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

Your furnace can overheat if it doesn’t have enough clearance. It also makes it difficult for our technicians to perform furnace repair.

Routine furnace maintenance is important to keep your system working trouble-free. A routinely serviced furnace may work more efficiently, which could reduce your utility bills.

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

Maintenance often helps us discover troubles before they start. This could help reduce future repair bills and possibly lengthen the life of your system.

So how much area should your system really have?

How Much Space Does My Furnace Need?

If you’re remodeling your basement or sealing off your furnace room, you should consult manufacturer directions and Eastland ordinances for clearance guidelines.

As a general rule of thumb, your system should be 30 inches away from furnace room walls on all sides. This permits our service professionals to easily replace it.

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

Related: Furnace Service or Furnace Replacement: What to Consider

This type of furnace needs combustion air from the adjacent location. If there’s insufficient air, dangerous gas fumes and toxic carbon monoxide could back draft into your home.

If your furnace is located in a small room with a gas water heater, you may need to put in more openings. This could involve a fully louvered door or vents in the walls.

You don’t need to assess 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 Flammable Items A Safe Distance 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 corrode your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could circulate the unpleasant odors throughout your home.

You should also routinely sweep around your furnace to block dust from accumulating.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you have to have furnace replacement or annual maintenance in Eastland, J & J Air Conditioning can expertly meet your needs. Our highly trained technicians can fix any furnace model or brand.

Call us at 254-355-3833 or use our online scheduler to request an appointment right away.