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 challenging for our professionals to complete furnace repair.
Annual furnace maintenance is crucial to keep your equipment working well. A routinely serviced furnace may run more efficiently, which could decrease your heating costs.
Related: How Does Furnace Maintenance Impact the Energy Efficiency of Your Home?
Maintenance often helps us discover troubles before they become expensive. This could help lower future repair bills and potentially prolong the life of your furnace.
So how much room should your system really have?
How Much Space Does My Furnace Need?
If you’re finishing your basement or enclosing your furnace room, you should take a look at manufacturer directions and Lexington ordinances for clearance requirements.
As a general suggestion, your system should be 30 inches away from furnace room walls on all sides. This lets our service professionals to easily work on it.
You also need to check the area 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 model of furnace needs combustion air from the surrounding location. If there’s inadequate air, unsafe 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 add extra openings. This could include a fully louvered door or vents in the walls.
Not sure if your furnace or water heater has adequate ventilation? We can assist you!
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You don’t need to think about airflow and ventilation as much if you have a modern, high-efficiency furnace with PVC piping. Your furnace uses one pipe as an exhaust vent and the other to add air.
Keep Combustible Materials Away from Your Furnace
Although furnace rooms function 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, put your litter box elsewhere. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could deteriorate your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could move the stinky odors throughout your home.
You should also frequently clean by your furnace to block dust from building up.
Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?
Request Expert Furnace Service
Whether you have to have furnace replacement or routine maintenance in Lexington, James Heating & A/C, Inc can expertly meet your needs. Our highly trained technicians can fix any heating equipment model or brand.
Call us at 336-853-6070 or use our online scheduler to set up an appointment right away.