Natural gas furnaces need adequate space and airflow to heat properly.

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

Routine furnace maintenance is important to keep your equipment working smoothly. A routinely serviced furnace may run more efficiently, which could reduce your heating bills.

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

Maintenance often helps us discover troubles before they become expensive. This could help lower future repair bills and potentially extend the life of your unit.

So how much room should your equipment really have?

How Much Space Will a Furnace Take Up?

If you’re finishing your basement or closing off your furnace room, you should take a look at manufacturer directions and Booneville laws for clearance guidelines.

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

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

Related: Furnace Service or Furnace Replacement: What to Consider

This type of furnace draws combustion air from the surrounding area. If there’s not enough air, hazardous gas fumes and deadly carbon monoxide could flow back into your home.

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

Keep Flammable Items Away from Your Furnace

Although furnace rooms are often also used for laundry and storage space, you should keep yours free of things 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, situate your litter box somewhere else. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could deteriorate your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could circulate the smelly odors all over your home.

You should also routinely clean around your furnace to prevent dust from developing.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you need furnace replacement or routine maintenance in Booneville, Booneville Heating & Cooling can expertly handle your needs. Our highly trained technicians can work on any HVAC model or brand.

Call us at 662-269-8716 or use our online scheduler to set up an appointment today.