Natural gas furnaces need sufficient space and airflow to heat properly.

Your furnace can get too hot if it doesn’t have enough space. It also makes it hard for our technicians to perform furnace repair.

Routine furnace maintenance is essential to keep your system operating trouble-free. A routinely serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could decrease your utility costs.

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

Maintenance often helps us discover issues before they begin. This could help lower future repair bills and potentially lengthen the life of your furnace.

So how much room should your furnace really have?

How Much Space Will a Furnace Take Up?

If you’re finishing your basement or enclosing your furnace room, you should take a look at manufacturer instructions and Zelienople statutes for clearance guidelines.

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

You also need to ensure the area has ample airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an outdated furnace with a metal flue.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 kind of furnace pulls combustion air from the surrounding area. If there’s not enough air, unsafe gas fumes and poisonous carbon monoxide could leak into your home.

If your furnace is located in a tiny 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 up-to-date, high-efficiency furnace with PVC piping. Your system uses one pipe as an exhaust vent and the other to add air.

Keep Combustible Materials Separate from Your Furnace

Although furnace rooms function as 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, put your litter box in another room. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could deteriorate your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could spread the stinky odors around your home.

You should also frequently sweep around your furnace to stop dust from building up.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you want furnace replacement or regular maintenance in Zelienople, Knoechel Heating can expertly handle your needs. Our highly trained technicians can fix any furnace model or brand.

Call us at 724-425-5852 or use our online scheduler to request an appointment now.