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

Your furnace can get too hot if it doesn’t have enough room. It also makes it challenging for our professionals to accomplish furnace repair.

Routine furnace maintenance is essential to keep your equipment running well. A routinely serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could reduce your energy expenses.

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

Maintenance often helps us discover troubles before they begin. This could help reduce future repair bills and potentially prolong the life of your furnace.

So how much room should your furnace 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 specifications and Chelan and Wenatchee ordinances for clearance guidelines.

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 work on it.

You also need to make sure the space has plentiful airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an aging furnace with a metal flue.

Related: Furnace Service or Furnace Replacement: What to Consider

This type of furnace draws combustion air from the nearby area. If there’s inadequate air, hazardous gas fumes and deadly carbon monoxide could flow back into your home.

If your furnace is positioned in a little room with a gas water heater, you may need to put in supplemental openings. This could consist of 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 unit uses one pipe as an exhaust vent and the other to pull in air.

Keep Hazardous Items Separate 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, put your litter box in another room. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could corrode your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could circulate the unpleasant odors around your home.

You should also routinely vacuum around your furnace to stop dust from developing.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you have to have furnace replacement or routine maintenance in Chelan and Wenatchee, Lakeside Heating & Air can expertly take care of your needs. Our highly trained technicians can fix any heating equipment model or brand.

Call us at 509-284-4265 or use our online scheduler to set up an appointment right away.