Ductwork Replacement Cost in 2026 (By Home Size)

Ductwork is priced by the foot, but the total is decided by three things the footage does not capture: whether the ducts are flexible or rigid sheet metal, how hard they are to reach, and whether the old system has to come out first. The same house can cost roughly twice as much in sheet metal as in flex. The table below is sized by home, and the sections after it explain which of those factors is moving your number.

Typical 2026 ductwork replacement cost

There are two ways pros price duct replacement, and you’ll see both on a quote.

By the linear foot: A complete replacement runs about $25–$55 per linear foot installed in 2026, including labor and removal of the old ducts. Lighter jobs — replacing a few runs with insulated flex — can come in closer to $10–$25 per foot, while runs of new galvanized sheet metal in tight spots can push past $55. A small single-story home carries roughly 100 linear feet of ductwork, while many homes run 150 feet or more; that length, times the per-foot rate, is why most full jobs land in the mid-four to low-five figures.

By the whole job: Nationwide, full replacement for a typical home generally falls between $3,500 and $12,000, with large multi-story or all-sheet-metal homes reaching about $14,000. A 2,000 sq ft home replacing flex duct often pays $3,500–$6,500; the same home in rigid sheet metal can run $7,000–$12,000 because the material and labor both cost more.

Ductwork replacement cost by home size

Bigger homes need longer runs and more registers, so cost climbs with square footage. These are 2026 ballpark ranges for a full replacement — your number depends on layout, material, and access.

These rows are the rigid sheet-metal end. Flex duct runs materially less on the same house — a 2,000 sq ft home replacing flex often pays $3,500 to $6,500 against $7,000 to $12,000 in sheet metal. They also sit above what the $25 to $55 per linear foot figure alone would produce, because a full replacement pays for plenums, boots, registers, tear-out of the old system and permits, none of which are duct run.

The lower end of each band assumes accessible runs and insulated flex duct; the high end reflects sheet metal, tight crawl spaces or attics, and more registers per floor. Large multi-story homes — especially all-sheet-metal jobs with long vertical chases — can run above these figures, occasionally into the mid-teens of thousands, but that’s the exception rather than the typical job.

Full vs. partial replacement

You don’t always have to replace everything. A good pro will tell you which it is.

• Partial replacement swaps out only the damaged or undersized runs — say, a few crushed flex lines in the attic, and reseals the rest. It’s the cheaper route, often $35–$45 per foot for the sections touched, and makes sense when most of the system is sound.
• Full replacement means new trunk lines, branch runs, and registers throughout. It costs more but is the right call when ducts are old, leaky across the board, sized wrong for a new system, or full of mold or pest damage. Mixing old leaky duct with new is often a false economy.

If sealing alone would fix the leaks, and the ducts are otherwise healthy — that’s cheaper still (roughly $25–$35 per foot, or far less for a targeted aeroseal/mastic job). Replacement is for ducts that are past sealing.

What drives the price

Two homes the same size can get very different quotes. Here’s why.

• Material — flex vs. sheet metal. Insulated flexible duct is the budget option: cheaper material and faster to install, but less durable and easier to crush or kink over time. Rigid galvanized sheet metal costs more (material alone runs roughly $7–$13 per foot vs. $1–$4 for flex) and takes skilled fabrication, but it’s the most durable and airtight. Many homes use a mix — metal trunks with flex branches.
• Home accessibility. Ducts in an open basement or unfinished attic are quick to reach. Ducts buried in a low crawl space, behind finished walls, or in a cramped attic take far more labor, and labor is the biggest line item on most quotes.
• Number of runs and registers. More rooms and vents means more branch runs, more boots, and more registers to cut and connect. Every added register adds material and time.
• Sealing and insulation. Properly sealed joints (mastic, not just tape) and the right insulation level for your climate zone, which your local energy code sets — add cost up front but pay back in lower bills. Skimping here defeats the point of new ducts.
• Removal and disposal of old ducts. Tearing out and hauling away the old system, especially asbestos-wrapped duct in older homes, adds labor and may require specialized handling.

Signs you need duct replacement

Ducts don’t last forever. Watch for these:

• Uneven rooms. One room never gets comfortable while another is fine. Leaky or disconnected runs starve the far rooms of conditioned air.
• High energy bills with no clear cause. ENERGY STAR puts the loss in a typical home at about 20 to 30 percent of the air moving through the duct system, lost to leaks, holes, and poorly installed ducts. That escaped air is money you paid to heat or cool.
• Ducts 15+ years old and leaky. Past roughly the 15-year mark, contractors commonly find that sealing stops being worth it and replacement is the smarter spend. Flex duct that’s brittle, sagging, or crushed is past its prime.
• Excessive dust. If dust piles up no matter how often you clean, leaky ducts may be pulling dust and debris in from your attic or crawl space and blowing it through the house.
• Visible damage. Cracks, holes, rust, disconnected joints, or mold are all reasons to replace rather than patch.

Why doing it with an AC replacement saves money

The cheapest time to replace ducts is usually when you’re already replacing the air handler, furnace, or AC. Here’s the logic:

• Shared labor and access. The crew is already in your attic or crawl space with the system opened up. Coordinating the duct, electrical, and equipment work in one visit cuts total labor versus paying for two separate mobilizations later.
• Right-sized from day one. A new high-efficiency system often moves a different volume of air than your old ducts were designed for. Replacing ducts at the same time lets the pro size them to the new equipment so you actually get the efficiency you paid for.
• You stop fighting leaks. ENERGY STAR separately puts the cost of leaky ducts at as much as 20 percent of heating and cooling system efficiency — a different measure from the 20 to 30 percent of air lost, and not something to add to it. Sealing and insulating recovers that, so your new system doesn’t have to overwork to overcome a leaky distribution network.

If your AC and your ducts are both 10–15+ years old, replacing them together usually beats doing one now and the other in a few years. For equipment pricing, see our breakdowns of AC replacement cost by size and efficiency and what a new AC installation includes, then weigh the duct work against those numbers.

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