How the $99 offer usually works
The pattern NADCA describes, and that shows up in consumer protection cases, tends to go like this:
- A mailer, coupon, robocall or online ad offers whole-house duct cleaning at a price far below what the work costs.
- A technician arrives and does minimal cleaning, what NADCA calls “blow-and-go.”
- The limits come out on site: only part of the system is included, or parts like the registers, blower or coils are left out.
- You’re told you have mold or another problem, often without a proper look, and offered treatments or extra services to fix it.
- The final bill ends up many times the advertised price.
What NADCA and the EPA say
NADCA, the air duct cleaning trade association, tells homeowners to avoid “$99 whole house specials” and to be cautious of extremely low-cost whole-house offers that include only limited parts of the system. It also flags mailers promoting deeply discounted whole-house duct cleaning or mold removal, and being told without a proper look that mold is present.
The EPA puts typical duct cleaning at roughly $450 to $1,000 per heating and cooling system, and NADCA gives the same range for an average-sized home. The EPA also advises getting written estimates from several companies and asking each to show you the contamination before you agree to anything.
A real case: Washington State, 2020
In 2020, a King County Superior Court judge in Washington ordered a group of air duct cleaning companies and their owner to pay $10 million in civil penalties, in a lawsuit brought by the state Attorney General over robocalls and deceptive advertising. The companies made over 13 million robocalls in the state from 2017 to 2019.
Their mailed coupons advertised duct cleaning for $29 to $55 without listing limits or exclusions, such as the fact that only half of the heating and cooling system was included, and called it a limited-time offer with no expiration date. According to the Attorney General’s Office, technicians were told to try to upsell additional services and memberships once inside, and the “special” often ended up costing consumers more than $1,000.
What to ask before you book any duct cleaning offer
Whatever the price, these questions tell you what you’re actually buying:
- How many heating and cooling systems does this price cover?
- Are the return ducts and main trunk lines included, or only the supply vents?
- Is there a limit on the number of vents, and what does each extra one cost?
- Will you show me photos of the contamination before you start, and of the ducts after?
- Is the system kept under continuous negative pressure while you clean?
- Is any sanitizer optional, and applied only after mechanical cleaning?
- Can I have the full price in writing before any work begins?
How we price duct cleaning
You get the price before we start, along with what it covers, and we don’t advertise a number we can’t do the job for. If your ducts don’t need cleaning, we tell you that too.