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

Your furnace can overheat if it doesn’t have enough room. It also makes it challenging for our specialists to complete furnace repair.

Routine furnace maintenance is crucial to keep your unit running well. A regularly serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could reduce your utility expenses.

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

Maintenance often helps us discover problems before they start. This could help lessen future repair expenses and likely lengthen the life of your furnace.

So how much clearance should your equipment really have?

How Much Space Does My Furnace Need?

If you’re updating your basement or closing off your furnace room, you should take a look at manufacturer instructions and Wyandotte ordinances for clearance guidelines.

As a general rule of thumb, your furnace should be 30 inches away from furnace room walls on all sides. This lets our service experts to easily replace it.

You also need to check the room has plentiful airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an outdated furnace with a metal flue.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 model of furnace pulls combustion air from the adjacent space. If there’s not enough air, hazardous gas fumes and deadly carbon monoxide could back draft into your home.

If your furnace is located in a tiny room with a gas water heater, you may need to put in more openings. This could consist of 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 unit uses one pipe as an exhaust vent and the other to pull 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 in another room. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could corrode your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could spread the stinky odors all over your home.

You should also routinely clean near 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 routine maintenance in Wyandotte, Gee & Missler Heating & Air Conditioning can expertly meet your needs. Our highly trained technicians can repair any HVAC model or brand.

Call us at 734-284-1224 or use our online scheduler to request an appointment today.