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

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

Annual furnace maintenance is important to keep your system operating trouble-free. A regularly serviced furnace may work more efficiently, which could reduce your utility bills.

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

Maintenance often helps us discover issues before they become expensive. This could help lower future repair costs and potentially lengthen the life of your unit.

So how much room should your furnace really have?

How Much Space Does My Furnace Need?

If you’re updating your basement or sealing off your furnace room, you should take a look at manufacturer directions and Tucker statutes for clearance requirements.

As a general suggestion, your furnace 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 aging furnace with a metal flue.

Related: Furnace Service or Furnace Replacement: What to Consider

This type of furnace pulls combustion air from the adjacent space. If there’s not enough air, unsafe gas fumes and deadly carbon monoxide could leak into your home.

If your furnace is placed in a tiny room with a gas water heater, you may need to install supplemental 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 modern, high-efficiency furnace with PVC piping. Your system uses one pipe as an exhaust vent and the other to add air.

Keep Flammable Items Away from Your Furnace

Although furnace rooms double 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, place your litter box in another room. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could create wear on your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could spread the smelly odors all over your home.

You should also regularly sweep by your furnace to prevent dust from developing.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request a Free Quote for Furnace Service

Whether you have to have furnace replacement or annual maintenance in Tucker, ACS Heating and Air Conditioning can expertly meet your needs. Our highly trained technicians can repair any furnace model or brand.

Call us at 770-450-1539 or use our online scheduler to get an appointment now.