NEW YORK -- Dyson is recalling about 381,000 portable electric heaters because they can develop an electric short and overheat, posing a fire hazard.

The company is aware of 82 incidents worldwide involving the recalled heaters short-circuiting and overheating, including four reports of heaters with burned or melted internal parts. No injuries or property damage have been reported. Approximately 338,000 heaters were sold in the U.S. and about 43,000 in Canada.

"Around the world, we have seen four cases of heaters with contained burning within the machine," said Max Conze, Dyson CEO, in an emailed statement Tuesday.

"Although there have been no instances of personal injury or damage to property, it's four too many. We ask owners to visit www.dysonrecall.com to register their machine, which will be fixed, cleaned, serviced and returned to them, with a new two year parts and labour warranty, free of charge."

The recall includes all Dyson Hot heaters and Dyson Hot+Cool heaters with model number AM04 and all Dyson Hot+Cool heaters with model number AM05. The model number is found above the Dyson logo on the product information sticker on the underside of the heater's base.

The heaters are 23 inches tall with a round base and an upper body shaped like an elongated ring. They have no external fan blades and are made of plastic. The heaters were available in the colours silver, black and silver, blue and grey, grey and silver, pink and grey, purple and grey, and white and grey. Each heater came with a remote control.

In Canada, the heaters were sold between July 2011 to March 2014 at a number of retailers including Sears, Canadian Tire, Future Shop, Best Buy, The Bay, Home Outfitters, Costco, Home Hardware, Leon's and Bed Bath and Beyond.

In the U.S., the heaters were sold from September 2011 to March 2014 for about $399. They were sold at Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, Costco, Fry's, Kohl's, Lowe's, Macy's, Sears, Target and other retailers nationwide. The heaters were sold online at websites for Abt, Amazon, Dyson, Groupon, HSN, QVC and Walmart.

The company says consumers should immediately stop using the heaters and unplug them. Dyson Inc. can be contacted for a free repair.

Canadian customers can call (866) 876-0749, 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Monday through Friday, and 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST on Saturday.

American customers should call the company at (866) 297-5303, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central Time Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Dyson may also be reached online at www.dysonrecall.com, where consumers can register their heaters to get them fixed free of charge.

-- With files from The Canadian Press