Condo duct cleaning in Toronto: fan coils, permission and cost

Condo duct cleaning in Toronto is done inside your suite with portable equipment, takes about 45 minutes, and costs a flat $399 for a single fan coil unit or $599 for a double, before HST. The fee covers the supply and return vents, the fan coil or wall unit, the bathroom exhaust fans and the dryer vent. You do not need to involve the building beyond letting management know a contractor is coming and booking the elevator if your building requires it.

How condo HVAC differs from a house

A detached house has one furnace in the basement, a network of sheet-metal trunks and branch ducts in the walls and floors, and a truck parked in the driveway can pull air through all of it at once. A condo suite has none of that. What you have instead depends on when the building went up and how it was designed, but it is almost always one of the following.

Fan coil units

Most Toronto high-rises heat and cool each suite with a fan coil unit. It is a metal cabinet, usually in a closet, behind a panel in the hallway or above the ceiling in the entry, containing a fan, a coil fed by the building's hot and chilled water loops, and a filter. Air from the suite is pulled into the unit through a return grille, passes over the coil and is pushed out through short duct runs to supply registers in the bedrooms and living room. The whole system is inside your walls and ceilings. Nothing is shared with the neighbours except the water pipes.

Heat pumps

Newer buildings often use a water-source heat pump in place of the fan coil. From a cleaning point of view it behaves the same way: a cabinet with a fan, a coil, a filter, a return and a few supply ducts, all within the suite.

Shared corridor supply

Fresh air for most high-rises comes from a rooftop makeup air unit that pressurises the corridors. That air leaks under your entry door and is drawn into the suite's return. The corridor system belongs to the building and is maintained by the building. It is not part of a suite cleaning.

In-suite bathroom exhausts

Each bathroom has an exhaust fan that connects to a vertical shaft running up through the building. The fan and the short duct from it to the shaft are inside your suite and can be cleaned. The shaft itself is the building's.

Dryer exhaust

The dryer vents through a pipe behind the machine to a trap box, and from there to the balcony or a shared riser. In most suites the trap box and the pipe to it are accessible and are the parts that collect lint.

What "ducts" means in a suite

When a condo owner asks for duct cleaning, the ducts in question are the short supply runs from the fan coil to the registers, the return path into the fan coil, the fan coil cabinet itself including the blower and coil face, the bathroom exhaust fan housings and the dryer vent run. In a one-bedroom suite that might be four or five supply registers and one return. In a two-storey or double-unit suite there are two fan coils and roughly twice the runs, which is why there is a double-unit price.

The runs are short, but they collect the same things a house's ducts do: drywall and construction dust from the original build or a renovation, pet hair, skin and fabric fibres, and whatever settled during the years the previous owner skipped the filter. The fan coil's coil face and blower are the parts that matter most for airflow and for the smell when the heat first comes on in fall.

What to ask property management before you book

Most buildings in Toronto, North York and Mississauga have rules for contractors entering the building. A five-minute call to the management office or concierge will cover the following.

• Access. Does the technician need to sign in at the concierge, show identification or be met by you at the door? Some buildings require the owner to be home. Most of ours are booked with the owner present anyway.
• Elevator booking. Many buildings require the service elevator to be reserved for moving equipment in and out. Our portable vacuum and compressor are compact, but some buildings still want a booking. Ask whether there is a fee and how far in advance it must be made.
• Parking. Is there visitor or contractor parking, and does the technician need a pass from the office? Street parking downtown is the main thing that can slow a visit down.
• Contractor rules. Some condo corporations keep a list of insurance requirements or restrict work to certain hours or weekdays. Ask whether the building has any such rule and tell us when you book so we can bring what the office needs.
• Fan coil shutoff. We switch the unit off while we work. In a few buildings the breaker for the fan coil is in a locked electrical room rather than in your suite. If that is the case, management will need to know the date.

Most owners find the building has no objection at all. It is simply easier to ask first than to have a technician waiting in the lobby.

Why trucks cannot be used and what is used instead

Truck-mounted vacuums are the right tool for a house. The truck parks at the driveway, a large hose runs to the furnace and the whole duct system is put under suction at once. Our house trucks pull up to 20,000 CFM.

That approach is impossible on the twentieth floor. There is no path for a hose, and a condo's duct runs are too short and too separate from one another for a single trunk connection to do anything useful. So the work is done with a portable vacuum and a compressor brought up to the suite. The vacuum connects at the fan coil or at each register in turn, and compressed-air tools and contact brushes push debris back toward it. It is the same principle as the truck, applied to one small system at a time, and the equipment fits in an elevator.

What is included for $399 or $599

The flat fee covers every part of the suite's system. The order of work on a typical visit is:

1. Floor mats and shoe covers at the entry, and corner protection where the equipment passes.
2. Registers covered and the fan coil switched off for the duration of the cleaning.
3. Portable vacuum and compressor set up at the wall unit.
4. Each supply vent flushed with compressed air back toward the vacuum.
5. The coil face and the return side of the wall unit vacuumed.
6. Bathroom exhaust fans cleaned.
7. Dryer vent cleaned from inside, from the lint screen to the trap box, and from the balcony side if the exterior vent is accessible.
8. Benefect, a botanical disinfectant, applied to the wall unit.
9. A new filter installed if you have one ready. Most fan coils take a simple cut-to-fit or standard-size filter, and the technician will show you where it goes.

Before-and-after photos are emailed to you after the visit. The whole thing takes about 45 minutes for a single unit, and the "Love it or don't pay" guarantee applies.

The $90 add-ons available for houses, such as a humidifier or a heat recovery ventilator, apply to condos too where the suite has that equipment. Some newer buildings have an in-suite HRV or ERV, and that is a worthwhile addition. The dryer vent and bathroom fans, which are add-ons for a house, are already inside the condo fee.

Which neighbourhoods we cover

We clean suites across the GTA. The densest work is downtown Toronto, where almost every job is a fan coil suite in a tower, and North York along Yonge and Sheppard, which is also where our shop at 855 Alness Street is. In Mississauga the condo work is concentrated around Square One and the Hurontario corridor. Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Scarborough and Etobicoke all have growing tower clusters and we are in them every week.

How often a condo needs it

We recommend every three to five years, the same interval as a house, and sooner if you have pets, allergies, or have just finished a renovation. A new-build suite is worth cleaning within the first year, because construction dust ends up in the fan coil no matter how carefully the trades worked. Between cleanings, change the fan coil filter every few months. It is the single cheapest thing you can do for a condo's air.

Pricing for houses and the full add-on list are on the cost page, and the service itself is described on the condo duct cleaning page. When you are ready, book an appointment online or call (416) 548-7833. We are open seven days a week from 6:00 AM to midnight.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does condo duct cleaning cost in Toronto?

Air Force Shield charges a flat $399 for a suite with one fan coil or wall unit and $599 for a double unit, before HST. The fee includes the vents, the unit, the bathroom exhaust fans and the dryer vent.

Do I need permission from my condo board?

Usually you only need to let management or the concierge know a contractor is coming. Some buildings require an elevator booking or restrict work hours. Ask the office when you book and tell us what they say.

How long does it take?

About 45 minutes for a single-unit suite. A double unit takes longer because there are two fan coils and twice the vents.

Why can't you use a truck for a condo?

There is no way to run a hose from a truck to an upper-floor suite, and condo duct runs are too short and separate for one trunk connection to work. We use a portable vacuum and compressor brought up to the suite instead.

Is the dryer vent included?

Yes. We clean from the lint screen and the exhaust pipe behind the dryer to the trap box, and from the balcony side if the exterior vent is accessible.

Will the cleaning make noise or dust in the suite?

The vacuum and compressor are audible but no louder than a household vacuum. Registers are covered and debris is captured at the vacuum, so dust is not released into the suite. Floors are protected with mats.