2 July 2026
Aluminium is an excellent conductor of heat. That is exactly what you want in a saucepan and exactly what you do not want in a window frame facing forty-five degrees of afternoon sun.
The physical problem
In a plain aluminium frame, the outer face and the inner face are the same continuous piece of metal. Heat lands on the outside and travels straight through to the inside. The frame becomes a small radiator around the edge of every window, and the air conditioning spends the afternoon undoing it.
What the break is
A thermally broken profile is made in two separate aluminium sections joined by a polyamide strip. Polyamide conducts heat poorly, so the outer section can get extremely hot while the inner section stays much closer to room temperature. The metal path from outside to inside is interrupted.
Why it matters more in the Gulf
In a mild climate a thermal break is a refinement. Here it is closer to a necessity, for two reasons.
The first is cooling load. Frames are a meaningful share of the surface area of a glazed elevation, and an unbroken frame undermines whatever you have spent on good glass.
The second is condensation. When a cold internal frame surface meets humid coastal air — very common in Dubai and Sharjah through the summer — water forms on the frame. Over years that water damages plaster, paint and joinery around the reveal. A thermally broken frame keeps the internal surface warm enough for this not to happen.
What to ask for
Ask whether the profile is thermally broken, and ask what the glass specification is, because the two work together. A thermally broken frame holding a single pane of clear glass is a wasted upgrade, and good glass in a plain frame is a leaky one.
