CPSC, Cooper Lighting Warn About 500-Watt Halogen Bulbs
Home product recall 03-077. Announced by CPSC on Jan 30, 2003.
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The short answer
Announced by CPSC on Jan 30, 2003. Copied from CPSC on Oct 19, 2026.
Every line below is in CPSC’s own words, with its source beside it.
What’s wrong with it?
These 500-watt light bulbs generate very high temperatures, compared to incandescent and lower wattage halogen bulbs and can start a fire, if they come in contact with curtains, clothes or other flammable material. These bulbs are intended for use in outdoor work lights and flood lamps. To meet the current Underwriters Laboratories standard, halogen torchiere floor lamps must be equipped with a protective glass or wire guard and have a halogen bulb that is 300 watts or less.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What should you do?
Cooper has asked retailers to add the label to bulb packaging currently on store shelves and new 500-watt halogen bulbs will contain the label. Consumers currently using these 500-watt bulbs in a torchiere or indoor residential fixture should remove them immediately. Consumers can continue to use the 500-watt halogen bulbs in work lights, flood lamps, and similar outdoor fixtures.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
- How to reach the firm: For more information, consumers can contact Cooper Lighting at (800) 954-7145 anytime or log on to the company’s website at www.cooperlighting.com
Which ones are recalled?
Current packaging for the Regent 500-Watt Halogen Bulb, with model numbers WM500Q and BP500Q, does not contain the recommended warning label of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The label should read, “Warning: Fire Hazard! Do Not Use In Torchieres Or Other Indoor Residential Fixtures.” Cooper has asked retailers to add the label to bulb packaging currently on store shelves and new 500-watt halogen bulbs will contain the label.
Nearly 600,000 units, as CPSC gives them.
Regent 500-watt halogen bulbs.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
CPSC’s photos
CPSC shows 2 photos on its notice. Hearth Record doesn’t copy them; each opens on cpsc.gov.
Who made and sold it?
- Made by Cooper Lighting Inc., Peachtree City, Ga.
- Wal-Mart, Lowe’s and smaller retail outlets nationwide sold these 500-watt halogen bulbs, between January 1999 and October 2002, for about $4.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Was anyone hurt?
While Cooper has not received any reports of fires or injuries, the CPSC is aware of at least 290 fires and 25 deaths since 1992, involving halogen torchiere floor lamps.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What the record doesn’t say
- The notice lists no UPCs, so check the model, the description and the photos.
- The notice lists no model numbers in a field of their own; its description may give them.
- How many have been returned or fixed isn’t in the notice.
Hearth Record wrote these lines.
Sources
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U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Recalls API.
Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily. Public domain (U.S. Government work). CPSC asks to be credited, and that no endorsement be implied.
Recalls of kids’ and home products are from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). CPSC does not endorse Hearth Record. Copied on Oct 19, 2026.