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

Your furnace can overheat if it doesn’t have enough space. It also makes it difficult for our technicians to perform furnace repair.

Routine furnace maintenance is crucial to keep your equipment operating smoothly. An annually serviced furnace may run more efficiently, which could decrease your energy costs.

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

Maintenance often helps us notice problems before they start. This could help reduce future repair bills and possibly prolong the life of your furnace.

So how much clearance should your furnace 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 Rapid City laws for clearance requirements.

As a general rule of thumb, your heater should be 30 inches away from furnace room walls on all sides. This allows our service experts to comfortably replace it.

You also need to ensure the room 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 needs combustion air from the nearby area. If there’s not enough air, dangerous gas fumes and toxic carbon monoxide could back draft into your home.

If your furnace is placed in a tiny 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 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 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 somewhere else. Cat urine contains ammonia, which could deteriorate your furnace’s heat exchanger. Plus, the furnace could spread the stinky odors throughout your home.

You should also regularly clean near your furnace to prevent dust from building up.

Related: Is it Time for Furnace Service or Replacement?

Request Expert Furnace Service

Whether you need furnace replacement or routine maintenance in Rapid City, Street Heating and Cooling can expertly take care of your needs. Our highly trained technicians can fix any furnace model or brand.

Call us at 605-206-3915 or use our online scheduler to set up an appointment today.