Bauer

Bauer is the brand behind the Electric Hot Water Bottle, a pink rechargeable heat pack supplied in white cardboard packaging with an image of the product on the face, made in China¹. It is a comfort product rather than emergency kit, but it appears in UK households and it has been the subject of an official safety notice, so it matters to a household getting ready for emergencies in two ways: knowing whether your own unit is affected, and knowing what it can and cannot do when the power fails.

The Bauer Electric Hot Water Bottle

The product is an electric hot water bottle that heats from the mains rather than from a kettle. In March 2025 the government published a product safety report for it under PSD number 2412-0084, notified by Local Authority Trading Standards¹. The report records the risk type as fire and the risk level as serious². The affected model is CHB-006, item number 38930¹.

The report states the product is not counterfeit and lists no online marketplace, so this concerns the genuine item as sold through retail channels².

What it means in a power cut

An electric hot water bottle depends on mains power to heat, so in a power cut it gives you nothing until the supply returns. Treat it as a comfort item for cold evenings, not as part of your heating and cooking plan. For keeping warm and seeing in the dark during an outage, the Met Office's essentials are battery candles, torches and batteries, and a mobile phone power pack⁴, and you can report or check a power cut by calling 105⁵. Our guides on power cuts, backup power and lighting set out what to keep ready.

Charging and battery safety at home

Like any rechargeable device, charge it safely. Manchester Fire and Rescue Service advises only using the charger that came with the battery, because the wrong charger can lead to overheating and a fire starting, and never leaving a charging battery unattended or charging overnight⁶. West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service advises making sure batteries are suitable for the device and meet the manufacturer's specifications⁷. If you are disposing of an old unit, do not put batteries or electrical items in any household bin: take them to a household waste recycling centre or a designated collection point in shops and supermarkets⁸.

Checking for safety notices and registering

Check whether any product you own is subject to a recall on the Electrical Safety First website or the government website⁹. Fire and rescue services also recommend registering products with the manufacturer, entering details such as the model number, serial number and purchase date, so the maker can contact you with safety information or recall notices¹⁰. That advice applies to any rechargeable item in the house, not only this one.

For the wider picture of what to keep ready, start with getting started and our emergency kit guide.