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Austin Air Quality
Austin Has an Allergy Season for Every Month
Ask anyone who moved here. Mountain cedar pollen blows in from the Hill Country from December into February and gives half the city “cedar fever.” Live oak takes over in March and April and coats every car in yellow-green dust. Grasses run through summer, ragweed arrives in fall, and mold spores climb whenever the humidity does, which in Austin is most of spring and early summer. Meanwhile the air handler in your attic is pulling return air through ductwork that may be leaking attic dust and insulation fibers into the supply.
The house matters as much as the season. Older central Austin homes in Crestview, Hyde Park and Tarrytown are leaky, which lets pollen in but also lets moisture out. The tighter 2000s-and-newer homes in Mueller, Leander and Kyle hold conditioned air well but also hold whatever is in it: cooking fumes, off-gassing, humidity from showers. Each needs a different mix of filtration, purification and ventilation, and picking the right one starts with a look at your system, not a product catalog.
The general guide to the equipment, from media filters to whole-home purifiers to dehumidifiers, is on our indoor air quality page.
- System first, product second We look at your ducts, filter slot and airflow before recommending anything.
- No pressure If a better filter solves it, that is what we will tell you.
- Home Comfort Guarantee A written quote honored for 72 hours and 100% satisfaction on the work.
Is It the Air?
Signs Your Austin Home’s Air Needs Attention
A few of these are seasonal and pass. Most of them mean the system is circulating something it should be catching.
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Allergies are worse indoors than out
Cedar or oak pollen is getting in and being recirculated by a filter that cannot catch it. Common with the thin one-inch filters most Austin homes were built with.
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The house feels sticky at 74 degrees
Humidity, not temperature. An oversized AC or a mild, wet spring leaves moisture in the air that the thermostat cannot see.
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Dust reappears days after cleaning
Often attic dust and insulation pulled in through leaky return ducts. Filtration helps; sealing the leak fixes it.
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A musty smell when the AC starts
Biological growth on the indoor coil or in the drain pan, which Austin humidity encourages. A UV light or coil treatment addresses it at the source.
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A newer, tight home that feels stuffy
Mueller, Leander and Kyle homes hold air well. Without fresh-air ventilation, cooking, showers and off-gassing build up.
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A Hill Country home with dust from the road
Caliche dust in Dripping Springs, Driftwood and Spicewood gets past a standard filter and into everything. Media filtration is the answer.
Air Quality Services
What We Install and Service in Austin Homes
Matched to your existing HVAC system and the problem you actually have.
- Whole-house media filters A thick pleated filter cabinet at the air handler that catches pollen and dust a one-inch filter passes, without choking airflow.
- Whole-home purifiers and UV For the coil growth and odors that Austin humidity feeds, and for finer particles a filter cannot hold.
- Air scrubbers Active air cleaning installed in the ductwork, treating air throughout the house rather than one room.
- Whole-home dehumidifiers For the sticky spring and early-summer months when the AC does not run long enough to dry the air.
- Duct inspection and sealing Finding the return leak that is pulling attic dust into your supply air, and sealing it.
- Duct cleaning For ductwork that has collected years of pollen, dust and construction debris. See Austin duct cleaning.
How It Works
An Air Quality Visit in Austin
Diagnosis before equipment. The problem decides the product, not the other way round.
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Tell us what you are noticing
Allergies, dust, humidity, odors. When it happens and where in the house. That narrows it before we arrive.
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We inspect the system
Filter slot, coil, drain pan, return ducts and airflow. Most Austin air problems start in one of those places.
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Options in writing
From a filter upgrade to a whole-home system, each priced and honored for 72 hours. No pressure to take the big one.
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Install and set up
Fitted to your air handler, tested for airflow, with the filter schedule explained before we go.
Current Specials
Save on the work your home needs most.
Tired of Cedar Fever Indoors?
An air quality visit starts with your system, not a sales pitch.
What Our Customers Say
Don't just take our word for it — hear from our satisfied customers
★★★★★
Our 18 year old HVAC system finally gave out this past week, so we reached out to Radiant to see what could be done. They sent a tech out named Bryan the same day, and he did a great job looking over the entire HVAC system. He was friendly and helpful in explaining everything that he saw, and our options moving forward. We decided to replace the entire system, so we met with Jacob (same day thankfully) to find the best HVAC system for our needs. Jacob was friendly, professional, and did a great job explaining the different options on offer. Radiant was able to set-up next day install, which was much appreciated, because the temps were still going to be cold in the coming days.
The install team consisted of Carlos and Pablo, who were very courteous and professional, and were kind enough to answer any questions I had regarding the install. They did a great job installing our new HVAC system, and were tidy which is always appreciated! Before they left, they explained everything that had been done, and showed me photos of the work.
Our entire experience from start to finish was great. I appreciate that they send photos of who is coming to your home too. Friendly, kind, professional team members, and good work all the way around. Thanks Radiant!
The install team consisted of Carlos and Pablo, who were very courteous and professional, and were kind enough to answer any questions I had regarding the install. They did a great job installing our new HVAC system, and were tidy which is always appreciated! Before they left, they explained everything that had been done, and showed me photos of the work.
Our entire experience from start to finish was great. I appreciate that they send photos of who is coming to your home too. Friendly, kind, professional team members, and good work all the way around. Thanks Radiant!
★★★★★
This is the first time I’ve used radiant my neighbor recommended them…. I called them today and they set me up an appointment on the same day. I was totally shocked at that and the service call was only $39!!…. Highly recommend them Danielle showed up and he was a great guy and he put up with all my wishy-washiness and I had to hurry him because I was heading to church and he got caught in a lot of traffic getting here he even would’ve installed the part that broke but I Didn’t have the time tonight….. He was patient with me and just told me to call the office first thing in the morning and get a service call set up…. Thank you so much Radiant!!….
With another cold front coming in tomorrow now I just hope they can get me scheduled for a separate call tomorrow but I have a feeling they will. They are such a great company!!😊😊
With another cold front coming in tomorrow now I just hope they can get me scheduled for a separate call tomorrow but I have a feeling they will. They are such a great company!!😊😊
★★★★★
Alex performed the winter service on my unit. This business along with Alex, are very professional and upfront about everything. To be transparent, this is the maintenance included with the purchase of a unit from them. I was informed about everything to include pictures as proof. I was told that my unit is 100% and very clean and again pictures to prove it. I was reccomended this business by a friend and glad he did. The initial purchase experience was also amazing. I had contacted 5 other businesses to get quotes about a new unit as my upstairs unit failed. 2 were outrageous quotes and I am technically still waiting on the other 3. On every instance of getting a quote, I waited about 1 week. Luckily my house has two units but still, un acceptable especially during the summer. I guess they all had so much business they did not care for mine. When I called this business not only did they come out the same day, I had the new unit installed with in 48 hrs. Oh and let's not forget the quote they gave me was the lowest of all. I can say enough good things about this business. Keep up the great work.
Maintenance Membership
Join the Care Club
Home maintenance for $9.99 a month.
Care Club members get two HVAC tune-ups and a plumbing safety inspection every year, priority scheduling, no dispatch fees — ever — and 5% off every repair.
- Priority scheduling
- Seasonal HVAC tune-ups
- Annual safety inspection
- Exclusive member discounts
- Free dispatch on repairs
- No long-term contracts
Austin Indoor Air Quality Questions
What actually helps with cedar fever inside an Austin home?
Keeping the pollen out and catching what gets in. Mountain cedar pollen is fine enough to pass through the basic one-inch filters most Austin homes use, so the first step is a higher-efficiency media filter or a whole-house filtration cabinet at the air handler, chosen so it does not restrict airflow on your system. The second is sealing the return-side duct leaks that pull unfiltered attic air into the house. Beyond that, a whole-home purifier or air scrubber handles the finest particles. Running the system fan more during December through February, with a good filter in place, turns the HVAC into an air cleaner for the whole house. Our filters page explains the ratings.
Why is my Austin house humid even though the AC runs?
An air conditioner only removes moisture while it is running, and in Austin’s spring and early summer the outdoor temperature is often mild enough that the AC cycles briefly and shuts off before it dries the air. Oversized systems make it worse: they cool the air fast and quit. The result is a house at 74 that feels like 78. A whole-home dehumidifier installed in the ductwork pulls moisture out independently of the cooling call, and a correctly sized system on the next replacement helps too. Persistent humidity also feeds mold on coils and in drain pans, so it is worth addressing for more than comfort. See dehumidifiers.
Do I need duct cleaning or a better filter?
Often the filter, sometimes both. If dust on surfaces is the complaint and the ducts have never been cleaned in an older home, or a renovation left drywall dust in them, cleaning removes what is already there. But if the return ducts are leaking in the attic, new dust will arrive as fast as the old was removed, so sealing and filtration are what stop the cycle. We look at the ducts before recommending either. Our Austin duct cleaning page covers when cleaning makes sense, and duct sealing covers the leak side.
Are these systems worth it in a newer, energy-efficient home in Mueller or Leander?
Sometimes more so. Tight construction is great for energy bills and means less pollen infiltrates, but it also means indoor sources, from cooking and cleaning products to shower humidity and off-gassing from new finishes, do not leak out the way they do in a drafty 1950s house. Newer homes benefit most from good filtration on the fresh-air side and, in many cases, a dehumidifier, since the efficient, right-sized AC in a tight house runs less and removes less moisture. We will look at what your builder installed and tell you honestly whether anything needs to change.
*Offers cannot be combined with other promotions or applied to dispatch fees. No cash value. Must present offer at time of service. Call for details.
