Natural gas furnaces need enough space and airflow to run right.
Your furnace can overheat if it doesn’t have enough room. It also makes it difficult for our technicians to perform furnace repair.
Routine furnace maintenance is important to keep your system operating smoothly. An annually serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could decrease your energy costs.
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 costs and potentially prolong the life of your unit.
So how much area should your equipment really have?
How Much Space Does My Furnace Need?
If you’re remodeling your basement or closing off your furnace room, you should research manufacturer specifications and Rockford laws for clearance requirements.
As a general rule of thumb, your furnace should be 30 inches away from furnace room walls on all sides. This permits our service professionals to easily repair it.
You also need to ensure the room has ample airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an outdated furnace with a metal flue.
Related: Furnace Service or Furnace Replacement: What to Consider
This type of furnace needs combustion air from the nearby area. If there’s not enough air, dangerous 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 install more openings. This could include a fully louvered door or vents in the walls.
Not sure if your furnace or water heater has enough ventilation? We can assist you!
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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 add air.
Keep Combustible Materials Away 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, place your litter box in another room. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could corrode your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could move the unpleasant odors throughout your home.
You should also regularly sweep by 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 regular maintenance in Rockford, Temperature Doctors Heating & Cooling, Inc can expertly handle your needs. Our highly trained technicians can work on any HVAC model or brand.
Call us at (815)914-6197 or use our online scheduler to set up an appointment right away.