What is included in a professional duct cleaning service in the GTA?

A legitimate professional duct cleaning in the GTA includes cleaning all supply ducts, return ducts, trunk lines, the supply and return plenums, register boots, and the blower compartment using truck-mounted vacuum equipment and mechanical agitation tools. The goal is source removal — physically dislodging debris from duct surfaces and extracting it from the system, not just blowing it around.

The process starts with the technician inspecting your system, usually by removing a few registers and looking inside with a camera or mirror. They will then connect a large-diameter vacuum hose from the truck-mounted equipment to your main trunk line, creating strong negative pressure throughout the entire duct system. While the system is under negative pressure, the technician works through each supply and return register individually, inserting rotating brushes, air whips, or compressed air tools into each branch duct to agitate and dislodge dust, pet hair, debris, and biological material stuck to the duct walls. The negative pressure pulls everything toward the truck-mounted vacuum, which filters the air through HEPA filtration before exhausting it outside.

A thorough cleaning should cover every register in the house — supply and return — plus the main trunk lines, transition fittings, register boots, and the blower compartment inside the furnace. Many reputable companies also include cleaning the furnace blower fan and housing as part of the service, since dust accumulation on blower blades reduces airflow and efficiency. Some companies offer evaporator coil cleaning as an add-on for an additional $100 to $200, which is worth considering if the coil has not been cleaned in several years.

The entire process takes 3 to 5 hours for a typical GTA home with 10 to 20 registers. A two-person crew is standard — one technician operates the truck equipment and manages the main vacuum connection while the other works through each register inside the home. When they finish, the technician should show you before-and-after photos or video from inside the ducts, reinstall all registers, and replace or recommend replacing your furnace filter.

What a professional service costs in the GTA is $300 to $700 depending on the size of your home, number of registers, and the company. Be extremely cautious of companies advertising $99 or $149 whole-house duct cleaning — these are almost always bait-and-switch operations. They get in the door at a low price, then upsell chemical sanitizers, UV lights, or mould remediation at inflated prices, or they perform a superficial cleaning that does not actually address the contamination. Look for NADCA-certified companies (National Air Duct Cleaners Association), which follow industry standards for source removal cleaning.

What should NOT be included without your explicit consent is chemical sanitizers, deodorizers, or antimicrobial coatings sprayed inside the ducts. These products are not necessary for routine cleaning and some can irritate respiratory systems. If a company pushes these products aggressively, that is a red flag. Legitimate duct cleaning is a mechanical process — agitation and extraction — not a chemical treatment.