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

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

Annual furnace maintenance is important to keep your system operating well. A regularly serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could decrease your utility expenses.

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

Maintenance often helps us notice troubles before they start. This could help reduce future repair expenses and likely prolong the life of your furnace.

So how much room should your equipment really have?

How Much Space Should My Furnace Have?

If you’re updating your basement or closing off your furnace room, you should take a look at manufacturer directions and Hasbrouck Heights ordinances for clearance rules.

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

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

Related: Furnace Service or Furnace Replacement: What to Consider

This kind of furnace pulls combustion air from the adjacent area. If there’s insufficient air, unsafe gas fumes and toxic carbon monoxide could leak into your home.

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

You don’t need to assess airflow and ventilation as much if you have a newer, high-efficiency furnace with PVC piping. Your system uses one pipe as an exhaust vent and the other to pull 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 in another room. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could deteriorate your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could circulate the unpleasant odors all over your home.

You should also routinely clean around your furnace to stop dust from building up.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Trust the Local Pros for Furnace Service

Whether you have to have furnace replacement or routine maintenance in Hasbrouck Heights, ACE Solutions can expertly meet your needs. Our highly trained technicians can repair any heating equipment model or brand.

Call us at 201-426-0650 or use our online scheduler to request an appointment today.