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.

Annual furnace maintenance is essential to keep your equipment operating well. A regularly serviced furnace may run more efficiently, which could reduce your heating bills.

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

Maintenance often helps us discover problems before they start. This could help lessen future repair costs and potentially extend the life of your furnace.

So how much clearance should your system really have?

How Much Space Does My Furnace Need?

If you’re updating your basement or enclosing your furnace room, you should research manufacturer instructions and Siloam Springs ordinances for clearance requirements.

As a general rule of thumb, your system 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 check the space has plentiful airflow and ventilation, especially if you have an aging furnace with a metal flue.

Related: Furnace Service or Furnace Replacement: What to Consider

This kind of furnace draws combustion air from the nearby area. If there’s not enough air, unsafe gas fumes and deadly 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 supplemental 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 draw in air.

Keep Combustible Materials Away from Your Furnace

Although furnace rooms function as 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 create wear on your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could circulate the smelly odors around your home.

You should also frequently sweep around your furnace to stop dust from building up.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you want furnace replacement or annual maintenance in Siloam Springs, Siloam Springs Heating & AC can expertly meet your needs. Our highly trained technicians can repair any HVAC model or brand.

Call us at 479-308-8176 or use our online scheduler to request an appointment today.