Jane

[JaneF]

Hi, I'm looking for recommendations for Aluminium windows for my new build. I like the Rationel Aluplus with white wood on inside. Reviews aren't great but also dated. Any thoughts gratefully received.

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by JaneF
Typo

[tonyshouse]

The Rolls Royce of windows are Internorm ali clad wood hotly pursued by Velfac and Nordan, go 3g it is now standard in Northern Europe 

 

 

[Ferdinand]

Nice to see Tony being (I think) consistent over 15 years, and how it has changed.

 

You get to be one of the Best People.

 

(That thread is worth a read btw for how they used to be thought about.)

 

?

 

F

 

http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=527&page=1

[ProDave]

I am happy with my Rationel Aura Plus alu clad windows.  Any particular questions about them please ask.

 

When I was looking for my windows I sent the window schedule to all the good window manufacturers that I could find.  I think I had 5 quotes back.  Of those Rationel were the cheapest, and the second best in terms of Uw value.  the only ones offering a slightly better Uw value were Internorm, at twice the price.

 

I bought the last few windows for my sun room earlier this year and they arrived exactly on the day I was told they would and there seemed to be no issues resulting from the B word.

[LA3222]

I have Rationel. I wouldn't disagree that internorm are good, pricey though. I would dispute Velfac and Nordan as being close though.

 

I had quotes from all of them, Velfac was the cheapest and a horrible window. I Whittled my list to Nordan and Rationel - both very similar in price and performance. I went with Rationel as the window looks nicer than the Ecodan one. Personal preference.

 

I have no bad things to say about my Rationel windows. I went with alu clad, timber frame, 3g, white inside and a grey/green outside.

[Tom]

We recently pulled the trigger on our windows, had whittled the field down to Internorm and Nordan: the latter was nowhere near Internorm in terms of quality. Also, where as Internorm are a true aluminium/timber hybrid, it seemed to us that Nordan were timber windows with a bit of aluminium stuck on the outside. The quotes for both were the same sort of ballpark, so an easy choice in the end.

[JaneF]

Thank you all, really helpful comments.

 

[IanR]

I shortlisted Internorm and Norrsken in the end when researching our door and window package.

 

I looked closely at the Rationel Aura Plus as they were good value. I particularly wanted tilt and turn on the opening sashes, and while they offered this, at the time they provided it by a sash within a sash, so the opening windows looked quite different to the fixed windows. Looking at their website now, they appear to have revised this. I also wanted natural wood on the inside and wasn't keen on having finger-jointing visible internally on the frames. (This isn't a consideration for a painted internal frame.) Internorm and Norrsken don't use finger-jointed sections on the visible part of the frames and sashes.

 

I felt Internorm are a slightly better product than the Norrsken although the Norssken hardwood frames were especially good, but my budget didn't stretch to those. With the Internorm option being initially a little more expensive, I was going to go with Norssken, but then Internorm dropped their price, so I have Internorm windows and doors and are very happy with them.

 

Internorm offer better terms to the Installers that supply higher volumes of their product, so it's worth shopping around. But be wary and check Reviews of the installers you look in to.

 

ecoHaus offered by far the best price, and initially I had a good experience. The Install team were excellent and understood the requirements of a passivhaus install. Not all members here have had the same experience with ecoHaus, and my experience of their after-sales support stops me from recommending them, in fact I'd suggest they were avoided.

 

We have the Studio HF310 product (accept in the utility where we have the UPVC equivalent) which cost around £500/m² in 2016.

[Bitpipe]

We used Gaulhofer - had never heard of them until talking to other forum members here but they are also excellent 3G passive standard windows.

 

 

[ToughButterCup]

On 11/07/2021 at 07:55, JaneF said:

Hi, I'm looking for recommendations for Aluminium windows for my new build.... 

 

Gaulhofer for us too. 

Quick heads up Jane - who is fitting the windows?  Be sure to ask the manufacturer  who is fitting them, and do your due diligence about that particular team.  Verbal reassurance is just that - hot air. And watch them every second of the way.

 

I'd video the fitting if I had my time again.....

[joth]

On 11/07/2021 at 07:55, JaneF said:

Hi, I'm looking for recommendations for Aluminium windows for my new build. I like the Rationel Aluplus with white wood on inside. Reviews aren't great but also dated. Any thoughts gratefully received.

 

 

I imagine everyone here assumes you're after triple glazed windows with no trickle vents, and installed fully airtight between the frame and the building. Note that none of those things are standard practice or ensured by building regs / Fensa certificates, so if this is not what you're looking for you may need to spell out the building performance requirements a bit more.