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

Your furnace can overheat if it doesn’t have enough clearance. It also makes it hard for our technicians to complete furnace repair.

Regular furnace maintenance is crucial to keep your system working well. A routinely serviced furnace may run more efficiently, which could reduce your utility bills.

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 costs and likely prolong the life of your furnace.

So how much room should your furnace really have?

How Much Space Does My Furnace Need?

If you’re updating your basement or enclosing your furnace room, you should research manufacturer instructions and Tomball laws for clearance guidelines.

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

You also need to ensure the area has plentiful 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 adjacent space. If there’s inadequate air, dangerous gas fumes and toxic carbon monoxide could flow back into your home.

If your furnace is placed in a small room with a gas water heater, you may need to put in extra 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 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 are often also used for 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, situate your litter box elsewhere. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could create wear on your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could circulate the stinky odors throughout your home.

You should also routinely sweep by 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 regular maintenance in Tomball, Premium Air Services LLC can expertly handle your needs. Our highly trained technicians can repair any heating equipment model or brand.

Call us at 713-364-9957 or use our online scheduler to request an appointment right away.