Natural gas furnaces need enough space and airflow to run right.
Your furnace can overheat if it doesn’t have enough clearance. It also makes it difficult for our specialists to perform furnace repair.
Routine furnace maintenance is crucial to keep your unit operating smoothly. An annually serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could decrease your heating costs.
Related: How Does Furnace Maintenance Impact the Energy Efficiency of Your Home?
Maintenance often helps us discover issues before they start. This could help reduce future repair bills and likely lengthen the life of your furnace.
So how much clearance should your equipment really have?
How Much Space Does My Furnace Need?
If you’re updating your basement or closing off your furnace room, you should take a look at manufacturer instructions and Tucker statutes for clearance rules.
As a general suggestion, your system should be 30 inches away from furnace room walls on all sides. This permits our service technicians to easily work on it.
You also need to ensure the area has enough airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an outdated furnace with a metal flue.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 needs combustion air from the surrounding space. If there’s inadequate air, dangerous gas fumes and poisonous carbon monoxide could back draft into your home.
If your furnace is located in a small room with a gas water heater, you may need to put in more openings. This could include a fully louvered door or vents in the walls.
Uncertain if your furnace or water heater has enough ventilation? We can take a look!
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You don’t need to think about 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 Combustible Materials 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 in another room. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could create wear on your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could move the unpleasant odors throughout your home.
You should also frequently vacuum around your furnace to block dust from building up.
Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?
Request Expert Furnace Service
Whether you want furnace replacement or routine maintenance in Tucker, ACS Heating and Air Conditioning can expertly handle your needs. Our highly trained technicians can fix any heating equipment model or brand.
Call us at 770-450-1539 or use our online scheduler to request an appointment today.