CPSC NEISS · code 309

Coal Furnaces

Coal Furnaces: danger rank #20 of 838 is not ER-volume rank #798 of 838 (80 estimated ER visits a year; roughly flat over the last five years).

Kitchen Small Appliances & Housewares CPSC NEISS through 2021

Danger score versus ER volume

Danger score versus ER volume

According to CPSC NEISS 2005-2021, Coal Furnaces ranks #20 of 838 by danger score (48/100) at ER-volume #798 of 838 (80/yr). They are not the same ranking.

#20
danger rank of 838
#798
ER-volume rank of 838
48/100
danger score
80/yr
estimated ER visits (avg)

Danger score combines injury volume, hospitalization, fatality, and five-year trend. ER volume is the average annual NEISS estimate alone. Rank 1 is highest on each list.

Where this category's danger score sits nationally

Danger score (48/100) across 838 scored CPSC product categories

48 Higher than most more dangerous than 97% of 838 product categories

scored CPSC product categories, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more product categories. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source CPSC NEISS, PlainSafety danger-score model · 2021

Composite verdict

Composite Safety Score: 47/100

One verdict blending 4 independently-sourced dimensions from two separate CPSC systems, each benchmarked against all 838 scored product categories by percentile rather than raw value, so no single huge-volume category can dominate the scale.

C
Dimension Value National percentile Weight applied Source
Injury severity (hospitalization + fatality blend) 50 100th 35% CPSC NEISS 20-year severity index
Annual ER injury volume 80 6th 30% CPSC NEISS estimated annual ER-treated injuries
5-year injury trend 0% 66th 15% CPSC NEISS 5-year % change in ER-treated injuries
Consumer incident reports 0 0th 20% CPSC SaferProducts.gov public incident report count

Methodology: each dimension is ranked against the full population's p10/p25/p50/p75/p90 breakpoints and interpolated to a 0-100 percentile; the composite is the weighted average of available percentiles. See methodology for the full benchmark table.

Where 801 estimated ER injuries land on the body

Body-part shares from the same CPSC NEISS injury_types extract for product code 309. Segments sum to 801 - a body-map mix, not a danger score or ER-volume rank.

Two danger lenses

Same-group peer scores and this product's dial

The bars compare PlainSafety danger scores inside the Kitchen Small Appliances & Housewares group (same CPSC NEISS extract). The dial is this product's score alone on the Low/Moderate/High bands. Do not read a peer bar as an ER-visit count.

Kitchen Small Appliances & Housewares danger scores

1. Coal Furnaces48/1002. Thermostats (for Heating …47/1003. Outdoor Patio Heaters Or …42/1004. Heaters Or Heating System…42/1005. Portable Gas Or Lp Heaters42/1006. Electric Heaters, Not Els…41/1007. Radiators (excluding Vehi…40/1008. Pipes (excluding Smoking …40/100
Higher score = higher composite danger in this group. Peer set is other scored products sharing the same CPSC group.
0/100100/10048/100
PlainSafety danger score · Coal Furnaces

Source: CPSC NEISS danger-score model As of 2021

How this 48/100 score is built

The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for coal furnaces - no opinion, no editorializing:

  • Injury volume 80 ER visits/yr Low volume
  • Severity (hospitalization rate) 50.0% Very high admission rate
  • Fatality rate 0.00% No recorded fatalities
  • 5-year trend0%

Band labels compare this category against the corpus of 838 scored CPSC product categories, see the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.

What the CPSC Data Shows

Across the 17-year NEISS window from 2005 to 2021, injury counts for coal furnaces 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 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)

050100150200250 2005200620072008200920102012201320162021 16
Estimated annual emergency-room visits for Coal Furnaces, CPSC NEISS

Source: CPSC NEISS national injury estimates As of 2021

Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only

Who Gets Injured?

Age Group Male Female Total
25-34 154 0 154
35-44 77 151 228
45-54 149 0 149
55-64 80 158 238
65-74 0 32 32

Most Common Injuries

Body Part Diagnosis Est. Injuries
All Parts Body Anoxia 192
Finger Crushing 141
Face Burns, Thermal 92
Eyeball Burns, Thermal 77
Foot Burns, Thermal 72
Lower Trunk Other 72
Hand Contusions, Abr. 71
Eyeball Foreign Body 68
Face Derma/conjunct 16

Severity Breakdown

Treated/examined And Released 49.4% (396)
Treated And Transferred 39.6% (317)
Treated And Admitted/hospitalized 11.0% (88)

ER Visit Narratives

Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.

Age 59 · Female · All Parts Body · Anoxia · 2021

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

Age 69 · Female · All Parts Body · Anoxia · 2016

69 YF WAS AT HOME WHERE THE COAL FURNACE WAS MALFUNCTIONING AND PT BECAME DIZZY AND LIGHTHEADED. DX ANOXIA

Age 38 · Male · Eyeball · Burns, Thermal · 2013

38 YOM WAS PUTTING WOOD IN THE FURNACE; SPARK BLEW OUT HITTING EYEDX: BURNS TO EYE----------NO FD

Age 45 · Male · Face · Burns, Thermal · 2013

2ND DEG FACE BURNS/45YOM TRYING TO LIGHT COAL FURNACE WHEN IGNITOR FLUID BURST INTO FLAMES 3O MIN AGO.NO F.D. IN ATTEND.

Age 69 · Female · Face · Derma/conjunct · 2012

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

Age 61 · Female · Foot · Burns, Thermal · 2010

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

Age 27 · Male · Hand · Contusions, Abr. · 2009

27 YOM WAS PUTTING WOOD IN FURNACE AND INJURED HANDDX HAND CONTUSION

Age 27 · Male · Face · Burns, Thermal · 2009

SUSTAINED A FLASHBURN TO THE FACE WHILE TRHOWING A LOG INTO WOOD BURNING STOVE VS FURNACE>>BURN

Age 62 · Male · All Parts Body · Anoxia · 2007

62 YO M CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING FROM FAULTY COAL FURANCE CO LEVEL12.2*

Age 44 · Female · All Parts Body · Anoxia · 2007

44 YO F CARBON MONOXIDE EXPOSURE FROM FAULTY COAL FURNACE CO LEVEL22.1*

Age 56 · Female · Finger · Crushing · 2007

PT WAS PUTTING WOOD INTO THE FURNACE AND SMASHED FINGER BETWEEN TWOPIECES OF WOOD------------DX: CRUSH INJURY LEFT 3RD FINGER

Age 39 · Female · Finger · Crushing · 2006

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.

Compare beyond Kitchen Small Appliances & Housewares

Nationwide peers by danger score, ER volume & hospitalization

Three PlainSafety-derived comparison paths for Coal Furnaces: cross-group products nearest on danger score (48/100), estimated annual ER visits (80/yr), and hospitalization share (50.0%). Same-group neighbours stay in Related Products above.

Read with this product

About this data

CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports form the basis of this page. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments.

According to PlainSafety's CPSC NEISS corpus ranking, Coal Furnaces ranks #20 of 838 scored CPSC product categories by PlainSafety danger score and #798 of 838 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does coal furnaces rank on danger score versus ER volume?

Among 838 scored CPSC product categories, coal furnaces ranks #20 by PlainSafety danger score (48/100) and #798 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume (80/yr). The two rankings come from the same NEISS extract and are not the same order.

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.

Data on Coal Furnaces is compiled directly from CPSC NEISS and SaferProducts.gov records, current through 2021. See our methodology for details.

Disclaimer: This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.

PlainSafety is rendered directly from U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recall and incident records, no number is typed in by an editor. Product recall timelines and hazard labels are drawn from CPSC recall records for this product. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.