CPSC NEISS · code 318

Electric Furnaces

Electric Furnaces: danger rank #838 of 838 is not ER-volume rank #836 of 838 (32 estimated ER visits a year; declining by about 100% over the last five years).

Kitchen Small Appliances & Housewares CPSC NEISS through 2017

Danger score versus ER volume

Danger score versus ER volume

According to CPSC NEISS 2005-2017, Electric Furnaces ranks #838 of 838 by danger score (11/100) at ER-volume #836 of 838 (32/yr). They are not the same ranking.

#838
danger rank of 838
#836
ER-volume rank of 838
11/100
danger score
32/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 (11/100) across 838 scored CPSC product categories

11 Among the lowest lower than 99%+ 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 · 2017

Composite verdict

Composite Safety Score: 11/100

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.

A
Dimension Value National percentile Weight applied Source
Injury severity (hospitalization + fatality blend) 0 0th 35% CPSC NEISS 20-year severity index
Annual ER injury volume 32 3rd 30% CPSC NEISS estimated annual ER-treated injuries
5-year injury trend -100% 24th 15% CPSC NEISS 5-year % change in ER-treated injuries
Consumer incident reports 5 34th 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 97 estimated ER injuries land on the body

Body-part shares from the same CPSC NEISS injury_types extract for product code 318. Segments sum to 97 - 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. Electric Furnaces11/100
Higher score = higher composite danger in this group. Peer set is other scored products sharing the same CPSC group.
0/100100/10011/100
PlainSafety danger score · Electric Furnaces

Source: CPSC NEISS danger-score model As of 2017

How this 11/100 score is built

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

  • Injury volume 32 ER visits/yr Low volume
  • Severity (hospitalization rate) 0.0% Low admission rate
  • Fatality rate 0.00% No recorded fatalities
  • 5-year trend-100%

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 13-year NEISS window from 2005 to 2017, injury counts for electric furnaces are declining by about 100% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2005 (67 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2017 (15 estimated visits). The single most common ER diagnosis is foreign body to the eyeball, accounting for approximately 67 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by electric shock to the all parts body (15 cases). The 15-24 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 67 cases over the NEISS window, and males appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 0.0% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.

Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 5 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 2 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how electric 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 2017-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.

Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2017)

020406080 200520132017 15
Estimated annual emergency-room visits for Electric Furnaces, CPSC NEISS

Source: CPSC NEISS national injury estimates As of 2017

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

Who Gets Injured?

Age Group Male Female Total
15-24 67 0 67
45-54 15 0 15
55-64 15 0 15

Most Common Injuries

Body Part Diagnosis Est. Injuries
Eyeball Foreign Body 67
All Parts Body Electric Shock 15
Wrist Puncture 15

Severity Breakdown

Treated/examined And Released 100.0% (97)

ER Visit Narratives

Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.

Age 55 · Male · Wrist · Puncture · 2017

55YOM WORKING ON A FURNACE, GOT AN ELECTRICAL CHARGE, WITHDREW HAND, IMPALED HIS DORSAL WRIST ON METAL DX-PUNCTURE WOUND LT WRIST

Age 49 · Male · All Parts Body · Electric Shock · 2013

49YM SUSTAINED AN ELECTRICK CHARGE @ FURNACE FROM WIRE TO BACK OF HEADTRAV. DOWN TO ANT. CHEST>>ELECTRIC SHOCK

Consumer Incident Reports

Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.

5/25/2021 · Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received · LAKEWOOD ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING · Washington

My wife uses a Lakewood Model 5600/7 Oil-Filled Radiant Electric Heater (manufactured by Lakewood Engineering & Manufacturing Company of Chicago) at night to keep her bedroom warm. She keeps the heater on the first of three power settings and the thermostat set to just a bit less than halfway around its dial between minimum and maximum. During the night while she was sleeping, the heater started emitting a strong odor of burnt plastic that filled the room, but it did not immediately awaken her. She eventually woke up with a severe headache and nausea in the morning. We immediately unplugged the heater and moved it outside, where it continued to emit this foul burned odor. It was obvious to us that something inside failed, though it was still putting out heat. We also opened windows in her room for cross-ventillation and put strong fans at the window sills to evacuate the strong odor. During the removal of the heater and placing of the fan, the smell was so strong, I got nauseous and developed a headache, and my eyes began to sting and water profusely. It took several hours of circulating fresh air into the room to make it habitable again, and many of the fabrics on my wife's bedding and clothing were saturated with the odor. There was no obvious smoke, soot or aerosols visible. This is the SECOND time a similar failure has happened with this exact brand and model of heater, but the first time (two years ago) the appliance was in use and we detected the smell immediately. In both cases, we'd already been using the appliances for at least two years.

2/3/2024 · Incident, No Injury · Carrier Corporation · Missouri

While cleaning the blower and A coil of a ten year old Carrier furnace i noticed that the unused(vertical) drip pan had pulled away from the left wall by about 2 inches. This created a dead space where moisture and mold will accumulate. Model number 25HBC34BA300. Notified Carrier by email and asked for their advice on how to fix this. They provided no help and gave me the names of 4 recommended contractors but none of them would talk about it, not even [REDACTED] who installed it. Came up with a solution to firmly secure the unused drip pan to the wall with 2 screws and seal it with foil tape.

2/2/2012 · Incident, No Injury · Trane, American Standard and SchlageLink · Ohio

Trane funace and A/C inslled just over a year ago. Furnace is covered in standing and leaking water, and rusting. Concerned about electical short, CO leak and system failure.

11/29/2012 · Incident, No Injury · Nordyne, LLC · North Carolina

The consumer says that last night the furnace was seton 72. She started smelling an electrical burning scent. She heard a loud "boom" and then saw that the motor to the furnace was in flames. The consumer says the unit was only on for about 15-30 minutes before the incident occurred. She used a fire extinguisher to put the fire out. The consumer contacted the manufacturer who told her the unit is out of warranty. They said they never heard of any issues with the unit before.

10/23/2013 · Incident, No Injury · Daikin Comfort Technologies Manufacturing, L.P. · Maryland

The board on the unit burned up in the middle of the night.

Product Recalls

Search for active and past recalls related to electric 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 Electric Furnaces: cross-group products nearest on danger score (11/100), estimated annual ER visits (32/yr), and hospitalization share (0.0%). 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, Electric Furnaces ranks #838 of 838 scored CPSC product categories by PlainSafety danger score and #836 of 838 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

Among 838 scored CPSC product categories, electric furnaces ranks #838 by PlainSafety danger score (11/100) and #836 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume (32/yr). The two rankings come from the same NEISS extract and are not the same order.

What are the most common injuries from electric furnaces?

The most common injury is foreign body to the eyeball, accounting for approximately 67 injuries over 20 years.

Are injuries from electric furnaces increasing or decreasing?

Down 100% over 5 years.

Who is most at risk for electric furnaces injuries?

The 15-24 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 67 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.

What happens when someone is injured by electric furnaces?

Of all ER visits involving electric furnaces, approximately 0.0% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (100.0%) are treated and released from the emergency department.

How can I report a safety problem with electric 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 Electric Furnaces is compiled directly from CPSC NEISS and SaferProducts.gov records, current through 2017. 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.