Gas furnaces are not automatically dangerous devices. This is something we want to clear up right away so you won’t feel panic just because your home has a natural gas-powered furnace for heating. However, like most powerful appliances or any appliance that creates combustion gases, a furnace can potentially create health hazards if it isn’t maintained regularly or repaired as soon as symptoms of a malfunction appear. Treat a gas furnace well and you should have few worries about its performance.
However, we want to caution you about the most common cause for a gas furnace to become unsafe: cracked heat exchangers. This is most likely to happen in an old furnace (more than 15 years old), which is why we recommend looking into a replacement sooner rather than later. Regular maintenance helps catch this problem early so you’ll know it’s time to arrange for a heating replacement. In some situations, a targeted furnace repair may fix the problem.
