Natural gas furnaces need sufficient space and airflow to heat properly.

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

Annual furnace maintenance is crucial to keep your system running smoothly. A routinely serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could reduce your utility costs.

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

Maintenance often helps us notice issues before they start. This could help lower future repair bills and possibly lengthen the life of your system.

So how much clearance should your furnace really have?

How Much Space Does My Furnace Need?

If you’re finishing your basement or enclosing your furnace room, you should research manufacturer instructions and Holdrege laws 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 experts to conveniently replace it.

You also need to check the area has plentiful airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an outdated furnace with a metal flue.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 adjacent location. If there’s insufficient air, dangerous gas fumes and toxic carbon monoxide could leak into your home.

If your furnace is located in a little room with a gas water heater, you may need to add extra 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 up-to-date, high-efficiency furnace with PVC piping. Your furnace uses one pipe as an exhaust vent and the other to draw in air.

Keep Combustible Materials Away 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 corrode your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could move the smelly odors all over your home.

You should also regularly sweep around your furnace to block dust from developing.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you want furnace replacement or annual maintenance in Holdrege, Durable Service can expertly meet your needs. Our highly trained technicians can work on any furnace model or brand.

Call us at 308-995-8177 or use our online scheduler to set up an appointment right away.