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

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

Annual furnace maintenance is essential to keep your unit running well. A routinely serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could decrease your energy expenses.

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

Maintenance often helps us notice problems before they become expensive. This could help reduce future repair expenses and possibly prolong the life of your furnace.

So how much room should your system 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 specifications and Laurel 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 technicians to conveniently replace it.

You also need to check the room has enough airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an aging furnace with a metal flue.

Related: Furnace Service or Furnace Replacement: What to Consider

This kind of furnace needs combustion air from the nearby location. If there’s inadequate air, hazardous gas fumes and toxic carbon monoxide could leak into your home.

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

Keep Flammable Items Separate from Your Furnace

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

You should also frequently vacuum near your furnace to block dust from building up.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you need furnace replacement or annual maintenance in Laurel, H&C Heating and Cooling can expertly take care of your needs. Our highly trained technicians can fix any HVAC model or brand.

Call us at 301-960-3247 or use our online scheduler to set up an appointment right away.