.), which is being liquidated under Chapter 7 bankruptcy laws, manufactured approximately 140,000 of these furnaces for sale in California between 1983 and 1994 under many different brand names. About 110,000 of these furnaces were manufactured and distributed under the Premier/Consolidated labels. They are not covered by this recall program. However, there is on-going private litigation which could enable consumers to recover at least some of their out-of-pocket expenses for replacement or repair of the Premier/Consolidated brand furnaces. For more information about the private litigation, call (408) 808-1410 or visit the web site at www.white-macdonald.com. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission protects the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death from 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or visit CPSC's web site at http://www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. For information on CPSC's fax-on-demand service, call the above numbers or visit the web site at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/103.html. To order a press release through fax-on-demand, call (301) 504-0051 from the handset of your fax machine and enter the release number. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC's web site at http://www.cpsc.gov.

July 23, 2000

Our service department has recently received a number of customer inquiries regarding advertisements by other companies offering free system flushing and chemical treating of your hydronic radiant heating. Typical questions have included, "What does this flushing do for my system?" and "How often should my system be flushed?"

Hydronic heating systems such as yours are flushed and chemically treated only when the system is installed or satarted up after any major repairs. Your system is a "closed-loop" and normally does not require flushing or treatment on a regular or semi-regular basis. The flushing offered by these companies is not required.

Rusher Air's preventive manitenance program provides your hydronic radiant system with all the required system checks and servicing that your system requires to maintain quality eficient operation for many years to come. If you currently do not have a plan for preventive maintenance, please contact us today to discuss a program.

For over 50 years, our family owned business has been designing, installing, and servicing quality hydronic systems such as yours (as well as many other types of heating and air conditioning systems). We remain committed to providing you with top-quality, personalized service.