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

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

Routine furnace maintenance is important to keep your unit operating well. A regularly serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could decrease your heating 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 bills and potentially lengthen the life of your system.

So how much room should your furnace really have?

How Much Space Will a Furnace Take Up?

If you’re finishing your basement or closing off your furnace room, you should take a look at manufacturer specifications and Houston ordinances for clearance requirements.

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

You also need to make sure the room has plentiful 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 nearby area. If there’s insufficient air, unsafe gas fumes and toxic 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 extra 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 furnace uses one pipe as an exhaust vent and the other to draw in air.

Keep Combustible Materials A Safe Distance 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, put your litter box in another room. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could create wear on your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could circulate the smelly odors throughout your home.

You should also frequently clean around your furnace to stop dust from developing.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Trust the Local Pros for Furnace Service

Whether you have to have furnace replacement or regular maintenance in Houston, Air Current AC & Heat can expertly meet your needs. Our highly trained technicians can repair any furnace model or brand.

Call us at 713-322-4318 or use our online scheduler to set up an appointment today.