Residential or light commercial, supply and return, with or without sanitizing—calculate the full duct cleaning price so your air quality proposal is complete before the customer asks why it costs more than the $99 coupon they saw online.
A significant portion of duct cleaning complaints involve companies that advertise $99 whole-home cleaning, then add charges for every vent, every return, the blower, the coil, sanitizing, and whatever else they can name. Your job is not to compete with $99—it's to explain what a real cleaning costs and why. A legitimate duct cleaning with proper negative pressure, rotary brushing, and HEPA vacuum at every vent takes 3–6 hours for a typical home. Anyone doing it in 90 minutes at $99 is not cleaning ducts.
A home where drywall was cut or floors were sanded has construction dust in the ducts—fine silica particles that HEPA filtration catches but standard cleaning misses. Post-construction duct cleaning should be quoted at 1.5–2× the standard rate: more passes, slower work, HEPA bag changes, and often a second visit to check filter condition after the system runs. Build this into your scope for any customer who mentions recent renovation work.
A dryer vent clean takes 20–30 minutes when you're already at the property with your equipment. You charge $80–$120 extra; the customer gets a service that the NFPA says should happen annually and is a leading cause of residential house fires. It's a near-100% close rate when presented as a safety item on an existing service call. Ask on every duct cleaning job—document the refusal if they decline.
The HVAC Business Starter Kit includes a flat-rate price book for 35 common heating and cooling jobs, service agreement template, and maintenance checklist. Guide from $19 — Complete Kit with all 19 templates, $49.
Get the HVAC Kit →Duct cleaning pricing depends on the number of vents, system size, access difficulty, and whether sanitizing treatment is included. This calculator builds a complete duct cleaning quote based on your system specifications. Use it to price jobs consistently and identify when the scope warrants additional charges — like mold treatment or supply duct access work.