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

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

Routine furnace maintenance is crucial to keep your system running well. A regularly 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 troubles before they start. This could help lower future repair costs and likely lengthen the life of your system.

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 consult manufacturer instructions and Payson statutes for clearance guidelines.

As a general rule of thumb, your heater should be 30 inches away from furnace room walls on all sides. This permits our service technicians to conveniently repair it.

You also need to ensure the space has ample airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an outdated furnace with a metal flue.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 area. If there’s inadequate air, unsafe gas fumes and poisonous carbon monoxide could flow back into your home.

If your furnace is placed in a tiny room with a gas water heater, you may need to put in supplemental openings. This could consist of 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 system 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 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 spread the unpleasant odors around your home.

You should also regularly sweep near your furnace to stop dust from accumulating.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you want furnace replacement or regular maintenance in Payson, North Mechanical Heating and Cooling can expertly handle your needs. Our highly trained technicians can fix any heating equipment model or brand.

Call us at 928-263-8570 or use our online scheduler to set up an appointment right away.