Natural gas furnaces need enough space and airflow to work right.

Your furnace can get too hot if it doesn’t have enough room. It also makes it challenging for our technicians to complete furnace repair.

Routine furnace maintenance is crucial to keep your equipment operating well. A regularly serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could lower your heating expenses.

Related: How Does Furnace Maintenance Impact the Energy Efficiency of Your Home?

Maintenance often helps us discover troubles before they start. This could help lessen future repair costs and possibly lengthen the life of your furnace.

So how much area should your equipment really have?

How Much Space Does My Furnace Need?

If you’re updating your basement or enclosing your furnace room, you should take a look at manufacturer specifications and Branchville ordinances for clearance guidelines.

As a general recommendation, your heater should be 30 inches away from furnace room walls on all sides. This allows our service experts to conveniently work on it.

You also need to check the room has ample airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an outdated furnace with a metal flue.

Related: Furnace Service or Furnace Replacement: What to Consider

This model of furnace needs combustion air from the surrounding space. If there’s not enough air, hazardous gas fumes and toxic carbon monoxide could back draft into your home.

If your furnace is located in a tiny room with a gas water heater, you may need to add supplemental openings. This could involve a fully louvered door or vents in the walls.

You don’t need to think about airflow and ventilation as much if you have a modern, high-efficiency furnace with PVC piping. Your unit uses one pipe as an exhaust vent and the other to pull in air.

Keep Combustible Materials Away from Your Furnace

Although furnace rooms function as laundry and storage space, you should keep yours free of items that could be fire hazards.

This includes:

  • Clotheslines
  • Cleaning or laundry products
  • Gasoline, paint or paint thinner
  • Rags and papers
  • Wood scraps and sawdust
  • Used filters

If you have a cat, put your litter box in another room. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could create wear on your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could circulate the stinky odors throughout your home.

You should also frequently sweep around your furnace to prevent dust from developing.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you have to have furnace replacement or regular maintenance in Branchville, Willco Air Conditioning, Refrigeration & Heating Inc. can expertly take care of your needs. Our highly trained technicians can fix any heating equipment model or brand.

Call us at 862-345-6896 or use our online scheduler to get an appointment right away.