Natural gas furnaces need adequate space and airflow to work correctly.

Your furnace can overheat if it doesn’t have enough room. It also makes it difficult for our technicians to accomplish furnace repair.

Regular furnace maintenance is important to keep your unit working well. A routinely serviced furnace may work 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 problems before they begin. This could help lower future repair bills and likely lengthen the life of your system.

So how much area should your system really have?

How Much Space Does My Furnace Need?

If you’re updating your basement or enclosing your furnace room, you should research manufacturer specifications and Newton statutes for clearance guidelines.

As a general suggestion, your furnace should be 30 inches away from furnace room walls on all sides. This permits our service experts to easily repair it.

You also need to make sure the room has enough airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an older furnace with a metal flue.

Related: Furnace Service or Furnace Replacement: What to Consider

This model of furnace needs combustion air from the adjacent location. If there’s not enough air, unsafe gas fumes and deadly carbon monoxide could back draft into your home.

If your furnace is located in a little room with a gas water heater, you may need to add supplemental openings. This could consist of 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 newer, high-efficiency furnace with PVC piping. Your system uses one pipe as an exhaust vent and the other to draw in air.

Keep Combustible Materials Away from Your Furnace

Although furnace rooms are often also used for 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 somewhere else. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could deteriorate your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could circulate the stinky odors around your home.

You should also regularly sweep around your furnace to stop dust from accumulating.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you have to have furnace replacement or annual maintenance in Newton, Brookwood Inc can expertly handle your needs. Our highly trained technicians can repair any furnace model or brand.

Call us at 641-316-9803 or use our online scheduler to set up an appointment now.