Table of Contents
The short answer
IHR Dream Cleaning publishes four AC prices. Cleaning a split unit is AED 99 per unit. Servicing an AC is AED 129 per unit. AC duct cleaning starts from AED 350 for a studio or one-bedroom apartment and from AED 750 for a villa. All four include 5% VAT, and none carries a call-out fee.
The first two are fixed per unit: count the units and multiply. The two duct figures are starting prices, because a duct system cannot be priced until someone knows how many vents it has and how they are reached. The figure for your home is confirmed from your photos or a free inspection before the visit, not at the end of it.
One more figure is a starting price: an AC repair visit is from AED 99, which covers one technician, the first hour and the diagnosis. Gas, replacement parts and duct cleaning in apartments larger than one bedroom are quoted once the unit or the system has been seen. The reasons are below, with the sums for typical homes.
The four published prices
These are the only AC figures on our price list. The last three rows show what is not on it: a repair visit, which has a starting price on its service page, and the work that is quoted.
| Job | Priced by | Price | Kind of price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Split-unit cleaning | The unit | AED 99 | Fixed per unit |
| AC servicing | The unit | AED 129 | Fixed per unit |
| Duct cleaning, studio or 1-bedroom apartment | The job | From AED 350 | Starting price |
| Duct cleaning, villa | The job | From AED 750 | Starting price |
| Duct cleaning, larger apartment | The job | Quoted | Agreed before the visit |
| AC repair visit | The visit: one technician, the first hour and the diagnosis | From AED 99 | Starting price |
| Gas and parts | The fault | Quoted | Agreed before the repair |
What fixed and starting mean
A fixed price is set per unit. Three units cleaned are charged as three units. We still ask for photos, so that the type of unit and the way it is reached are known before the technician sets out, and the total is confirmed to you before the visit.
A starting price is the least the job can cost, for the smallest and simplest version of it. The figure for your home is agreed before the visit, from the details and photos you send or from an inspection, and you see it before you commit. If the system turns out on the day to be different from what the photos showed, work stops and you are given a revised figure before anything else is done.
Cleaning or servicing: what the difference in price pays for
Servicing costs AED 30 more per unit than cleaning. The two are not a basic and a premium version of the same thing. Cleaning takes the dirt out of the indoor unit: filters, coil, fan and drain tray. Servicing establishes whether the unit is working as it should. On our AC repair and servicing page the inspection covers gas pressure, the condition of the filter, the drain line, the thermostat's calibration and the electrical connections, and the unit is run and tested for cooling and airflow before the technician signs off.
So the extra pays for someone measuring. That is worth having on a unit that has started to cool more slowly, drip or make a new noise, and on any unit about to go into its hardest season. It adds little to a spare-room unit that works perfectly and is simply dusty. If you want the full wash and the checks on the same unit, say so when you book, so that the visit is scoped and priced for both.
How to tell which of the three jobs a unit needs is set out in AC cleaning, servicing and duct cleaning compared, so it is not repeated here.
A note on the words 'AC deep cleaning'
Companies use 'deep cleaning', 'chemical wash' and 'full service' for different amounts of work, and two quotes with the same name can cover different things. On our list the wash of a split unit is called split-unit cleaning and the check-up is called AC servicing. When you compare, ask what is done to the coil, the fan, the drain and the outdoor unit, not what the job is called.
Split units: the sums for typical homes
Count the indoor units, not the rooms. A studio usually has one. An apartment usually has one for each bedroom and one for the living room, sometimes two in a large living room. A villa with split units throughout can have eight or more once the majlis, the kitchen and the maid's room are counted. Read your own home against the rows below.
| Indoor units | A home like | All cleaned | All serviced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A studio | AED 100 | AED 129 |
| 2 | A one-bedroom apartment | AED 198 | AED 258 |
| 3 | A two-bedroom apartment | AED 297 | AED 387 |
| 4 | A three-bedroom apartment | AED 396 | AED 516 |
| 6 | A villa with split units | AED 594 | AED 774 |
| 8 | A larger villa | AED 792 | AED 1,032 |
The minimum order, and what it means for one unit
The smallest order of priced items on one visit is AED 100. The price of one split unit cleaned on its own is AED 99, and a one-unit visit is charged at whichever of the two is higher, which is why the first row of the table shows AED 100. From two units up, the bill is simply the sum of the units.
Mixing the two on one visit
You do not have to choose one job for the whole home. A sensible arrangement is to service the units that run hardest, usually the living room and the main bedroom, and clean the rest. In a home with four units, two serviced and two cleaned come to AED 456, against AED 516 for servicing all four and AED 396 for cleaning all four.
What a year of AC care costs
Our service page gives six to twelve months as the normal servicing interval in Abu Dhabi's dust and humidity, ideally with a visit before the summer. For a home with three split units, that leaves three ways to plan a year. One service of each unit before the summer is AED 387. A service before the summer and another after it is AED 774. A service before the summer and a wash after it, when coils and drain trays are at their dirtiest, is AED 684.
The regular-plan discounts on the price list apply to hourly cleaning visits, not to AC work, which is priced per unit each time it is booked. Whether a yearly contract would suit you better than separate visits is a different question, compared in annual maintenance contract or pay per visit.
What AC duct cleaning costs: the starting price and what moves it
Duct cleaning starts from AED 350 for a studio or one-bedroom apartment and from AED 750 for a villa. It is priced by the job, not by the hour or the unit, because a small flat with one concealed unit and a villa with ducts over two floors are different jobs. The time on site follows from the system, not the other way round.
What the job covers is the same at any size. The accessible grilles are taken down and cleaned, and built-up dust is cleared from the vent housings and the duct sections that can be reached. It does not include the mechanical parts of the AC. A wash or service of the concealed unit is a separate item.
Four things decide how far above the starting figure a particular home comes. None of them can be read from an address, which is why the price waits for photos.
The number of vents and returns
This is the largest factor. Every supply grille has to be released, taken down, washed and put back, and every opening behind it is a place where dust has to be loosened and collected. Return grilles are bigger and dirtier than supply grilles, because the air reaches them before it reaches the filter. A small flat has a handful. A villa has them in every bedroom, corridor, majlis and kitchen. Count them room by room before you ask for a price, and count the returns separately.
Duct length and access
A grille fed by a short duct from a unit just above the corridor is quick. A long run to a far bedroom, a branch that turns twice, or a duct that can be reached only through one small ceiling hatch takes longer. Access to the ceiling counts as well. Hinged panels near the unit make the job simple. A sealed gypsum ceiling with no hatch limits how far anyone can reach, and that needs to be known before the visit, not discovered during it. High grilles, as in a double-height majlis or a stairwell, must be mentioned too, because they change the equipment needed.
The type of system
A ducted split or a fan-coil unit in an apartment has short ducts serving a few rooms from one unit. A villa on rooftop package units has larger trunk ducts running from the roof into the ceiling space, often with a separate system for each floor or wing, and a villa with more than one system is quoted per system. The material matters as well. Flexible ducts, which look like a ribbed foil hose, have to be cleaned more gently than rigid sheet-metal ones. A photo taken through an open access panel usually shows which you have.
The condition of the ducts
Ordinary house dust in a system that is looked after comes away readily. A system that has run for many years untouched, a home that stood empty, or ducts that were open during building work hold far more, and construction dust is heavier and packs down. Signs of damp or mould around the vents change the job again, because the moisture has to be dealt with as well as the dust. Say what you know when you ask: when the ducts were last cleaned, whether there has been renovation, and what you can see around the grilles. How to tell when a system is due is covered in how often AC ducts should be cleaned.
Apartments with two bedrooms or more
The apartment starting price is published for a studio or a one-bedroom flat. A larger apartment has more vents, longer runs and sometimes a second concealed unit, so its price is set from the details you send and confirmed before the visit. Asking costs nothing. A quote from photos is free, and so is an on-site inspection.
How to get the figure for your home
Ten minutes with a phone and a step ladder is enough.
- Count the supply grilles and the return grilles, room by room.
- Note the system: ducted split, fan-coil unit on the building's chilled water, or rooftop package units. Note how many indoor units or separate systems there are.
- Find the ceiling access panels and note where they are.
- Photograph two or three grilles and any dust or dark marks around them. If you can reach the hinged return grille from a step ladder without stretching, open it and photograph what is behind.
- Write down whether the home was recently renovated or has stood empty, and when the ducts were last cleaned, if you know.
- Book duct cleaning online and reply to the confirmation email with the photos and notes. We confirm the price before the visit. Where photos cannot show the system, an inspection is free in every area we serve, with no obligation to book afterwards.
Central AC cleaning cost: which of these prices applies
Central AC means different things in different homes, and the price depends on which one you have.
In a tower apartment it usually means a concealed fan-coil unit fed by the building's chilled water, with ducts to each room. Two parts of that system inside the flat collect dust. One is the ducts and grilles, which is the duct-cleaning job: the apartment starting price for a studio or one-bedroom flat, and a quoted price for anything larger. The other is the fan-coil unit itself, which has a filter, a coil and a drain tray. The chilled-water plant, the risers and the valves belong to the building.
In a villa it usually means one or more package units on the roof with ducts to every room. The ducts are the villa duct-cleaning job, quoted per system. The package unit is serviced as a machine in its own right.
The two per-unit prices on our list are written with split units in mind. For a concealed fan-coil unit or a rooftop package unit, say exactly what you have when you book, so that the scope and the price for that unit are confirmed before the visit and not assumed. And before paying for work on a system that is partly the building's or the landlord's, read the maintenance clause in your tenancy contract and ask the building's management which parts they look after. Responsibility differs from one contract and one building to the next.
Repairs and gas: a starting price for the visit, a quote for the rest
A repair cannot be priced from a symptom. Weak cooling can be a filter that needs washing, a coil that needs cleaning, a refrigerant leak, a failing fan motor or a compressor at the end of its life. Those are five different bills. A single price for 'AC repair' would have to be too high for the simple faults or too low to be honoured for the serious ones.
So the visit has a starting price and the repair has a quote. A repair visit is from AED 99: one technician, the first hour on site and the diagnosis. The technician checks gas pressure, filter, drain line, thermostat and electrical connections to find the actual fault. You are given a price for gas, parts and any longer work before the repair or top-up begins, and nothing is fitted until you agree. These are the things that price depends on.
- The type of unit: split, window or central.
- Whether the visit is routine servicing or a fault repair.
- The quantity of gas, if the system is low on refrigerant.
- The parts. Capacitors, control boards, motors and compressors are each priced individually.
- The number of units seen on one visit.
- Access. A unit mounted at height or in a tight service area takes more labour.
Gas in particular
Gas is the item people most often ask a price for, and the one that means least without an inspection. Refrigerant runs in a sealed circuit and is not used up. A unit that is low has a leak, and the proper job is to find and seal the leak and then charge the system to the right amount. A price for a top-up alone tells you nothing about what that will cost, or whether the unit needs gas at all. The signs that it does are in AC gas refill: when it is needed and when it is not.
What makes a repair quote quicker and more accurate
Send a photo of the label on the unit, which gives the brand, the model and the capacity, and say roughly how old it is. Describe what the unit does and since when, and whether the fault is constant or comes and goes. Say where the outdoor unit is and how it is reached. Mention a manufacturer's warranty if there is one, because it can change how the repair should be handled. The same approach works for any trade, and it is set out in how to get an accurate repair quote.
What is already inside every figure, and the few things added to it
The published prices are the whole price in most of the city. This is the complete list of what is included and what can be added.
- VAT. Every price on the list already includes 5% VAT, and a tax invoice is available on request.
- No call-out fee. A technician's travel is not charged as a line of its own.
- No surcharge for same-day visits, Fridays, weekends or public holidays.
- The minimum order. Priced items on one visit come to at least AED 100.
- A travel fee in four areas. Al Wathba, Al Shahama, Al Rahba and Al Samha carry a flat AED 20 per visit, added once however many units are booked.
- An advance on larger jobs. A job of AED 1,000 or more takes a 30% advance once the price is confirmed, with the balance due when the work is finished. A villa duct clean booked with several units serviced can reach that.
- Cancellation. Moving or cancelling is free up to 6 hours before the start time. After that the fee is AED 30, or AED 60 if the technician travels and cannot get in. The detail is in the cancellation policy.
How payment works
Payment is online, by card. For AC work you book on the website or in the IHR Dream app, send your photos by replying to the confirmation email, and pay online from My bookings on this website once the price has been confirmed. Card details are entered on the secure payment page and are never seen by us.
How to compare two AC quotes fairly
AC prices are hard to compare because the same words cover different work. Before setting one figure against another, get the same seven answers from each company.
- Is the price per unit or per visit, and does it include VAT?
- Is there a call-out or inspection fee if you decide not to go ahead?
- What exactly is done to the unit: the filters only, or the coil, the fan wheel and the drain line as well?
- Is the outdoor unit included?
- If the quote includes gas, how will they establish that the unit needs it, and what happens if there is a leak?
- For ducts, how many vents does the price assume, and which parts of the ducts will actually be reached?
- When is the final price fixed: before the visit, or after the work?
Why the lowest figure is not always the cheapest job
A low price per unit that covers a filter rinse and a wipe is dearer than a higher one that washes the coil and flushes the drain, because the first leaves the cause of the smell and the dripping where it was. A duct price that turns out to cover only the grilles has cleaned the part you could have wiped yourself. And a cheap service that ends with an unplanned charge for gas has stopped being cheap. None of this calls for suspicion, only for the questions above, asked before the booking. The same reasoning applied to hourly cleaning is in how to compare cleaning quotes.
Spending the money where it counts
A few decisions do more for the total than any discount would.
- Wash the filters yourself and check them monthly. It costs nothing, takes ten minutes, and does more than anything else to delay the next professional wash.
- Service before the summer, not during it. A weak part found in spring is a planned repair. Found in July, it is a home with no cooling while the part is ordered.
- Service the units that work hardest and clean the rest.
- Have all the units done on one visit. It is one access arrangement and one morning at home, and the minimum order stops mattering.
- Do not buy gas without a leak check.
- After a renovation, have the ducts done before the final clean. Otherwise the AC blows dust over a home you have just paid to have cleaned.
- For an old unit facing a large repair, ask for the repair price first and weigh it against the unit's age. A technician can tell you what the part costs. Only you can decide how many more summers you expect from the unit.
Common questions
Is duct cleaning priced per vent?
Not on our list. It is priced by the job, with a starting figure by type of home. The number of vents is still the main thing that sets the final price, which is why you are asked to count them.
Why does a villa start so much higher than an apartment?
Because it is a bigger system of a different kind. A villa has vents in many more rooms, longer and larger ducts, grilles on more than one floor, and often rooftop units with a separate system for each floor or wing. Each of those adds grilles to take down and duct to reach.
Do I pay anything if I only want a price?
No. A quote from photos is free, and so is an on-site inspection in every area we serve, with no obligation to book afterwards.
Is a service still charged if the technician finds nothing wrong?
Yes, because the checks and the routine cleaning are the work. A service that finds nothing has told you the unit is ready for the summer. What is free is a quote or an inspection for a job you have not yet booked.
Does the price go up in summer or for an urgent visit?
No. The list has no peak pricing, and a same-day visit costs the same as one booked a week ahead. What changes in summer is how busy technicians are. A home with no cooling at all should say so when booking, because no-cooling calls are put first wherever technicians and parts allow.
Is there a discount when AC work is booked with a deep clean?
The 10% bundle discount applies to sofa, carpet, mattress and curtain cleaning booked with a deep clean or a move-in or move-out clean. AC work is not part of it. What you save by booking the two together is the second access arrangement, and the order can be planned so that the AC work comes first and the cleaning team removes any dust it loosens.
Getting the figure for your home
For split units the figure is already known: count the units and multiply. For ducts, count the vents, take the photos and ask. For a fault, describe it and have it inspected before anyone names a price.
The scope of a duct-cleaning visit, and the signs that a system needs one, are on the AC duct cleaning page. We work every day, 8 AM – 8 PM, across the areas we serve in Abu Dhabi. To go ahead, book online, choose the job and the number of units, and reply to the confirmation email with your photos.
