Whole-home duct cleaning
Dryer vent cleaning
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Sanitizing & deodorizingWhole-system duct and dryer vent check with before-and-after photos - you see exactly what came out of your vents
That "$99 whole-house special" is a bait ad - the real number appears once they are in your hallway, or the "clean" is a shop-vac at the register. We photograph the inside of your ducts before and after instead.
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Before
AfterHow Much Does HVAC Cleaning Cost in San Antonio?
HVAC cleaning in San Antonio typically costs between $285 and $540 for a full-system air duct cleaning on a standard single-family home, with most homeowners paying around $390. The price covers negative-pressure extraction of supply and return ducts, plus cleaning of the main trunk lines and vent covers. Homes with multiple HVAC units, extensive duct runs, or several years of accumulated dust and debris will land on the higher end of that range.
Key Takeaways:
- Standard air duct cleaning for a single HVAC system runs $285 to $540 in San Antonio.
- Dryer vent cleaning as a standalone service costs $95 to $185.
- Air duct repair work typically adds $150 to $450 depending on what needs fixing.
- Most San Antonio homes need duct cleaning every 3 to 5 years, though homes with pets, allergy sufferers, or recent renovations may need it sooner.
- Linden Air Duct San Antonio puts the price in writing before any work starts, so there are no surprise charges at the end.
HVAC Cleaning Cost Breakdown (2026)
Here is what you can expect to pay for HVAC cleaning services in the San Antonio market this year. These ranges reflect what we see across Bexar County, from Alamo Heights to Stone Oak to Helotes, where older homes often have ductwork that has not been opened in a decade or more.
| Service | Typical Price Range | What It Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Full air duct cleaning (single system) | $285 – $425 | Supply and return ducts, main trunk lines, vent covers, and register cleaning |
| Full air duct cleaning (two systems / larger home) | $450 – $540 | Complete cleaning for homes 3,000+ sq ft or with two HVAC units |
| Dryer vent cleaning | $95 – $185 | Lint removal from the vent run, including the lint trap bypass and exterior termination point |
| Air duct repair (per section) | $150 – $450 | Sealing leaks, reconnecting separated duct runs, replacing crushed or torn flex duct |
| Sanitizing / deodorizing treatment | $90 – $220 | Antimicrobial fogging after cleaning to address mold or persistent odors |
| Return air duct replacement (per duct) | $120 – $300 | Replacing a damaged return run that can’t be sealed effectively |
San Antonio homes built before the 1990s often have rigid metal ductwork that was installed when the house went up. Those systems tend to hold up well structurally but accumulate a lot of dust in the flat sections. Newer homes in communities like Cibolo Canyons or Alamo Ranch frequently use flex duct, which can sag, separate at the joints, or get crushed by attic foot traffic. That difference alone can swing a repair estimate by $200 or more.
If you want an exact number for your house, call (430) 233-7681 and we will put a written quote together. No charge for the estimate, and the price you see is the price you pay.
What Affects HVAC Cleaning Pricing in San Antonio
No two houses in San Antonio have the same duct system, even when they sit on the same street. Here is what moves the price.
- Number of HVAC systems. A two-story home in Terrell Hills with separate upstairs and downstairs units will cost more than a single-story rancher in Jefferson. Both systems need their own cleaning pass, and each has its own return and supply runs.
- Total linear feet of ductwork. A 3,400-square-foot home in Dominion has more duct than a 1,600-square-foot home in Highland Park. More duct means more time, more negative-pressure extraction passes, and more vent covers to remove and clean.
- Access to the air handler and duct runs. San Antonio attics get brutally hot in summer, and some builders put the air handler in a tight closet or a low-clearance attic corner. If we need extra time to safely reach and work around the equipment, that shows up in the quote.
- Condition and age of the ductwork. Flex duct that has been in an Alamo City attic for 20 years can be brittle, sagging, or chewed at the edges by rodents. If we find sections that should be replaced rather than cleaned, we will show you photos and give you the repair price before we do anything.
- What has been living in the ducts. San Antonio has a real problem with rodents getting into attic spaces, especially in older neighborhoods near mature oak trees. Rat droppings, nesting material, and urine-stained insulation around the ducts require more involved cleaning and often a sanitizing treatment after extraction.
- Added services like dryer vent cleaning. Many homeowners bundle dryer vent cleaning with duct cleaning. On its own, dryer vent cleaning costs $95 to $185. Bundled with a full duct cleaning, it usually adds $70 to $120 to the total bill.
Linden Air Duct San Antonio gives you a written price before any work begins, so you will know exactly where your house falls in these ranges before we put a ladder in the attic.
How to Save on HVAC Cleaning
HVAC cleaning is not a place to chase the lowest bid. A $99 whole-house duct cleaning special in San Antonio almost always means a quick pass with a shop vac and no actual negative-pressure extraction. You get what the industry calls a “blow and go,” and within six months the dust is back. That said, there are legitimate ways to keep your cost down without cutting corners.
- Bundle dryer vent cleaning with duct cleaning. Combining both services saves you the trip charge and part of the setup time, which typically knocks $50 to $80 off the combined cost.
- Change your air filters before calling. If your blower and coils are not clogged with filter bypass dust, the cleaning goes faster. A clean filter also means the tech spends less time clearing the air handler area.
- Know the last time your ducts were touched. If you bought the house and have no record of duct cleaning, be honest about that when you call. We can often tell from the dust load, but giving us an accurate history helps us quote the right amount of time up front.
- Fix small duct issues at the same time as cleaning. If we find a separated flex duct joint during cleaning, sealing it at that visit costs less than scheduling a separate repair call later. You are already paying for the time in the attic.
- Ask about the guarantee before you hire anyone. A company that will not put a guarantee in writing is telling you something. Linden Air Duct San Antonio covers every repair with a written guarantee and a free second visit if the repair does not hold. That is not a discount, but it saves you from paying twice for the same fix.
The best way to get an accurate number is to call (430) 233-7681 and describe your house. We will give you a written price range on the spot, and a firm written quote before any work starts.
The Linden Difference: You Already Know Who Is at Your Door
Here is a familiar San Antonio scenario: you schedule a service, the window is “between noon and 4,” and someone in an unmarked truck pulls up to your curb. You open the door to a stranger. For a homeowner who is often alone during the day, a parent with a sleeping toddler, or an older resident who has heard one too many scam stories, that moment is the worst part of hiring any contractor.
Linden Air Duct San Antonio does it differently. This is the Threshold Standard, and it is not optional. Every technician is background-checked and identity-verified. Before the visit, you receive the tech’s name and photo by text or email. When they arrive, they are in a clean, marked uniform and they show you a photo ID badge at the door. You verify the face matches the photo you already have. Only then does the work start.
That standard is why homeowners choose Linden over the $99 specials. The job costs a fair price and the person in your home is who we said they would be. Marcus Veale leads the Linden Air Duct San Antonio team, and the way we run service calls comes from a simple belief: you should never have to guess who is standing on your porch.
What HVAC Cleaning Actually Covers
When you pay for HVAC cleaning, here is what should happen. We start with a visual inspection of the supply and return registers, then connect a professional negative-pressure extraction system to the main trunk line. This is the same approach used by Rotobrush and Nikro equipment, which is what our technicians run. The vacuum creates constant suction on the entire duct system while compressed air agitation knocks dust, pet hair, and debris loose from the duct walls. Everything gets pulled to the collection unit outside the house, not blown into your living room.
The extraction covers:
- Supply ducts that carry conditioned air from the air handler to each room.
- Return ducts that pull room air back to the system to be filtered and conditioned again.
- Main trunk lines where most of the dust and debris settles in flat or sagging sections.
- Vent covers and registers that get removed, cleaned, and reattached.
- The air handler cabinet where visible, including the blower compartment if accessible without disassembling the unit.
For homes where we find evidence of rodents, mold, or persistent smoke odors, we can add an antimicrobial fogging treatment using products from industry-trusted names like Honeywell, Aprilaire, Abatement Technologies, and Guardsman. That is a $90 to $220 add-on depending on the size of the system, and we will show you what we found before recommending it.
Why San Antonio Homes Need HVAC Cleaning More Often Than You Think
San Antonio has a specific set of conditions that load up ductwork faster than most Texas cities. Cedar pollen in the winter, oak pollen in the spring, and a long stretch of summer where your AC runs for months at a stretch all contribute. Every time the blower cycles, it pulls whatever is in your air through the return and into the duct system. The filter catches some of it. The ducts catch the rest.
Add in the fact that many San Antonio homes sit under mature live oaks and pecans, and you get a steady supply of fine organic dust that finds its way into the attic and eventually into the duct runs. If your home has ever had roof rats, which are common in neighborhoods like Monte Vista and King William, the ducts may contain nesting material you cannot see from the vent opening.
Signs your San Antonio home is due for a cleaning:
- Dust settles on furniture within a day or two of wiping it down.
- Vents show visible dust buildup or a gray film around the register edges.
- Your energy bill has drifted upward even though your usage habits have not changed.
- Anyone in the house has unexplained allergy flare-ups that improve when they leave the house.
- You cannot remember the last time the ducts were cleaned, or you bought the house and have no record of it ever being done.
Linden Air Duct San Antonio has served San Antonio homeowners since 2004 as part of the Threshold Group family. That is two decades of attic work in Bexar County heat, and we have seen what builds up inside ducts that have been ignored for 10 or 15 years. It is not a pretty picture, but it is a fixable one.
Duct Cleaning vs. Repair: What Costs More?
Cleaning is usually the cheaper first step, but sometimes cleaning reveals damage that needs repair. A separated flex duct joint, a crushed section of duct, or a torn return run cannot be fixed by cleaning alone. In those cases, the repair cost is separate from the cleaning cost and we will show you photos of the damage before we quote anything.
Typical repair costs in San Antonio:
- Sealing a separated duct joint: $150 to $250, including materials and the attic time to reach it.
- Replacing a crushed flex duct run: $200 to $450 depending on length and accessibility.
- Replacing a damaged return air duct: $120 to $300 for a standard single-room return.
- Reattaching a fallen duct hanger: $75 to $150 when caught before the duct separates.
Every repair we perform is covered by a written guarantee. If the repair fails, we come back at no charge. That is the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it applies to every repair job we do in the San Antonio area. Not as a pitch, but as a written commitment on every invoice.
Is HVAC Cleaning Worth It for San Antonio Homeowners?
The honest answer is that duct cleaning will not transform a house with clean ducts into something dramatically different. But for a home that has gone 10 or 20 years without any duct attention, or a home where pets shed constantly, or a home where someone in the family struggles with allergies, the difference is measurable. The air handler works less to push air through clean ducts. Dust stops recirculating as aggressively. And the musty smell that shows up when the AC kicks on stops showing up.
It is also worth doing before you list a San Antonio home for sale. Buyers in this market increasingly ask about HVAC maintenance history, and a recent duct cleaning with a written receipt is a small but real selling point. Sellers in communities like Stone Oak and Alamo Ranch often schedule a cleaning before photos are taken, because a clean house that smells clean photographs better.
For most homes, the cost of $285 to $540 every 3 to 5 years works out to less than $12 a month. That is a small fraction of what most San Antonio households spend on allergy medication, air filters, and the extra energy from a system working against clogged ducts.
FAQs – HVAC Cleaning Cost
How much does air duct cleaning cost in San Antonio?
Air duct cleaning for a standard single-system San Antonio home costs $285 to $425. A larger home with two HVAC systems runs $450 to $540. The price includes negative-pressure extraction of supply and return ducts, trunk line cleaning, and vent cover removal and cleaning. Call (430) 233-7681 for a written quote specific to your house, free of charge.
Is it cheaper to clean or replace air ducts?
Cleaning is almost always cheaper up front, costing $285 to $540 compared to $2,000 to $6,000 or more for a full duct replacement. However, if your ducts are collapsed, torn, or separated in multiple places, cleaning alone will not fix the problem. We will show you photos of any damage we find and give you repair pricing before doing anything, so you can decide with real information.
How often should HVAC ducts be cleaned in San Antonio?
Most San Antonio homes need air duct cleaning every 3 to 5 years. Homes with multiple pets, residents with severe allergies, recent renovation work, or a history of rodent activity in the attic may need cleaning every 2 to 3 years. If you cannot remember the last cleaning, that is a good sign it is time to schedule one.
What does a $99 whole-house duct cleaning actually cover?
It usually covers a quick pass with a vacuum at the register openings, not a full negative-pressure extraction of the entire duct system. The $99 price is a door-opener, and the technician often finds “problems” that require expensive add-on work. A proper cleaning with professional Rotobrush or Nikro equipment costs $285 to $540 in San Antonio, and the price is put in writing before work begins.
Can you clean HVAC ducts the same day I call?
Yes, in most cases. Linden Air Duct San Antonio answers every call with a live person, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We can often schedule San Antonio service within 24 to 48 hours, and same-day appointments are available depending on the schedule. Call (430) 233-7681 and we will tell you exactly what times are open.
Does the price go up after the technician arrives?
No. The price we put in writing before the job starts is the price you pay. If we find something during the cleaning that needs attention, like a separated duct joint or a rodent-damaged return run, we will show you photos and give you a separate written quote for that repair. You decide whether to proceed. There is never a surprise line item on the final bill.
Get a Written HVAC Cleaning Price for Your San Antonio Home
You should not have to guess what HVAC cleaning will cost, and you should not have to worry about who shows up at your door. Linden Air Duct San Antonio solves both problems at once. Call (430) 233-7681 and you will talk to a live person, not a voicemail tree. Tell us about your house, how many systems you have, and what you have noticed. We will give you a written price for the work, a scheduled time, and the name and photo of the technician who will arrive at your door.
Every job gets a written price before any work starts. Every repair gets a written guarantee with a free second visit if it fails. Every technician is background-checked, identity-verified, and photo-badged under the Threshold Standard. That has been how we operate since 2004, and it is how we will operate on your job.
Call (430) 233-7681 today for a free estimate on HVAC cleaning in San Antonio. If you would rather read more first, start with our HVAC Cleaning in San Antonio page or head back to the home page to explore all of our services.
Pricing reflects the San Antonio market as of 2026. Linden Air Duct San Antonio offers free estimates – call (430) 233-7681.
Written by Marcus Veale, Owner at Linden Air Duct San Antonio, serving San Antonio since 2004.
What Our Customers Say
"We had construction dust packed into every register after a remodel. They sealed off the returns, used negative pressure, and left the floors cleaner than they found them."
- Paul E."I liked that I knew who was coming in. Name and photo texted ahead, badge at the door. He was quiet, careful with the furniture, and thorough."
- Cheryl A."Tech arrived with a badge and a printed sheet of what he'd be doing. Ran a camera through the main trunk before and after so I could see the dust difference. Vents smell cleaner already."
- Gina R.