What ventilation duct cleaning costs in Belgium, and why prices vary

Ask three companies to clean your ventilation ducts and you may get three different trades. One vacuums the valves. Another sprays a product into the network. The third brushes every duct along its full length while an extractor collects whatever comes loose.

Only the third actually cleans the ducts. So before comparing prices, compare what they include.

What real duct cleaning includes

• A camera inspection through the valves before starting: you see what the duct is made of and what is inside it.
• Mechanical brushing of every branch, from the valve towards the unit, with a brush suited to the duct type.
• An extractor connected at the unit end throughout, so the dust ends up in the bag and not in your rooms.
• Cleaning of the valves and the unit casing.
• Before and after photos, taken at the same points.

Our prices, by system

Price depends first on the ventilation type. An extract-only system has one network. A heat-recovery system has two, supply and extract, which means roughly twice the ductwork.

For reference, the few Belgian companies that publish a price ask around €250 excl. VAT for an extract-only system and €350 for heat recovery, for cleaning alone. Many publish nothing and quote case by case.

Request a duct cleaning quote

What can add to the price

The per-system price covers an ordinary home. A few situations fall outside it, and an honest quote flags them before the visit, not after:

• A split or crushed section of duct, better replaced than brushed. It is priced separately and is often cheap when accessible.
• No access hatches on a long network: fitting some makes this cleaning and every later one easier.
• Disinfection, only when the inspection shows mould growth.
• An airflow check at the valves, available as an option at €15 excl. VAT.

Some ducts are not brushed at all: fibre-cement ducts in older buildings, which may contain asbestos, and internally insulated ducts. The camera shows this before anything is touched, and in that case we tell you rather than charge for a risky clean.

The service + cleaning pack: when it pays off

Cleaning the ducts while leaving clogged filters and a dirty unit achieves little: the clean air goes straight back through a dirty appliance. If your system has not been serviced for over a year, the pack combines both in one visit for less than the two separately: €39 less for extract-only, €49 for heat recovery.

If the unit has just been serviced, cleaning alone is enough.

Do your ducts really need cleaning?

Not every year. For a home there is no regulatory interval, and a network in good condition can stay clean for a long time. The right criterion is what the inspection shows.

Some signs do justify a closer look: a smell that returns as soon as the ventilation starts, valves that get dirty again within weeks, building work done without covering the valves, a network never opened since construction, or a home you are taking over without knowing its history.