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 perform furnace repair.

Regular furnace maintenance is crucial to keep your system operating trouble-free. An annually serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could decrease your utility expenses.

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

Maintenance often helps us discover problems before they begin. This could help lessen future repair costs and likely lengthen the life of your system.

So how much area 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 take a look at manufacturer instructions and Northridge statutes for clearance guidelines.

As a general recommendation, your furnace should be 30 inches away from furnace room walls on all sides. This lets our service professionals to conveniently work on it.

You also need to ensure the room has enough airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an outdated furnace with a metal flue.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 pulls combustion air from the adjacent area. If there’s insufficient air, unsafe gas fumes and toxic carbon monoxide could back draft into your home.

If your furnace is located in a little room with a gas water heater, you may need to put in supplemental openings. This could include a fully louvered door or vents in the walls.

You don’t need to consider airflow and ventilation as much if you have a newer, high-efficiency furnace with PVC piping. Your system uses one pipe as an exhaust vent and the other to draw in air.

Keep Flammable Items A Safe Distance 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, place your litter box elsewhere. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could deteriorate your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could move the stinky odors throughout your home.

You should also regularly sweep by your furnace to stop dust from building up.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you have to have furnace replacement or annual maintenance in Northridge, Enertek Air Conditioning & Heating can expertly take care of your needs. Our highly trained technicians can repair any heating equipment model or brand.

Call us at (818) 727-9993 or use our online scheduler to request an appointment now.