“Surely timber is more natural?” It is a fair question, and the answer is more nuanced than either camp usually claims. Here is the comparison without the sales pitch.
Lifespan
A well-maintained timber window lasts 30 to 40 years. A uPVC window comfortably reaches 40 years or more, without anything needing to be done to it. The difference lies mainly in what happens when maintenance is skipped for once: with timber the decline sets in, with uPVC it does not.
Maintenance
This is where the gap is widest. Timber has to be repainted every four to six years. Over a 40-year lifespan that is seven to ten repaints, with the costs, scaffolding and paint that come with them, and that paint is not an environmentally friendly product either. uPVC only needs cleaning.
Raw material and recycling
Here timber has the edge: it is renewable and stores CO₂, provided it comes from sustainably managed forest (FSC or PEFC). uPVC is a petroleum product, and that is a drawback we are not going to gloss over.
At the same time, the image of “plastic that ends up in landfill” is out of date. uPVC frames recycle well: old profiles are ground down and processed into the core of new profiles, which can be done up to seven times without loss of quality. Our supplier aluplast uses recycled material in the core. Old frames that we take out are separated for recycling.
Insulation
Timber insulates reasonably well in itself. A modern uPVC profile with five or six air chambers does better, and the difference grows the deeper the profile is. For the energy bill. And so for CO₂ emissions during use. UPVC wins.
The full account
Take the whole lifespan into account (production, maintenance, energy use, waste processing) and uPVC comes out favourably or on a par in most independent comparisons. That is almost entirely down to two things: the absence of painting, and better insulation in use.
When we recommend timber
We are a window company, but we come from the building trade and would rather give honest advice:
- On a listed building or in a protected townscape, where planning rules require timber
- If the fine detailing of painted timber genuinely matters to you and woodgrain does not convince you
- For very unusual shapes that cannot be made attractively in uPVC
In every other case uPVC is the more practical choice for most homes, and cheaper in the long run.
Curious what it would come to for you?
Request a no-obligation quote or book a free measuring visit. Our own surveyor comes round, takes the measurements and advises you on the spot, you are under no obligation.