I bought two IKEA Bilresa button switches (not the wheel type). Extremely cheap Matter devices. 79 Sek in Sweden. When I inserted new IKEA Ladda batteries one of the switches literally caught fire. A big hole was burnt at the top of the switch before I managed to pry out one of the batteries. I can not understand what on earth they have done to make it possible for two 1.2v batteries to light plastic on fire. I thought that was physically impossible.
When I tried to write a review at IKEA they refused to post it. They do not seem to want that kind of information on their site. The review is stuck in limbo waiting for approval and I am blocked from writing another one.
The switch that did not catch fire consumes battery power at an alarming rate…
It might be a good idea to give IKEA some time to iron out the quality issues with this one. Or at least insert batteries in the store rather than taking the chance of burning down your home.
Did you try contacting their customer support?
Sounds to me like a faulty battery. Since both the button and the battery are IKEA products, you should contact their customer support ASAP.
Still, now you made me worried about the two Bilresa buttons I have at home. 
Even single coin cell can do that.
Your remote or battery is defective or you inserted battery on wrong polarity…
Have a look at this video on Adam Savage’s Tested on YouTube it shows how battery’s can have manufacturing defects and quality control inconsistencies.
The Surprising Flaws in 18650 Lithium-Ion Batteries
I was going to get some of the rechargeable battery’s form there but now I wont hearing this unless they test them to see how well they are made.
Yes, I returned the control the day after and got a refund.
The batteries were inserted the correct way around. It was most definitely the remote that was defective. The batteries did what they are designed to do: delivered as much energy as they are capable of when the circuit they are in let them.
IKEA’s LADDA batteries use a different chemistry (Nickel-Metal-Hydride).
NiMH is an older, long-established battery technology that is far less prone to thermal runaway because its electrolyte is not flammable.
I agree with dvogonen that the cause may have been due to the Bilresa device itself. A short-circuit would discharge the battery’s energy in a short span of time and potentially produce a lot of heat within the device.
Hopefully IKEA will do a failure analysis and determine the cause. For example, it might be due to a defective component or a defect in the assembly process such as a solder blob that causes a short in the circuitry.
My understanding is that batteries with manufacturing or design defects can catch fire. In some cases, these faulty batteries can get so hot that something near them catches fire.
Did the plastic case start to burn, too, or just melt? If it is the former, then these devices are made with material that should not be used! Considering how cheap they are, I would suspect that the plastic is not flame retardant (FR) which is more expensive.
(I add design defect because the design could be such that avoiding manufacturing defects is very difficult.)
I agree, but not because electrolyte is less flammable.
From here:
Lithium-ion batteries can be a fire or explosion hazard as they contain flammable electrolytes.
Easy to find videos of people deliberately (or accidentally) puncturing a Li-ion battery (in phone, scooter, etc) and the result is a self-sustaining and aggressive fire. “Self-sustaining” because it generates its own oxygen which makes it challenging to extinguish the fire.
NiMH batteries don’t behave like that.
My comment was about
I don’t see this correlation.
And I agree that li-ion batteries are way more unpredictable and potentially more dangerous than ni-mh batteries.
But way less than some “like-follow-me hunting” youtube videos present.
If you have a look at the safety test sheets of samsung/lg/panasonic li-ion batteries, you see they are pretty safe against any abuse. My personal experience agrees that.
Perhaps you didn’t understand why I had posted my first comment.
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User “a_lunatic” posted a link to a YouTube video about the flaws in Lithium-Ion batteries.
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I pointed out that user “dvogonen” did not use Lithium-Ion batteries. IKEA LADDA batteries are NiMH, a battery chemistry not prone to thermal runaway because its electrolyte does not promote/sustain combustion.
Ahh, sorry for that!
I don’t watch videos…