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

Your furnace can get too hot if it doesn’t have enough room. It also makes it challenging for our professionals to perform furnace repair.

Annual furnace maintenance is crucial to keep your equipment working smoothly. A routinely serviced furnace may heat more efficiently, which could decrease your energy bills.

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

Maintenance often helps us spot problems before they begin. This could help lower future repair bills and possibly lengthen the life of your system.

So how much room should your equipment really have?

How Much Space Will a Furnace Take Up?

If you’re remodeling your basement or sealing off your furnace room, you should research manufacturer specifications and Menomonie and western Wisconsin 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 allows our service technicians to easily work on it.

You also need to ensure the room has plentiful airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an outdated furnace with a metal flue.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 kind of furnace draws combustion air from the surrounding location. If there’s insufficient air, hazardous gas fumes and toxic carbon monoxide could flow back into your home.

If your furnace is positioned 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 think about airflow and ventilation as much if you have a newer, high-efficiency furnace with PVC piping. Your furnace uses one pipe as an exhaust vent and the other to pull in air.

Keep Hazardous Items A Safe Distance 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, place 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 throughout your home.

You should also routinely vacuum near your furnace to prevent dust from accumulating.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request a Free Quote for Furnace Service

Whether you have to have furnace replacement or routine maintenance in Menomonie and western Wisconsin, Halverson Brothers Inc can expertly take care of your needs. Our highly trained technicians can work on any furnace model or brand.

Call us at 715-352-4052 or use our online scheduler to get an appointment today.