We make aluminium windows, so you would expect us to say aluminium. We do, but not for every window in every house, and we would rather you choose for the right reasons than for ours. This is the comparison we give clients who arrive with a uPVC quote in one hand and ours in the other, written for the UAE, where the sun and the dust decide most arguments.
The short answer
uPVC windows are cheaper to buy and insulate well on day one. Aluminium windows cost more, show more glass, come in any colour, and keep their shape and finish through UAE summers. If the window faces the sun or is more than about 1.5 metres wide, aluminium is the better buy over the life of the window. If it is a small, shaded window on a budget, a good uPVC frame is a fair choice. We do not sell uPVC, and we will tell you when it is enough.
What the two materials are
uPVC (unplasticised polyvinyl chloride) is a rigid plastic extruded into hollow, multi-chamber frames. It does not conduct heat, so the frame itself is a good insulator without any extra engineering. Because the plastic is not strong on its own, larger uPVC frames are reinforced with steel inside the chambers, which adds weight and width.
Aluminium is a metal, so a bare aluminium frame conducts heat. Modern systems solve that with a thermal break: a polyamide strip bonded between the outer and inner halves of the profile, so the hot outside face never touches the cool inside face. Every Makfold window uses thermally broken profiles, with double glazing and a low-E coating as standard. Our aluminium windows range covers hinged, sliding, fixed and tilt and turn designs.
Heat: the UAE test
In Europe, where uPVC was designed, the question is keeping heat in. In Dubai it is keeping 45°C out while the AC runs on the other side of the glass, and that changes the comparison in two ways.
First, the glass matters more than the frame. On a typical villa window the glass is 70 to 80 percent of the area, so a low-E double-glazed unit does most of the insulating regardless of the frame material. A thermally broken aluminium frame with good glass performs within a small margin of a uPVC frame with the same glass.
Second, uPVC moves in heat. Plastic expands and contracts far more than aluminium, and on a west-facing wall the outer face of a dark or even white uPVC frame can reach temperatures that make the sash bind in the afternoon and gap at night. Over several summers that cycle loosens seals and can warp a large sash. Aluminium holds its dimensions, which is why the seals on an aluminium window stay tight for years.
Sun and finish: the ten-year difference
This is where the two part ways in the UAE. uPVC is stabilised against UV, but years of direct sun still chalk the surface, yellow white frames and fade coloured foils, and once the surface has gone it cannot be refinished. Aluminium is powder-coated: the colour is baked on, resists UV, and if a frame is ever damaged it can be touched up. We give a ten-year warranty on our powder coating for that reason.
Colour choice follows from this. uPVC comes in white and a short list of foiled finishes. Aluminium is powder-coated in any RAL colour, with dual-colour frames (one colour outside, another inside) on request. For the matte black and anthracite grey frames that modern villas ask for, aluminium is the only realistic option.
Frame size and glass area
To carry its own weight, a uPVC frame has to be deep and wide, and large sashes need steel reinforcement. The result is a chunky frame and a limit on how big each pane can be. Aluminium is strong enough to be slim, so the same opening shows more glass and less frame, and sashes can be made taller and wider. On a bedroom window the difference is cosmetic. On a floor-to-ceiling living-room window, a sliding window over a kitchen counter or a fixed picture window on a stairwell, it is the difference between a window and a wall of glass. Our slim sliding doors run on the same principle at full height.
Strength, security and fire
Aluminium frames are stiffer, so multi-point locks engage squarely and stay aligned. uPVC frames can be secure too, but they rely on their steel reinforcement, and a poorly reinforced sash will flex at the lock. Aluminium does not burn and does not give off fumes in a fire; uPVC is self-extinguishing but softens with heat. For commercial and multi-storey work the fire behaviour is usually the deciding factor.
Dust, salt and maintenance
Both materials clean with soap and water. The difference is in the seals and the moving parts. Aluminium windows use EPDM gaskets that keep their shape in heat, and stainless-steel hardware that does not corrode in coastal humidity. uPVC hardware is often plated steel, and the pile seals on budget frames flatten after a few seasons of sand. If a uPVC window starts to rattle in a shamal, the seal has gone and the frame has usually moved with it.
Cost: what you pay now and later
uPVC windows are cheaper to buy, and if the quotes you are comparing are for the same glass, the uPVC one will usually be lower. The gap narrows as the window gets bigger, because large uPVC sashes need reinforcement and thicker sections, while aluminium just needs a slightly deeper profile.
The later costs are the ones people forget. A uPVC frame that has chalked, yellowed or warped is replaced, not repaired. An aluminium frame is refinished or re-gasketed. Over fifteen to twenty years on a sun-facing elevation, the cheaper window is often the one you buy twice.
We price aluminium windows per opening, by type, size, glass and finish. Fixed windows are the most economical per square metre, sliding and hinged sit in the middle, and tilt and turn costs the most because of its gear. Laminated or acoustic glass and dual-colour finishes add to the base. We measure on site, free, anywhere in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi or Ajman, and give a fixed, itemised quotation for the whole elevation, with a written warranty of two years on workmanship and manufacturing defects, five years on glass and ten years on powder coating.
Which one for which window
- Sun-facing bedroom, living room or majlis window: aluminium, thermally broken, with low-E glass.
- Any window over about 1.5 metres wide, or floor to ceiling: aluminium, for the slim frame and the sash size.
- Dark or coloured frames, or matching aluminium doors: aluminium.
- Small, shaded utility, bathroom or staff-room window on a tight budget: uPVC is fine.
- Coastal plot with salt air: aluminium with stainless hardware.
- Rental property you will sell in five years: uPVC may be enough; the problems arrive after that.
Frequently asked questions
Is uPVC good for the UAE climate?
It insulates well, but it suffers in direct sun. UV chalks and yellows the surface over time, and heat makes the plastic expand enough to bind sashes and loosen seals. Shaded and smaller windows do fine; sun-facing and large windows do not.
Is aluminium hot to touch?
A plain aluminium frame is. A thermally broken frame is not, because the outer and inner faces are separated by an insulating polyamide strip. Every Makfold window is thermally broken; ask any supplier to show you the break in a cut section of the profile.
Which is more energy efficient, uPVC or aluminium?
With the same low-E double glazing, the two are close. The glass does most of the work. A thermally broken aluminium frame with good glass outperforms a uPVC frame with basic glass, and keeps that performance longer because its seals stay tight.
Can aluminium windows match my existing uPVC colour?
Yes. Aluminium is powder-coated in any RAL colour, so white, grey and woodgrain-style finishes are all available, and the colour will not fade the way a uPVC foil does.
Does Makfold sell uPVC windows?
No. We manufacture aluminium doors and windows in our own factory in Al Bataeh, Sharjah. If a uPVC window is the right answer for a small shaded opening, we will say so rather than sell you more than you need.
How long do aluminium windows last in Dubai?
With powder-coated frames, stainless hardware and EPDM seals, decades. Our warranty is ten years on the coating, five on the glass and two on workmanship and manufacturing defects, and the frames themselves outlast all of it.