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

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

Routine furnace maintenance is crucial to keep your equipment operating well. A routinely serviced furnace may work 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 begin. This could help reduce future repair costs and likely lengthen the life of your system.

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 consult manufacturer directions and Kutztown and Breinigsville ordinances for clearance guidelines.

As a general suggestion, your system should be 30 inches away from furnace room walls on all sides. This lets our service professionals to easily repair 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You also need to ensure the area has enough airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an outdated furnace with a metal flue.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 type of furnace needs combustion air from the adjacent location. If there’s inadequate air, unsafe gas fumes and poisonous carbon monoxide could leak into your home.

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

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

Keep Combustible Materials Away from Your Furnace

Although furnace rooms function 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, situate your litter box somewhere else. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could corrode your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could circulate the stinky odors around your home.

You should also routinely vacuum 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 regular maintenance in Kutztown and Breinigsville, Moyer Total Indoor Comfort can expertly take care of your needs. Our highly trained technicians can fix any heating equipment model or brand.

Call us at 484-646-3363 or use our online scheduler to set up an appointment right away.