Furnace Room Maintenance Tips

By Catherine T Wilson
The furnace room, or room where the furnace is located, is typically low on a homeowner's maintenance list. Many times, the room is located in the cellar and rarely used. However, in order to keep your furnace operating properly, you will need to regularly clean and maintain the room where the furnace is located to ensure your heating and cooling equipment run efficiently.

 There are several reasons for this. First of all, cleanliness will reduce the risk of a fire. Secondly, a clean furnace room will make it easier to fix the furnace if repairs should be necessary.
The good news is that keeping your furnace room clean and clutter free is not a lot of work in the long run. Of course, if you have used your furnace room as a storage area, it may take some time to clean the area and make sure that it is safe.

Here is a simple list of things that should be done to keep your furnace room clean in order to minimize the risk of fire and to keep your family safe.

1. Do not place your cat's litter box near the furnace. The ammonia from the cat's urine can actually corrode parts of the furnace. In addition, the smells from the litter box can get caught up in the vent system and circulate through your home.
2. Never store flammable products like gasoline, pool chemicals, kerosene or paint thinners any where near the furnace. These items can easily cause a dangerous fire.
3. Do keep the area clean. Don't leave your old dusty furnace filters or broken furnace parts lying around the furnace room. Not only does this clutter up the area, but it can also create a fire hazard.
4. Do not store chemicals, cleaning products, or laundry soaps near the furnace. If you must store the items in the room with the furnace, make sure that the products are in an airtight container.
5. Do make sure to dust and vacuum the furnace and the furnace room regularly. This means dusting the area and vacuuming around the furnace and the floor in order to keep dust build up at a minimum.
6. Do make sure that there is enough space around the furnace so that it can safely operate. Some families have a tendency to pack the room full of unused items or use the room for storage. This can create a fire hazard and can interfere with the operation of the furnace.
7. Do not hang laundry lines or clothes from your furnace to dry. Although the clothes may dry quickly, this is definitely a fire hazard. If you put the clothes on a drying rack in the furnace room, make sure that the rack is a safe distance from the furnace.

Once you have given the area a good cleaning, you will only need to invest a few minutes a week making sure that the area is clean. Even if it does take a lot of work to clean the area at first, the peace of mind you will get is well worth the work. There is only so much that you can do to prevent damage to your home. Accidents do happen, and you need to make sure that you have the right insurance coverage, at the most affording prices.

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