Air Duct Cleaning Calculator
Answer two questions - years elapsed and what you have actually seen. The calculator returns the EPA-consistent verdict, the real price band, and the 15-dollar maintenance that beats the 500-dollar service.
Air duct cleaning is the most reliable upsell in home services: a 99-dollar whole-house postcard becomes a 400-to-1,000-dollar invoice after the camera demonstration. The Environmental Protection Agency has no schedule for it and no evidence of health benefit at typical dirt levels - the legitimate triggers are visible mold, pests, or renovation debris, and nothing else on the checklist.
How to use
- Years since the last cleaning - though the honest answer barely uses it.
- What you have actually seen: mold or must, pests, renovation debris, or a normal running system.
- Read the verdict and the maintenance line - filters and return grilles do the real work. Updates live.
Frequently asked questions
How often should air ducts be cleaned?
There is no schedule, and that is the EPA position: ducts at typical dirt levels show no health or performance benefit from cleaning. The legitimate triggers are visible mold, rodent or insect evidence, or heavy renovation debris - otherwise the 15-dollar filter you change quarterly is the entire program.
Is the 99 dollar duct cleaning a scam?
The 99 dollars is a booking fee for a sales visit: the technician finds flex duct worth cleaning, and the invoice runs 400 to 1,000 before the truck leaves. Some companies do honest work at fair prices - the tell is whether they quote from the postcard or from a camera inspection you can watch.
Does duct cleaning improve health or airflow?
No study shows health benefits from duct cleaning at typical dirt levels, and airflow issues almost always trace to filters, coil condition or duct leaks - none of which a rotary brush fixes. The money that improves air goes to filters, and to sealing leaks if the rooms are uneven.
When is duct cleaning actually needed?
Three real triggers: visible mold on duct surfaces (fixed with the moisture source, or it grows back), vermin in the ducts (after extermination), and renovation dust heavy enough to blow from registers. Hire NADCA-certified, demand camera proof before and after, and skip any company that priced the job from your mailbox.