Danger score versus ER volume
Danger score versus ER volume
According to CPSC NEISS 2005-2024, Electric Water Heaters ranks #780 of 838 by danger score (25/100) at ER-volume #747 of 838 (132/yr). They are not the same ranking.
- #780
- danger rank of 838
- #747
- ER-volume rank of 838
- 25/100
- danger score
- 132/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 (25/100) across 838 scored CPSC product categories
25 Among the lowest lower than 93% 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 · 2024
Composite verdict
Composite Safety Score: 48/100
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.
| Dimension | Value | National percentile | Weight applied | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Injury severity (hospitalization + fatality blend) | 9 | 72nd | 35% | CPSC NEISS 20-year severity index |
| Annual ER injury volume | 132 | 10th | 30% | CPSC NEISS estimated annual ER-treated injuries |
| 5-year injury trend | -73% | 18th | 15% | CPSC NEISS 5-year % change in ER-treated injuries |
| Consumer incident reports | 130 | 86th | 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 2,382 estimated ER injuries land on the body
Body-part shares from the same CPSC NEISS injury_types extract for product code 119. Segments sum to 2,382 - 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 Laundry & Household Appliances 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.
Laundry & Household Appliances danger scores
How this 25/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for electric water heaters - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume 132 ER visits/yr Low volume
- Severity (hospitalization rate) 9.0% High admission rate
- Fatality rate 0.00% No recorded fatalities
- 5-year trend-73%
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 20-year NEISS window from 2005 to 2024, injury counts for electric water heaters are declining by about 73% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2019 (311 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2021 (32 estimated visits). The single most common ER diagnosis is electric shock to the all parts body, accounting for approximately 885 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by burn, electrical to the face (115 cases). The 45-54 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 755 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 9.0% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 130 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how electric water heaters 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 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 52 | 0 | |
| 15-24 | 71 | 88 | |
| 25-34 | 308 | 131 | |
| 35-44 | 303 | 154 | |
| 45-54 | 566 | 189 | |
| 55-64 | 379 | 15 | |
| 65-74 | 79 | 0 | |
| 75+ | 46 | 0 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| All Parts Body | Electric Shock | |
| Face | Burn, Electrical | |
| Finger | Burn, Electrical | |
| Lower Arm | Burn, Scald | |
| Hand | Crushing | |
| Hand | Other | |
| Head | Other | |
| Lower Leg | Laceration | |
| Eyeball | Other | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Lower Arm | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Upper Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Eyeball | Contusions, Abr. |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
53YOM WAS WORKING ON A WATER HEATER AT HOME AND THE ELECTRICAL CONNECTION CABLE HIT HIM ON THE LEFT SIDE OF HIS FACE CAUSING HIM TO FALL 3 FEET FROM A LADDER AND RECEIVING A SHOCK DX: ELECTRICAL INJURY IN ADULT; HEMATOMA OF TONGUE
55YOM - PATIENT PRESENT FOR BURN AND BLURRED VISION. PT WAS WORKING ON A WATER HEATER AND IT EXPLODED. DX: SECOND DEGREE BURN OF HAND.
34YOM PT PUTTING IN A NEW HOT WATER HEATER ELECTRIC WHEN HE GRABBED A WIRE CAUSING HIS RT FOREARM TO EXPLODE SEVERE PAIN DX ELECTRICAL BURN R TFOREARM
63 YOF WAS BURNED AFTER HER ELECTRIC WATER HEATER CAUGHT FIRE AND MELTED HER BATHROOM SEAT COVER WHICH MELTED ON HER HAND. FD NS. DX: LEFT HAND PALMAR ASPECT SUPERFICIAL SECOND DEGREE BURN.
83YOM HAD HIS ELECTRIC HOT WATER HEATER CATCH FIRE IN THE BASEMENT WHICH CAUSED A HOUSE FIRE INHALED THE SMOKE COUGHING WHEEZING FD WAS ON SCENE DX: SMOKE INHALATION NO COHGB DONE
59 YOM HURT HAND INSTALLING WATER HEATER AT HOME 2 DAYS AGO. DX HAND HAND CELLULITIS
54YOM COMPLAINED OF BEING TREMULUS IN FINGERS OF LEFT HAND AFTER ELECTRICLAL SHOCK WHILE REPAIRING A WATER HEATER. DX ELECTRICAL SHOCK OF HAND
X 51YOM WAS WORKING ON ELECTRIC WATER HEATER AND BECAME LIGHTHEADED DX LIGHTHEADED
27YOF S/P ELECTRIC SHOCK, GRABBED BROKEN HOT WATER HEATER IN BASEMENT & SUSTAINED ELECTRIC SHOCK W/ LOC & FALLING INTO FOOT OF WATER +SMALL AREA OF BURNS TO R PALMAR SURFACE, SMALL BLACK 1CM LESION TO L PALMAR SURFACE DX ELECTRIC SHOCK
38YOM CRUSH HAND AND ABR FINGER, MOVING WATER HEATER & IT FELL ON HAND
66 YOM WAS INSTALLING WATER HEATER AT HOME AND DROPPED IT. DX: LACERATION OF LT LEG
60YOM WHO LIFTED A WATER HEATER AT HOME AND NOW HAS LOWER BACK PAIN DX MYOFASCIAL STRAIN
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
The consumer says the pressure vessel failed causing a leak around the top. He says that it caused the unit to short out,and start a fire in the tank insulation. The consumer says that the circuit breaker shorted out by itself. The consumer says the pressure vessel of a water heater should never fail. He had his first water heater for 22 years with no issues. He wrote a letter to the manufacturer via regular mail over a week ago and is awaiting a response. He says one whole side of the heater was blackened. His plumbing contractor took it away and replaced it.
Control panel overheated, burning wires and plastic panel on 2019 Rheem Performance Plus 40 Gallon electric hot water heater. Already replaced unit once, three months after install in October 2019. Happened again this week.
On August 18, 2019 my Rheem XE50M12EC55U1 electric water heater purchased in July 2018 at Home Depot tripped the circuit breaker. On inspection, the wires inside had completely melted and caught fire. I have spent the past two weeks trimming and re-connecting the wiring, but after about a week of use the wires melt again. I have a 30 di-pole breaker installed with 10 gauge wire, which should provide enough capacity to power the 5500 amp unit. It is simply unsafe, and it appears Rheem has not corrected the issues that caused the XE50M12EC55U0 recall on May 26, 2016.
The electric water heater failed. Consumer reported smelling an odor coming from the basement that was coming from under the heater. There was a lot of smoke. Upon seeing the smoke consumer tripped the circuit breaker, then used a dry powder fire extinguisher.
At 3am(cst) this morning I heard a crackling noise from my bathroom, when I ran in there to check it out the upper element's wiring was on fire. I threw the breaker to cut off all electricity and it fizzled out on it's own. No one was close by or messing with the water heater and no hot water was in use.
The emergency cut-off circuit tripped due to overheating of the water. The water was hot enough that even after being off all night, the water was still scalding hot the next morning, eight hours later. Rheem has agreed to provide warranty/recall service. Thanks to the CPSC highlighting this issue and making a contact number for Rheem available. Without this information, I likely would have just reset the device or replaced parts that weren't the true issue, unwittingly risking a house fire or serious burn.
We have had numerous issues with our water heater making noise and preciously tripping our breakers off due to poor design in the upper wiring for which we paid to have it repaired. Lasy night we came home and the home was full of an electrical smoke. We discovered it was the front panel of our Water Heater by Rheem. It as totally blackened around the panel. We called the company as as soon as they heard the model # the rep said to take it back immediately for a new one.
We moved into our condo in June of 2019. Yesterday, August 24th, 2020, our water heater caught on fire. Luckily, we were able to put out the fire and contain it to the closet it was in before the fire department arrived.
Showing 8 of 130 reports.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to electric water heaters on the CPSC website.
Compare beyond Laundry & Household Appliances
Nationwide peers by danger score, ER volume & hospitalization
Three PlainSafety-derived comparison paths for Electric Water Heaters: cross-group products nearest on danger score (25/100), estimated annual ER visits (132/yr), and hospitalization share (9.0%). Same-group neighbours stay in Related Products above.
Similar danger score
Nearest cross-group products by PlainSafety danger score (100-point scale).
Similar ER visit volume
Nearest cross-group products by NEISS estimated annual ER visits.
Similar hospitalization rate
Nearest cross-group products by % of NEISS ER visits resulting in hospital admission.
Related Products in Laundry & Household Appliances
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 Water Heaters ranks #780 of 838 scored CPSC product categories by PlainSafety danger score and #747 of 838 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does electric water heaters rank on danger score versus ER volume?
Among 838 scored CPSC product categories, electric water heaters ranks #780 by PlainSafety danger score (25/100) and #747 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume (132/yr). The two rankings come from the same NEISS extract and are not the same order.
What are the most common injuries from electric water heaters?
The most common injury is electric shock to the all parts body, accounting for approximately 885 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from electric water heaters increasing or decreasing?
Down 73% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for electric water heaters injuries?
The 45-54 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 755 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by electric water heaters?
Of all ER visits involving electric water heaters, approximately 9.0% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (91.0%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with electric water heaters?
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.
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.