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

Your furnace can overheat if it doesn’t have enough room. It also makes it hard for our specialists to accomplish furnace repair.

Routine furnace maintenance is important to keep your equipment running trouble-free. A routinely serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could reduce your utility expenses.

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

Maintenance often helps us spot troubles before they become expensive. This could help lessen future repair costs and likely lengthen the life of your system.

So how much area should your equipment really have?

How Much Space Does My Furnace Need?

If you’re remodeling your basement or sealing off your furnace room, you should take a look at manufacturer directions and Elk River ordinances for clearance requirements.

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

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

Related: Furnace Service or Furnace Replacement: What to Consider

This kind of furnace needs combustion air from the nearby location. If there’s inadequate air, unsafe gas fumes and toxic carbon monoxide could leak into your home.

If your furnace is positioned in a tiny room with a gas water heater, you may need to install extra openings. This could include a fully louvered door or vents in the walls.

You don’t need to assess 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 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 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, place your litter box elsewhere. 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 by your furnace to block dust from developing.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you want furnace replacement or annual maintenance in Elk River, Home Comfort Heating & Air can expertly meet your needs. Our highly trained technicians can fix any heating equipment model or brand.

Call us at 763-276-0617 or use our online scheduler to get an appointment right away.