re: Ballpark to replace HVAC system

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I just got a quote for a Trane 2 ton 14.5 seer system in our home for $15,600

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Yikes. I’m in Ascension as well. I’d get more quotes when you do replace it

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What should a 5 ton 19 seer two stage full system replacement with 19 ducts and a new return be?

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Depending on the brand between 15-17k. Did you get multiple quotes?

In Metairie, 3 ton unit plus gas heater replaced. Duct work remained. $11,150. Wrote the check this morning. Good luck.

Waiting to do mine in the next couple weeks. 4 ton train. Adding some duct work for an area that is seperate but under same roof if that makes sense. 2200sq foot. Just under 15k

How hard is it to do your own ductwork?

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I paid $28 a foot for ductwork pre-inflation. Can't imagine trying to do that now.

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Contractor I used charged $350 per duct flat fee in summer '24.

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How hard is it to do your own ductwork?

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I did that stuff for a few years and worked for a shop that specialized in residential and commercial ductwork. First thing is you need to know how and where you are going to place your return air and what size opening on the unit so all of it fits well when installed. Then you will need a supply plenum to fit on the working end of the unit to distribute the air.

If you don't already have ductwork in the house you will need to plan where to put your ceiling boxes that the grills attach to. It would be best to have 2 people to do this. One to make a small hole in the ceiling just big enough to push a coat hanger wire through and someone in the attic to see how it falls out with ceiling joists, electrical wiring etc. and mark them accordingly.

If going with the cheaper option of the accordion type flex duct, you will need starter collars to put on the supply plenum to match the diameter of the duct and make sure the collars have adjustable dampers on them so you can fine tune your unit.

Then it's just a matter of running the flex duct, hanging it to eliminate as many sags as you can and you do most of this by cutting to the length you need. Each flex duct box contains 25 ft and you don't want to run that whole length if you only need 15 ft. to reach the ceiling box.

This is just a brief tutorial. Check out u-tube videos on the subject to actually see what the above is about.


Edited to add this: The company I worked for NEVER did flex duct. We always ran Joval steel pipe wrapped in 1 inch insulation. It makes for a neater job and the air will flow more freely in the smooth metal pipe as opposed to the accordion flex duct with the spiral wires forming the pipe diameter.

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Appreciate it. I was always curious if it was tough to replace the already ran flex duct

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No, flex duct is the easiest to replace if it actually needs it. My main issues with flex duct is how it's got coils inside it that restrict the airflow, how it can sag between hanging straps----also restricting air flow and worst of all, if an animal like a squirrel or rat gets in the attic it is easy for them to chew holes in not only the insulation but into the actual duct causing air leaks.

When I was doing that kind of work back in the mid 70's we bid on a job to run Joval steel pipe and the people opted for the then newer system of flex duct.

About 6 months later the folks called us up to come do steel duct since they had rodent issues and their attic was WAY cooler than the living area due to holes being eaten into the pipes. The squirrels had a field day until they were eliminated.


Just food for thought.

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Your buddy is an idiot. I just had a 5 ton system installed(no ductwork) by Total Comfort for $8500

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Did you blow them too?

I got 6 quotes before I replaced my 3 ton unit and didn’t get a single quote under 11k