Commercial structures, low-end condos and town homes, apartments and mobile homes are the type structures that mostly use aluminum framed windows these days.  They are one of the cheapest windows to make.

People buying or owning homes that are 50-60 years old and have not had the windows replaced, or have a home in certain locations like Southern California, will often find their windows are aluminum windows (just the frames-- the window panes are still glass!). These type windows used to be among the "best" windows back then.

These type (or most likely steel-- but still metal) home windows are also found in nearly every old basement window in US houses built in 1960 or earlier.

There are a number of features of aluminum frames to point out such as their strength, light weight and general durability as a frame.

Aluminum windows for homes are often advertised as being very strong. However, any trailer-home resident can quickly point out their "nearly-new" bent windows! Often these window frames have been bent just in the transport process of moving the mobile home to it's permanent location. Or they easily bend from the opening/closing process or even moderate weather conditions like excess wind or snow.

In addition, home replacement window installers find removing aluminum windows an easy task-- because the frames can often be bent out of the home window opening!

They are thin frames allowing for more light and view. They are also very light weight and might be suitable for a building (perhaps a commercial building) because of these features.

Aluminum windows today are rarely found for sale at the local hardware store because they are no longer as economical or practical to replace as the newer alternatives like vinyl.

Even a homeowner who wants to change the color of a window frame has other choices now than to paint the frames. In fact, painting aluminum frames can be incredibly tedious as well as the paint will peel and weather.

Aluminum frames are the least energy efficient because of the high conductivity of the aluminum itself. For example-- pots and pans made of aluminum heat up very fast and hold the heat. Also, ice cube trays made of aluminum make the ice cubes faster because they hold the cold supremely well too!

The energy loss problem can be helped a little bit if the aluminum windows are double paned and use some kind of a "thermal break" with the home replacement window spacers between the window panes or other construction of the window, however, they will never match the energy efficiency of any other frame material.

If a homeowner adds up the cost of high (and not just "higher", but HIGH) gas and electric heating and cooling bills, leakiness, and often breakage costs of aluminum windows, it is often far more cost efficient to just replace the home's windows with newer material like vinyl than to try to repair or paint broken or bent metal windows like these.

Aluminum frames also make up most storm windows. Many homeowners falsely think adding storm windows to already drafty and foggy old windows will be energy efficient, and, instead the storm windows help to conduct in more of the hot and cold air because of the aluminum!

Simply said, it is often cheaper and more energy efficient for a homeowner to install a good quality double pane new window than to spend the money for parts and labor to put in storm windows or replace old aluminum framed windows.

Michael Dennis

About the author:

IPS Group, Inc. Board Member and Director of their Home Improvement Marketing Division, Michael Dennis is an avid real estate fix and flip investor, a former long-time replacement window salesman, and the author of several books and websites on home replacement windows including www.vinylwindowmanufacturer.com: How to Save Thousands on Replacement Windows: The Homeowner's Insider Secrets Manual, and the tell-all report on the big-brand home improvement centers, The 7 Myths The Big-Brand Home Improvement Centers Want You to Believe About Replacement Windows. 

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