Natural gas furnaces need enough space and airflow to work correctly.
Your furnace can overheat if it doesn’t have enough room. It also makes it hard for our professionals to perform furnace repair.
Annual furnace maintenance is essential to keep your unit working trouble-free. A routinely serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could reduce your energy costs.
Related: How Does Furnace Maintenance Impact the Energy Efficiency of Your Home?
Maintenance often helps us spot problems before they start. This could help reduce future repair bills and possibly extend the life of your unit.
So how much area should your furnace really have?
How Much Space Does My Furnace Need?
If you’re finishing your basement or closing off your furnace room, you should research manufacturer specifications and Dresden laws for clearance rules.
As a general suggestion, your heater should be 30 inches away from furnace room walls on all sides. This permits our service experts to comfortably replace it.
You also need to ensure the room has ample airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an aging furnace with a metal flue.
Related: Furnace Service or Furnace Replacement: What to Consider
This model of furnace needs combustion air from the adjacent area. If there’s inadequate air, unsafe gas fumes and deadly carbon monoxide could back draft into your home.
If your furnace is positioned in a tiny room with a gas water heater, you may need to add more openings. This could involve 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 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 create wear on your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could spread the unpleasant odors around your home.
You should also regularly sweep near your furnace to prevent dust from accumulating.
Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?
Request Expert Furnace Service
Whether you need furnace replacement or regular maintenance in Dresden, McFadden Heating & Cooling can expertly meet your needs. Our highly trained technicians can repair any heating equipment model or brand.
Call us at 1-866-781-0111 or use our online scheduler to request an appointment today.
