How Much Do Aluminium Windows Cost In Exeter?

Most enquiries for aluminium windows in Exeter come from one of two places. Either it’s a homeowner who’s been quoted aluminium on an extension and wants to understand why the number is what it is. Or it’s someone who’s looked at uPVC, decided it’s not right for their property, and wants to know what aluminium actually costs before committing. The answer to both starts the same way: the range is wide, and knowing what drives the price makes a big difference to what you end up spending.

What You’ll Actually Pay For Aluminium Windows In Exeter

A single standard aluminium casement window, supplied and fitted in Exeter, typically costs £600-£1,200. A larger picture window or a floor-to-ceiling pane runs £1,000-£2,000. On a full house replacement of eight to twelve windows, the total project cost is usually somewhere between £8,000 and £18,000.

Those numbers are wide because the product range is wide. At one end you have standard commercial aluminium profiles - the kind used on office buildings and flats - which are cheaper but thermally poor without a break. At the other end you have slim-line thermally broken residential systems like Smart Architectural Aluminium, Schuco, or Reynaers, which cost more but perform comparably to well-specified uPVC on heat retention.

For a residential replacement in Exeter, the sensible specification is thermally broken aluminium. Non-thermally-broken aluminium was the product that gave aluminium windows a bad name for energy performance in the 1980s and 1990s. It’s still available and it’s cheaper, but it will fail a modern Part L compliance check and will undermine the thermal performance of the rest of the property. Always confirm the spec includes a thermal break before accepting a quote.

What Drives The Price Up Or Down

Frame section width is the biggest single variable. Slim-line profiles - 38-55mm visible face widths - cost more than standard profiles. They’re the reason people choose aluminium over uPVC in the first place: more glass, less frame, better light. The manufacturing tolerance required for slim sections is tighter and the profile cost is higher.

Opening configuration adds cost. A fixed pane is cheaper than a casement; a casement is cheaper than a tilt-and-turn; a top-hung opener is cheaper than a side-hung. Every mechanism adds hardware and labour. On large glazed areas where most of the glass doesn’t need to open, fixed panes for the non-opening sections keep costs down without affecting the appearance.

Colour and finish matter more on aluminium than uPVC. Powder coating in a standard RAL colour is the norm and is well priced. Anodised finishes - particularly brush or polished aluminium - cost more. Dual-colour (different RAL outside and inside) adds to cost. Bespoke or textured finishes are a further step up. Standard anthracite grey (RAL 7016) or black (RAL 9005) are the most competitively priced coloured options.

Glazing specification affects price significantly. Standard A-rated double glazing is the baseline. Triple glazing adds 15-25% per window. Acoustic laminated glass for properties on busy Exeter roads (Heavitree Road, Pinhoe Road, near the A377) adds £60-£120 per window. Solar control glass for south or west-facing elevations is a similar premium. These upgrades are worth having where they’re relevant, but not every window needs every upgrade.

Aluminium vs uPVC: Where The Extra Cost Goes

Aluminium typically costs 50-80% more than uPVC at equivalent specification. On a standard three-bedroom Exeter semi with eight replacement windows, that difference might be £3,000-£5,000 on the overall job. Whether that’s worth paying depends on what you’re getting for it.

Slimmer sections are the most visible benefit. The standard frame face width on a uPVC casement is 70-80mm. On a slim-line aluminium system it’s 38-55mm. On a window 900mm wide, that’s 30-40mm less frame on each side and noticeably more glass. On a property where the windows are already a reasonable size, this difference is moderate. On a window that was always a bit small for the room, or on a new opening where maximum light matters, it’s significant.

Colour longevity is another genuine difference. uPVC uses foil or co-extrusion for colour, which works well but has limits. Powder-coated aluminium holds its colour and finish for longer on exposed south-west facing elevations - which most Exeter properties face at least partially. The powder coat is harder and more UV-stable than uPVC foil.

Rigidity at larger spans is where aluminium has a technical advantage. A floor-to-ceiling window of 2.4m or more needs the structural stiffness to resist wind load without flex. uPVC needs heavy steel reinforcement at those spans and still isn’t as rigid as aluminium. For extensions and orangeries with large glazed areas, aluminium is the natural specification.

What Aluminium Costs In Exeter By Window Type

For thermally broken aluminium in Exeter, including standard A-rated double glazing and powder coat in a standard RAL colour, here’s what to budget:

A standard casement at 600-900mm wide runs £650-£950 fitted. Step up to 900-1200mm wide and expect £850-£1,200. A fixed picture window in the 1000-1500mm range sits at £700-£1,100 - cheaper than a casement because there’s no moving hardware. Tilt-and-turn specification on any of the above adds roughly £100-£200 per window over the equivalent casement price.

Bay windows are a different category. A three-section bay on an Exeter Victorian terrace - which is effectively three separate aluminium windows with corner posts between them - typically costs £2,500-£4,500 fitted, depending on size and whether the bay cill and post work is included. Roof lights and lanterns are priced separately and are highly variable by size and spec.

These are guide prices for standard work. Properties with unusual wall construction - rubble stone on older Exeter city centre buildings, very deep reveals on Victorian terraces - add time and sometimes materials. Non-standard sizes outside the manufacturer’s standard range add to cost. Structural work to widen an existing opening is additional.

What To Check On An Aluminium Window Quote In Exeter

A quote that doesn’t specify the system by name is a problem. The words “thermally broken aluminium” appear on almost every aluminium window quote, but what’s behind them varies significantly. Which specific system is being specified? Smart, Schuco, Reynaers, Cortizo - these are all legitimate residential systems at different price points. A quote that can’t name the system is often a commercial profile being sold for residential use.

The complete window U-value matters too, not just the glass spec. The glass has its own U-value; the frame has its own U-value; Part L building regulations care about the combined window element figure, which must be 1.4 W/m²K or better for a replacement window in England. Most well-specified thermally broken aluminium systems achieve this comfortably. If the installer can’t provide the combined U-value, something’s missing.

FENSA registration should be included in the quote without you having to ask. All replacement windows in England require Building Regulations registration - most residential installers handle this through FENSA, which covers the compliance check and certificate. You’ll need that certificate when you sell.

Internal making-good is the one people most often find omitted. Fitting a new frame into an old opening usually exposes plaster, reveals, and floor edges. Some quotes include making good as standard; others don’t mention it and don’t price it. A quote that says nothing about internal finishing almost certainly isn’t including it.

Getting The Right Quote For Your Exeter Property

Aluminium windows are a product where the site visit matters more than it does with standard uPVC. Wall construction in Exeter varies significantly between property types - cavity brick on post-war housing, solid brick on the Victorian stock, rubble stone on older city centre properties, and Devon cob on rural fringe properties. Each presents differently when a window is taken out and a new one goes in. An accurate quote needs to account for what’s there, not just what’s ordered.

The questions worth raising at the site visit: which properties in Exeter have you done recently that are similar to this one? What do the internal reveals look like once the old window is out - is that typically included in the making-good? And what’s the lead time from order to installation, given that aluminium windows are manufactured to order and tend to have longer lead times than uPVC?

For Victorian terraces in Exeter with conservation area constraints, it’s worth asking directly whether the specified aluminium profile has been accepted by Exeter City Council’s planning team on a similar job recently. Slim-line aluminium can and does get approved in conservation areas, but the profile dimensions and visual character matter, and a profile that’s been through that process locally is lower risk than one that hasn’t.

Our window installation team fits aluminium across Exeter’s property types. Get in touch for a site visit and a fixed quote for your specific property.

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