Before you buy a kitchen appliance: check CPSC recalls and work out the running cost

Two checks take a few minutes before you buy a countertop appliance, new or secondhand. The first is whether the model is subject to a recall or a safety warning from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The second is what it will cost to run. Both start with numbers printed on the appliance: its model number and its wattage.

Recall or warning: the difference matters

A recall comes with a remedy from the company. When about 17,600 Kidisle single-serve coffeemakers, model KC101B, were recalled on June 11, 2026, because they can clog and release hot liquid or steam unexpectedly, owners were told to stop using them and contact Kidisle for a full refund. To get it, owners are asked to unplug the coffeemaker and cut its power cord, write “Recalled” on it in permanent marker, and email Kidisle a photo showing the cut cord and the model number.

A product safety warning can come with no remedy at all. On October 15, 2026, the CPSC issued two for kitchen appliances:

• Tristar Products' Power Quick Pot 6-quart pressure cookers, model Y6D-36: about 393,000 sold at Walmart.com, Amazon.com, eBay.com and other retailers from about July 2018 to November 2023, for $44 to $160. The lid can open while the cooker is pressurized. The CPSC has 24 reports of the cookers suddenly expelling hot contents, causing serious burns. Tristar has refused to recall the cookers or offer a remedy.
• Kalorik MAXX and MAXX Advance air fryer ovens with French doors: the CPSC's investigation found that the spring-loaded doors can suddenly shut on a user's arm while the oven is running, causing burns, and it is aware of dozens of reported burns. The original importers, which sold the ovens from April 2020 to January 8, 2024, went out of business and cannot conduct a recall. The current brand owner, The Legacy Companies, which sold the ovens after June 23, 2025, has declined to take part in a recall.

For both, the CPSC says to stop using them immediately. It urges owners to dispose of the pressure cookers, and to dispose of the ovens following local hazardous waste procedures. The Tristar warning adds: “Do not sell or give away these hazardous products.”

How to check a model

1. Find the model number. On the Tristar cooker it is on a label on the back; on the Kidisle coffeemaker it is on a sticker on the underside.
2. Search the CPSC's recalls and product safety warnings. The listing can be filtered by hazard, category, country of manufacture and date.
3. Do not rely on the model number alone. The Kalorik warning says the affected ovens may have been sold under various SKUs, item numbers or model numbers, so match the product description too.
4. Subscribe to the CPSC's recall emails or RSS feed, and report a dangerous product or injury at SaferProducts.gov.

Run the same search before you buy anything secondhand. The Tristar cookers, for example, were sold new from about July 2018 to November 2023, and the CPSC's warning about them came in October 2026.

Working out the running cost

Appliances state their power in watts. Virginia Cooperative Extension's guide to estimating appliance energy gives the formula: wattage times hours of use per day, divided by 1,000, equals daily kilowatt-hours (kWh). Multiply the kWh by your electricity price to get the cost.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) puts the average US residential price at 18.16 cents per kWh in August 2026, a preliminary figure, up from 17.57 cents in August 2025. State averages differ widely: 12.87 cents in Louisiana, 15.91 cents in Texas, 29.75 cents in California and 30.48 cents in Massachusetts.

Scale the table to your own cooking time. A 1,225-watt toaster oven run for 20 minutes uses at most about 0.41 kWh, or about 7.4 cents at the US average. For an appliance not in the table, such as an air fryer or kettle, use the wattage its maker states.

Treat the result as a ceiling rather than a forecast. The Virginia guide notes that the actual amount of power consumed depends on the setting you choose.

What these checks do not tell you

A clean recall search does not mean a product is safe, only that no recall or warning has been issued for it yet. A wattage figure tells you the rated power, not how long the appliance takes to finish a job. For the rest, read the maker's specifications, warranty and returns policy before you pay; our guide to product warranties explains what federal law requires.