Energy waste calculator
What is dirty airflow quietly costing you?
Two sliders, one honest number — a conservative estimate of the money your home may be losing to dust-strained HVAC and a lint-clogged dryer vent, built on published DOE, EIA and ENERGY STAR figures.
Electric + gas combined.
Dirty ducts (HVAC strain)
$59–$218/yr
Clogged dryer vent (extra cycles)
$29–$88/yr
What dirty air movement may be costing you
$89–$306
per year, every year it goes uncleaned
A one-time cleaning often pays for itself — and you breathe the difference immediately.
✓ Copied to your clipboard — paste it anywhere.
How we calculate this (sources)
Conservative ranges from published figures: DOE's 5–15% energy penalty for dirt-clogged airflow, applied to the ~45–55% of a home's bill that is heating & cooling (EIA), plus 25–75% of dryer energy lost to lint-restricted venting (ENERGY STAR-based per-load cost). Your actual waste depends on your system's condition.
The physics
Where the money actually goes
No mystery, no scare math — two well-documented mechanisms. The Department of Energy, the Energy Information Administration and ENERGY STAR have each published the numbers; the calculator just does the multiplication for your home.
Dust-restricted airflow strains the biggest slice of your bill
Your blower is designed to push air through a clean path. As dust loads the duct walls, registers and filter, the path narrows — so the system runs longer and works harder to move the same air to the same rooms. The U.S. Department of Energy puts the energy penalty of dirt-clogged airflow at 5%–15%.
That penalty lands on the most expensive part of your utility bill: per the U.S. Energy Information Administration, heating and cooling together account for roughly half of a home's energy use — we bracket it at 45%–55%. Restriction and leaky, debris-caked runs also mean some of the air you already paid to heat or cool never reaches the room it was headed for.
A lint-clogged dryer vent burns money — and adds a fire risk
A clothes dryer only works as fast as its exhaust. When lint restricts the vent, moist air can't escape, so loads take longer or need a second cycle — the same clothes, roughly double the electricity. Based on ENERGY STAR's typical operating figures, we price each load at about $0.45, and estimate a restricted vent wastes 25%–75% of that energy.
The dollars are only half the story: the U.S. Fire Administration attributes roughly 2,900 home fires a year to clothes dryers, with failure to clean the leading factor. If your dryer needs a second cycle, the vent isn't just wasting energy — it's accumulating fuel.
Sources behind the math
No inflated numbers
How we keep the number honest
A waste calculator is easy to rig — pick aggressive assumptions and every visitor "loses" a fortune. Ours works the opposite way: every constant is pinned to a published figure, applied at its conservative end, and shown as a range. Here is exactly what each slider assumes.
Your bill slider
We annualize your monthly bill, take only the 45%–55% of it that is heating and cooling (EIA), and apply the DOE's 5%–15% clogged-airflow penalty to that slice — never to the whole bill.
Your dryer slider
Each weekly load is priced at about $0.45 of electricity (ENERGY STAR-based), and we assume a restricted vent wastes 25%–75% of it. We cap the waste at 75% even though fully doubled cycles would be 100%.
Always a range, never a quote
Every figure is anchored to a published source and applied at its conservative end. That's why the calculator shows a low–high band instead of one impressive-looking number.
What this calculator does not claim
- It does not promise that cleaning will save you these dollars. It estimates what restriction may be costing — your actual waste depends on your system's condition.
- It does not assume your ducts are dirty. If your system is clean and your filter habits are good, your real number is near zero — and a camera inspection will show you that before you spend anything.
- It does not use utility-rebate math, projected rate hikes, or lifetime-savings multipliers. Twelve months, published figures, conservative ends.
The ground truth is a camera, not a calculator. Every job starts with photographs of your actual duct interiors — and if they show you don't need cleaning, that's exactly what we tell you. Already holding another company's quote? Get a free second opinion before you sign it.
If your number is real
How to actually recover it
Three fixes, in honest order of cost — starting with the one that's free. Real prices up front, because a waste estimate is useless without knowing what removing the waste costs.
From $500 per system
Air duct cleaning
Removes the accumulated restriction the DOE figure describes. We price by register (vent) count — $500 covers the first 10 registers, then $20 each. The estimate tool gives you the exact price before anyone visits.
Build my instant estimate →$175–$375 by access, once a year
Dryer vent cleaning
Clears the full run from the dryer connection to the exterior hood. Fixes second-cycle drying and removes the lint that fuels dryer fires — this one runs on an annual clock, not a 3–5 year one.
See dryer vent cleaning →Free — you do this one
Filter habits
The cheapest fix on this page isn't ours to sell: a fresh filter on schedule keeps airflow open between cleanings. The DOE's 5–15% figure literally comes from filter maintenance guidance — start there.
Read the filter safety guide →Turn your waste estimate into a cleaning estimate
Count your registers (vents), and the instant estimate tool turns them into a real price range — before anyone visits your home. Not sure you even need cleaning? Take the 60-second quiz first.
Prefer to talk? Our phone line is open 24/7: (724) 847-9444
Straight answers
Energy waste questions, answered honestly
Will duct cleaning actually lower my energy bill?
Maybe — it depends on whether restriction is really there. The DOE's 5–15% figure describes the penalty of dirt-clogged airflow, so removing real buildup removes real strain. But if your ducts are already clean, cleaning them won't change your bill, and we'd rather tell you that than sell you the work. That's why every job starts with a camera inspection: you see what's in the ducts before you spend a dollar, and no specific savings are ever promised.
How accurate is this calculator?
It's a conservative screen, not an energy audit. Every constant comes from a published DOE, EIA or ENERGY STAR figure, applied at its cautious end, which is why you get a low–high range instead of one number. Your actual waste depends on your system's condition — the ground truth is a camera inspection of your actual ductwork, not any calculator.
What about the dryer fire risk the calculator mentions?
It's real and documented: the U.S. Fire Administration attributes roughly 2,900 home fires a year to clothes dryers, and failure to clean is the leading factor. The same lint restriction that forces second cycles (the energy waste) is the fuel those fires start with. If your dryer runs slow, treat the vent as a safety job now — dryer vent cleaning runs $175 to $375 and should happen annually.
Is this calculator just a sales pitch?
No — and the math is built to prove it. The figures are conservative, the sources are linked, and if your inputs produce a small number, the honest conclusion is that cleaning isn't worth it for you yet. We even offer a free second opinion on other companies' duct-cleaning quotes — if an inspection shows your ducts don't need cleaning, we tell you so and you keep your money.
What does it cost to fix the waste this page describes?
Air duct cleaning runs $500 to $800 per system, priced by register (vent) count. Dryer vent cleaning is $175 to $375, disinfecting & deodorizing $100 to $150, and furnace cleaning $75 to $100. Our phone line is open 24/7 at (724) 847-9444, with locations in New Brighton, PA and Boardman, OH — or build an instant estimate online first.
Keep learning
The reading behind the numbers
How often should air ducts be cleaned? →
NADCA's 3–5 year rhythm vs. the EPA's needs-based triggers — and the risk factors that move your number.
Dryer vent fires: the warning signs →
The fire-risk numbers behind the calculator's dryer math, and the six signs your vent is clogging now.
The furnace filter: your first safety device →
The free fix for restricted airflow — change cadence by household, and what a neglected filter causes.
Annual dryer vent cleaning: cheap fire prevention →
Why the U.S. Fire Administration puts dryer vents on a yearly clock — the fire math explained.
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