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

Your furnace can get too hot if it doesn’t have enough room. It also makes it difficult for our professionals to perform furnace repair.

Regular furnace maintenance is essential to keep your unit operating well. An annually serviced furnace may heat 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 problems before they begin. This could help reduce future repair expenses and potentially prolong the life of your furnace.

So how much clearance should your furnace really have?

How Much Space Will a Furnace Take Up?

If you’re remodeling your basement or closing off your furnace room, you should take a look at manufacturer instructions and Lawrence 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 technicians to comfortably work on it.

You also need to check the room 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 model of furnace draws combustion air from the adjacent location. If there’s inadequate air, unsafe gas fumes and toxic carbon monoxide could flow back into your home.

If your furnace is placed in a little room with a gas water heater, you may need to put in extra 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 modern, high-efficiency furnace with PVC piping. Your unit uses one pipe as an exhaust vent and the other to pull in air.

Keep Hazardous Items Away from Your Furnace

Although furnace rooms double as 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, 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 smelly odors throughout your home.

You should also routinely clean by your furnace to block dust from developing.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request a Free Quote for Furnace Service

Whether you have to have furnace replacement or routine maintenance in Lawrence, Scott Temperature can expertly meet your needs. Our highly trained technicians can fix any heating equipment model or brand.

Call us at 785-269-0465 or use our online scheduler to get an appointment right away.