Natural gas furnaces need enough 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 specialists to complete furnace repair.

Regular furnace maintenance is crucial to keep your system running well. A regularly serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could lower your heating expenses.

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

Maintenance often helps us spot issues before they become expensive. This could help reduce future repair costs and likely prolong the life of your system.

So how much clearance should your equipment really have?

How Much Space Does My Furnace Need?

If you’re finishing your basement or closing off your furnace room, you should consult manufacturer instructions and Rockford laws for clearance requirements.

As a general suggestion, your heater should be 30 inches away from furnace room walls on all sides. This lets our service experts to easily replace it.

You also need to make sure the area has ample airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an outdated furnace with a metal flue.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 pulls combustion air from the adjacent area. If there’s insufficient air, hazardous gas fumes and poisonous carbon monoxide could leak into your home.

If your furnace is located in a small room with a gas water heater, you may need to install supplemental 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 furnace uses one pipe as an exhaust vent and the other to pull in air.

Keep Flammable Items Away from Your Furnace

Although furnace rooms are often also used for laundry and storage space, you should keep yours free of clutter 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 elsewhere. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could corrode your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could circulate the smelly odors around your home.

You should also regularly vacuum by your furnace to stop dust from developing.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you want furnace replacement or routine maintenance in Rockford, Temperature Doctors Heating & Cooling can expertly handle your needs. Our highly trained technicians can repair any HVAC model or brand.

Call us at (815) 914-6197 or use our online scheduler to set up an appointment now.