Natural gas furnaces need sufficient space and airflow to run right.

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

Routine furnace maintenance is crucial to keep your equipment working smoothly. A regularly serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could lower your energy costs.

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

Maintenance often helps us notice troubles before they start. This could help lessen future repair bills and possibly prolong the life of your furnace.

So how much area should your furnace really have?

How Much Space Does My Furnace Need?

If you’re remodeling your basement or closing off your furnace room, you should research manufacturer instructions and Warrenton laws for clearance rules.

As a general suggestion, your heater should be 30 inches away from furnace room walls on all sides. This lets our service professionals to comfortably replace it.

You also need to ensure the area has plentiful airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an outdated furnace with a metal flue.

Related: Furnace Service or Furnace Replacement: What to Consider

This type of furnace needs combustion air from the adjacent area. If there’s insufficient air, unsafe gas fumes and deadly carbon monoxide could leak into your home.

If your furnace is placed in a little room with a gas water heater, you may need to install supplemental openings. This could consist of a fully louvered door or vents in the walls.

You don’t need to consider airflow and ventilation as much if you have a modern, high-efficiency furnace with PVC piping. Your furnace 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 in another room. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could deteriorate your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could circulate the unpleasant odors throughout your home.

You should also frequently clean around your furnace to prevent dust from building up.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you have to have furnace replacement or annual maintenance in Warrenton, Schraer Heating & Air Conditioning can expertly handle your needs. Our highly trained technicians can work on any furnace model or brand.

Call us at 636-456-5041 or use our online scheduler to request an appointment right away.