turning on gas heat for the 1st time in new house...

we just moved to a house from a co-op, so we're not used to having control over our own heat. We went to turn on the heat this morning, and it kicked on, but there seemed to be a lot of smoke coming out of the house near the basement, which is where the heater is. Is that normal? I never had gas before.

Re: turning on gas heat for the 1st time in new house...

We have gas and we never saw any smoke. When you say "new house" do you mean that the system is new too or is the house new to you?

I would get down in the basement and check it out.

Re: turning on gas heat for the 1st time in new house...

where does your furnace vent? If it just comes out a pipe in the wall of the house, that is where you'll see the smoke, and as long as it's a cloudy white color and not black, it's fine. My gas furnace is actually vented out through our chimney stack. When its running the gas heat, from outside it looks like our fireplace is going because the heat is release through the chimney.