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

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

Regular furnace maintenance is crucial to keep your equipment working well. A regularly serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could reduce your utility bills.

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

Maintenance often helps us notice issues before they begin. This could help lower future repair bills and possibly prolong the life of your unit.

So how much clearance should your system really have?

How Much Space Does My Furnace Need?

If you’re finishing your basement or enclosing your furnace room, you should take a look at manufacturer specifications and Norton laws for clearance guidelines.

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

You also need to ensure the room has plentiful airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an outdated furnace with a metal flue.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 model of furnace pulls combustion air from the surrounding area. If there’s inadequate air, unsafe gas fumes and deadly carbon monoxide could leak into your home.

If your furnace is placed in a small 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 up-to-date, 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 double as laundry and storage space, you should keep yours free of clutter 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 circulate the unpleasant odors throughout your home.

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

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you need furnace replacement or annual maintenance in Norton, HCE Systems can expertly meet your needs. Our highly trained technicians can fix any heating equipment model or brand.

Call us at 276-302-0076 or use our online scheduler to get an appointment right away.