Natural gas furnaces need sufficient space and airflow to work correctly.

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

Regular furnace maintenance is crucial to keep your equipment operating trouble-free. A regularly serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could lower your utility expenses.

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

Maintenance often helps us discover issues before they start. This could help lower future repair costs and possibly prolong the life of your unit.

So how much area should your equipment really have?

How Much Space Will a Furnace Take Up?

If you’re remodeling your basement or enclosing your furnace room, you should research manufacturer instructions and Bloomfield statutes for clearance guidelines.

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

You also need to check 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 type of furnace pulls combustion air from the nearby location. If there’s not enough air, hazardous gas fumes and deadly carbon monoxide could leak into your home.

If your furnace is positioned in a small 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 modern, high-efficiency furnace with PVC piping. Your system uses one pipe as an exhaust vent and the other to pull in air.

Keep Combustible Materials Separate 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 create wear on your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could circulate the stinky odors throughout your home.

You should also frequently sweep near your furnace to stop dust from accumulating.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you want furnace replacement or regular maintenance in Bloomfield, Stanford Heating & Cooling can expertly meet your needs. Our highly trained technicians can repair any furnace model or brand.

Call us at 812-825-8695 or use our online scheduler to set up an appointment today.