If your home’s ducts are excessively dirty, having them cleaned by a professional can dramatically improve the overall air quality and cleanliness of your home and even boost the efficiency of your HVAC system.
So how much does duct cleaning cost?
Well, first off, the price range varies from contractor to contractor. But generally speaking, duct cleaning can cost anywhere from $800 to $2,200 in the state of Texas.
The factors that impact how much you pay for duct cleaning include the:
- Size of your home
- Number of return vents
- Nature of contaminants in your ducts
- Contractor you hire
In this blog, we’ll take a deeper look at each of those cost factors to help you better understand what the cost of duct cleaning entails.
Note: Still on the fence about whether you even need duct cleaning? Check out our blog, “Is Duct Cleaning a Waste of Money?”.
Interested in a quote for your specific duct cleaning project? We’re here to help. Reliable Air offers honest and high-quality duct cleaning services for homeowners in the San Marcos area and beyond. Just contact us and we’ll send over a professional for a FREE, no-obligation in-home estimate.
Cost factor #1: The size of your home
This one’s pretty cut and dry—the larger your home, the more duct cleaning will typically cost.
Why?
Well, larger homes have more ductwork and vents to clean. Since ductwork feeds cold/hot air throughout every room in the house, the more rooms there are, the more ductwork there is to be cleaned.
Larger homes may also have more than one HVAC system, which means there may be more than one ductwork system to clean, which means additional labor costs.
Cost factor #2: Number of return vents
The more return vents your home has, the more you’ll pay for duct cleaning.
Your return vent is the large grille that marks the entryway to your ductwork and HVAC system. This is where unconditioned air from your home is drawn into the HVAC system/ductwork.
Each return vent has a “return drop”, which is a small section of ductwork that sits in front of the HVAC filter. Because of its location, the air passing through the return drop typically carries a lot more dust, dirt and other particles. Consequently, the return drop is often the most dirty part of the ductwork system and will require additional labor.
The number of return vents/drops your home has completely depends on the set up of your HVAC system. A professional will typically inspect your home to see how many return drops your home has in total before providing you with a price estimate for duct cleaning.
Cost factor #3: The nature of contaminants in your ducts
If you have bio contaminants in your ductwork (vs just dirt and dust), you’ll likely pay more for duct cleaning.
What do we mean by “bio contaminants”? Anything living, such as pests, mold or mildew is classified as a bio contaminant. Typically, this category of contaminants requires special equipment and/or cleaning solutions to be safely and completely eradicated from the ductwork.
The good news? If bio contaminants are found in your ductwork, the investment of professional duct cleaning is that much more worth it. According to the EPA, biological pollutants can become airborne and can cause the following health issues/symptoms:
- sneezing
- watery eyes
- coughing
- shortness of breath
- dizziness
- lethargy
- fever
- and digestive problems
Cost factor #4: The contractor you hire
Higher-quality and more reputable contractors typically charge more for their duct cleaning services.
That’s because a more reputable company isn’t interested in providing quick and sloppy 30-minute duct cleanings. Instead, they’re going to take upwards of 3-4 hours carefully vacuuming out every inch of your ductwork, vents and registers and they’ll carefully contain the pollutants so that dirt, dust and pollutants aren’t released into your home and the air you breathe.
Additionally, more reputable companies will use higher-quality equipment and cleaning solutions that ensure your ducts are thoroughly cleaned and prevent any damage to your home and HVAC system.
That said, we suggest you consider a higher (but still reasonable) price a good sign and stay away from contractors who offer very cheap prices.
Looking for a duct cleaning company you can trust? Choose Reliable Air.
Reliable Air offers honest and thorough duct cleaning services.
When you choose us, we start the process with a free in-home inspection where we’ll first assess whether you truly need your ducts cleaned. If your ducts aren’t excessively dirty and/or bio contaminants aren’t found, we’ll be honest with you and let you know that duct cleaning may not be needed.
If your ducts do need to be cleaned, we’ll carefully inspect your home before providing you with a fair and upfront price estimate (in writing). We’ll explain all the details of our duct cleaning services and let you decide whether to move forward or not.
Don’t risk it by choosing another company. Call Reliable Air today for your duct cleaning needs.