Window quotes are compared on one number, the price today, and that number hides the thing that actually decides which material was cheapest: how many times you pay it. A uPVC frame lasts 20 to 25 years and an aluminium one 30 to 40, so over a long enough view the cheaper window is the one you buy twice. This tool works out which side of that line your situation falls on. It is not a price calculator, and it will not total up your job: for that, the window cost calculators price each material properly.
What 25 years looks like for each material
Three things drive whole-life cost: what you pay to buy and fit the window, how many times you have to do that inside the period, and what you spend keeping it going in between. Set out that way the three materials look very different from how they look on a quote.
| Material | Per window fitted | Frame life | Installs in 25 years | Upkeep in that time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| uPVC | £400 to £1,000 | 20 to 25 years | One, with the next falling due at the end | None |
| Aluminium | £550 to £1,300 | 30 to 40 years | One, still going at year 25 | None |
| Timber | £900 to £2,000 | 30 to 60 years | One, still going at year 25 | Repaint every 8 to 10 years, so two or three times |
The highlighted row is the material that most often wins on whole-life cost where there are no planning restrictions. It is not the right answer for everyone: see the tool above.
Why there is no total in pounds on this page
You would expect a 25 year cost tool to hand you a 25 year cost, and it is worth explaining why this one does not. We have sourced UK figures for what each material costs fitted and how long each one lasts. We do not have a figure we would stand behind for what a timber repaint cycle costs, and timber is the only material where that cost recurs. Multiplying out a total would mean inventing that number and burying it inside a sum, where nobody could see it. Every figure on this site traces back to a source, and a whole-life total is not worth breaking that for. Install cycles and maintenance cycles we can evidence, so those are what the tool compares.
The other cost that runs through all 25 years is the glass rather than the frame. A sealed unit lasts 15 to 20 years before it is likely to mist, regardless of what the frame is made of, so on any material you should expect a round of unit replacements at £55 to £145 a pane inside the period. If that has already started happening to your current windows, the window fault checker will tell you whether it is a glass job or a frame job.
People ask me which windows are cheapest and I ask them how long they are staying. If you are moving in five years, buy the uPVC and do not think about it again. If this is the house you retire in, that answer changes, and it changes by more than most people expect.
Tom Bradley, window installer
This tool answers which material to buy on cost. The other half of that decision is which material suits the house and how you want it to look, which is what the window frame material classifier weighs, and if you are also deciding how far to go on the glass itself, the glass spec trade-off tool handles the energy rating. For the underlying detail on how long each material lasts and why, read how long double glazing lasts.
Frequently asked questions
It depends entirely on whether you are still there at the end. A uPVC frame lasts 20 to 25 years, so a full 25 year view catches the second install and the cheapest material on day one stops being the cheapest across the period. Over a stay of under 10 years none of that reaches you, and uPVC at £400 to £1,000 a window is comfortably the lowest whole-life cost.
Yes, if it is maintained. Timber lasts 30 to 60 years against 20 to 25 for uPVC, but the top of that range assumes a repaint or re-oil every 8 to 10 years, which is two or three cycles inside 25 years. Neglected timber does not reach 30 years, let alone 60. The lifespan and the maintenance are one claim, not two.
Because one of the numbers it would need does not exist in a form we would stand behind. We have sourced UK figures for what each material costs to buy and fit and how long it lasts, but no reliable national figure for what a timber repaint cycle costs. Producing a 25 year total would mean inventing that, and a made-up number in the middle of a sum makes the whole answer worthless. So the tool compares install cycles and maintenance cycles, which we can evidence.
No, and this catches people out. A sealed glass unit lasts 15 to 20 years before it is likely to mist, whatever the frame is made of. On a 30 to 40 year aluminium window or a 60 year timber one you should expect to replace glass units at £55 to £145 a pane during the frame's life. It is a repair, not a failure of the window.