CPSC Warns Consumers to Stop Using KH158 Carbon Monoxide Detectors Sold Under 18 Brand Names

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on August 20 told consumers to immediately stop using a plug-in carbon monoxide detector sold under 18 separate brand names, after receiving 91 reports that the devices failed to sound an alarm in the presence of gas or CO leaks. The agency is treating the announcement as a formal safety warning rather than a recall, because the manufacturer has declined to cooperate.

The product, a 4-in-1 Plug In Natural Gas and Carbon Monoxide Detector sold under model number KH158, was made by Shenzhen Kanghua Shengshi Industrial Co., Ltd, doing business as KH Alert, of China. CPSC says roughly 376,974 units moved through Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, Micro Center and Snapklik between June 2024 and July 2026, at prices ranging from $13 to $140.

One factory, eighteen storefronts

What makes this case unusual is not the failure rate — combination smoke and CO alarms get flagged by CPSC several times a year — but the way the same hardware was distributed. Shenzhen Kanghua Shengshi sold the identical KH158 unit under brand names including Hembisen, KH Alert, JNHCD, Sooguard, NICGOL, ARIKON, KOABBIT and YOJOCK, among others, spreading a single defect across 18 unrelated-looking product listings. A retailer or marketplace that tracks safety complaints by storefront name rather than by manufacturer and model number has no straightforward way to see that all 18 trace back to one factory.

CPSC said the detectors are marketed for general home use and claim to measure temperature and humidity in addition to detecting carbon monoxide and combustible gas. The agency is aware of 91 reports of units failing to alarm despite dangerous gas or CO concentrations in the room.

Why a warning instead of a recall

CPSC does not have unilateral authority to order a recall — it can only issue one if a manufacturer agrees to cooperate, or after a lengthy administrative or court process. Shenzhen Kanghua Shengshi has not agreed to a recall of the KH158, which left the commission with a public warning as its only immediate tool. The agency is urging consumers not to purchase or resell the detectors and to dispose of any unit already installed in a home.

Consumer Reports had flagged the same hardware months earlier. The organization tied a plug-in detector sold under the Hembisen brand name, labeled model KH-158, to complaints describing four people sickened by exposure the device failed to catch — including a 15-year-old and a 14-year-old treated in February and a 60-year-old man hospitalized in March. Amazon pulled the listings from sale while it investigated the reports, according to Consumer Reports’ account of the incident timeline.

What CPSC recommends

The agency’s guidance for replacing an affected unit follows its standard recommendations for combination alarms:

• Carbon monoxide detectors belong on every level of the home, plus one outside each separate sleeping area.
• Choose battery-operated detectors or units with a battery backup, so a power outage does not leave a home unprotected.
• Buy only detectors certified to the UL 2034 safety standard — the KH158 warning did not specify whether the recalled units carried that certification.
• Test detectors on the schedule printed in the manual, not on an ad hoc basis, and swap batteries at the same time.

Consumers who believe they own an affected detector, regardless of which of the 18 brand names appears on the packaging, can report incidents or injuries to CPSC through SaferProducts.gov. The commission’s warning does not include a refund or exchange program, since the manufacturer has not agreed to any consumer remedy.