Does anyone have any experience of Smart aluminium windows?

[J_Green]

Morning all,

 

We have recently been busy getting quotes for aluminium doors and windows and are due to start our new build in January after spending the past couple of months preparing the site. As you can see from the attached image, there is a considerable amount of glass in the design and the windows and doors will be a considerable chunk of our budget. This is our first (and only!) self build and we want to ensure we make the right decision regarding the window manufacturer. 

 

The installer we would like to use (based on providing an excellent service over the years for other properties we have renovated) installs Smart aluminium windows and doors and we are keen to use him if we feel the product is of good quality. Has anyone had experience of Smart aluminium products? The installer has quoted for aluminium frames with 36mm triple glazing, which will achieve 1.4W/m²K. The back of the property will be SW facing and is in a very sheltered spot, so I would also value any advice regarding reducing solar gain. 

 

We have also been quoted for a Fortis aluminium front door and garage door by the same installer if anyone has experience of this manufacturer.

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts. 

 

Jenny

 

 

[Jason L]

Hi,  the glazing company that i work with have been using them for years, so they must be a good quality, and they are nice profiles.

J

[Thorfun]

looks like a lovely property!

 

the only issue I can see is that you're only getting double glazing whole window U-values for triple glazed windows. that is most likely due to the poor thermal resistance of the aluminium frames and will be a cold bridge if there's no insulation within the frame, which I assume is the case due to the 1.4W/m2K whole window U-value.

 

if you want aluminium frames inside and out then there are other companies that do them that offer insulated frames which will give much better U-values. might be worth shopping around and getting them quoted for supply only and ask your guys to fit them.

[J_Green]

Thorfun, thank you for the very valuable advice. I see what you mean about the U-value. I know lots of companies offer timber clad aluminium products, but my husband would like just aluminium. Can you give me the names of some of the manufacturers that offer insulated frames? This is such a minefield but an area we are desperate to get right. 

[Thorfun]

8 hours ago, J_Green said:

Thorfun, thank you for the very valuable advice. I see what you mean about the U-value. I know lots of companies offer timber clad aluminium products, but my husband would like just aluminium. Can you give me the names of some of the manufacturers that offer insulated frames? This is such a minefield but an area we are desperate to get right. 

I can give you one that I know of...Idealcombi (https://idealcombi.com) are one that we looked at and that some on here have used (use the search function to look for posts on them). the quote we had was very competitive but in the end we decided we wanted alu-clad timber.