Coal Furnaces
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Kitchen Small Appliances & Housewares · CPSC Code 309
Stable over 5 years
The verdict
Coal Furnaces carry a danger score of 48/100 (moderate risk), driven by roughly 80 ER-treated injuries a year that are roughly flat over the last five years.
- 48/100
- danger score (moderate risk)
- 80
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 50.0%
- end in hospital admission
- 55-64
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 309 - last data year 2021.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 48/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for coal furnaces - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume80 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)50.0%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend0%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Coal Furnaces (CPSC product code 309, in the Kitchen Small Appliances & Housewares category) generate an estimated 80 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 800 ER-treated injuries across the 17-year span from 2005 to 2021. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 48/100 for this category (moderate risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are roughly flat over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2007 (230 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2021 (16 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for coal furnaces is anoxia to the all parts body, accounting for approximately 192 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by crushing to the finger (141 cases). The 55-64 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 238 cases over the NEISS window, and females appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 50.0% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 0 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 13 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how coal furnaces fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2021-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2021)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25-34 | 154 | 0 | |
| 35-44 | 77 | 151 | |
| 45-54 | 149 | 0 | |
| 55-64 | 80 | 158 | |
| 65-74 | 0 | 32 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| All Parts Body | Anoxia | |
| Finger | Crushing | |
| Face | Burns, Thermal | |
| Eyeball | Burns, Thermal | |
| Foot | Burns, Thermal | |
| Lower Trunk | Other | |
| Hand | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Eyeball | Foreign Body | |
| Face | Derma/conjunct |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
59 YOF BOUGHT IN BY EMS VIA HELICOPTER FROM THE SCENE FOR CO TOXICITY. PT REMEMBERS TRYING TO TURN ON HER COAL FURNACE WHICH SHE USES FOR HOT WATER. AT SOME POINT IN TIME LOST CONSCIOUSESS FOR ~2HRS. WOKE UP AND WENT OUTSIDE FEELING UNWELL, WENT INTO HER HOUSE TO GET HER PHONE AND HER 3 DOGS WERE DEAD. CALLED EMS. CO READING WAS 2000PPM (HIGH)NRB FOR TRANSPORT 15L. DX; CO POISONING
69 YF WAS AT HOME WHERE THE COAL FURNACE WAS MALFUNCTIONING AND PT BECAME DIZZY AND LIGHTHEADED. DX ANOXIA
38 YOM WAS PUTTING WOOD IN THE FURNACE; SPARK BLEW OUT HITTING EYEDX: BURNS TO EYE----------NO FD
2ND DEG FACE BURNS/45YOM TRYING TO LIGHT COAL FURNACE WHEN IGNITOR FLUID BURST INTO FLAMES 3O MIN AGO.NO F.D. IN ATTEND.
69YF ALLERGIC TO CEDAR &ACC THREW A LOG IN THE FURNACE THEN GOT HIT WITH THE SMOKE WHEN OPENED FURNACE DOOR NOW WITH FACIAL RED>>DERMATITIS
3RD DEGREE BURN:61YOF PULLING TRAY ASHES OUT OF COAL FURNACE,DIDN'TFEEL PAIN WHEN ASHES HIT FOOT( NEUROPATHY)TOOK SOCK OFF,SKIN CAME OFF
27 YOM WAS PUTTING WOOD IN FURNACE AND INJURED HANDDX HAND CONTUSION
SUSTAINED A FLASHBURN TO THE FACE WHILE TRHOWING A LOG INTO WOOD BURNING STOVE VS FURNACE>>BURN
62 YO M CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING FROM FAULTY COAL FURANCE CO LEVEL12.2*
44 YO F CARBON MONOXIDE EXPOSURE FROM FAULTY COAL FURNACE CO LEVEL22.1*
PT WAS PUTTING WOOD INTO THE FURNACE AND SMASHED FINGER BETWEEN TWOPIECES OF WOOD------------DX: CRUSH INJURY LEFT 3RD FINGER
PT WAS PUTTING WOOD IN THE FURNACE AND SMASHED FINGER WITH A PIECE OFWOOD-------------------DX: CRUSH INJURY 3RD FINGER
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to coal furnaces on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are coal furnaces?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, coal furnaces have a danger score of 48/100 (moderate risk). An estimated 80 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from coal furnaces?
The most common injury is anoxia to the all parts body, accounting for approximately 192 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from coal furnaces increasing or decreasing?
Stable over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for coal furnaces injuries?
The 55-64 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 238 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by coal furnaces?
Of all ER visits involving coal furnaces, approximately 50.0% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (50.0%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with coal furnaces?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Kitchen Small Appliances & Housewares
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 48/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 55-64 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
