Top 5 HVAC Contractors for Air Duct Cleaning in San Antonio, Texas

You can totally do some light cleaning on your own, and it definitely helps. Taking a vacuum to your vent covers and as far as you can reach inside is a great idea for regular upkeep. But a professional cleaning is a whole different ballgame. They use powerful vacuums and special tools to scrub and suck out all the grime from deep inside the system, which you just can't reach with home equipment.

For a typical home, you're probably looking at somewhere between $450 and $1,000. The final price really depends on how big your house is, how much ductwork there is, and how dirty things are. Just be a little careful with those super cheap ads for like $99, as they often have hidden fees.

A good rule of thumb is to have your air ducts cleaned every 3 to 5 years. But you might want to do it more often, maybe every couple of years, if you have pets that shed a lot, someone in the house has bad allergies, or if there are smokers at home. If you don't have any of those issues, you can probably stretch it out longer.

You don't need it all the time. It's not like changing your oil. However, you should definitely have your ducts cleaned if you notice mold growing around your vents, if you've had issues with rodents or bugs in the ducts, or if a significant amount of dust and debris is coming out of the vents, especially after a major renovation project.

When the pros come in, they'll hook up a huge, powerful vacuum to your main duct lines. This sucks all the dust and debris out of your house instead of blowing it around. Then they go to each vent and use long, spinning brushes and high-pressure air tools to knock all the gunk loose from the inside walls of the ducts. It all gets pulled straight into their powerful collection system, leaving your whole system clean.