What goes into a double glazing price in Wellington
Double glazing the frames you already have runs $550–850 per glass unit for aluminium and $800–1,200 per glass unit for timber, incl GST, in prices published by a Wellington glazing firm in February 2026. A glass unit is one pane, so a window with a fixed pane and a sash that opens is at least two. Frames that leak or have rotted may need replacing, so have a look at yours first if you're thinking about double glazed windows for an older home in Wellington.
Published by a Wellington glazing firm, February 2026. Prices include GST.
New glass in aluminium frames $550–850per glass unit
New glass in timber frames $800–1,200per glass unit
What counts as one glass unit
Count the glass, not the windows.
The firm's own list uses the word "window" for a single pane or sealed unit. The window in your wall may hold two or three of them, so a window price from that list is really the price of one glass unit.
Directories that price a whole window or a whole house are counting something else, so don't mix their figures with these. New frames are counted another way again, per opening, because the whole window comes out.
Before anyone comes to measure, go room by room and count the panes you want double glazed. That gives you a number to hold each quote against.
Diagram, not to scale. The published Wellington price list charges new glass, new sashes and inserts per glass unit, and full replacement per opening.
One Wellington firm's published prices, February 2026
We found only one Wellington glazing firm that publishes prices per glass unit, so this is its list, not an average of several. These aren't our rates, and the installer who measures your house will price the job themselves.
Published by a Wellington glazing firm, February 2026. Prices include GST.
Keeping the frames or the surround
New glass in aluminium frames
$550–850
per glass unit
New glass in timber frames
$800–1,200
per glass unit
New timber sash in the existing frame
$850–1,250
per glass unit
Aluminium insert in a timber surround
$980–1,480
per glass unit
Replacing the whole window
Full aluminium replacement
$1,500–2,500+
per opening
Not every frame can take every method, so read about retrofitting Wellington windows with double glazing before you settle on one.
The plus sign on the replacement row means an opening can cost more than the top of that range, and the row doesn't say whether the frames are standard or thermally broken. National figures put thermally broken frames at 25–40% more per opening.
We haven't given a price for a single uPVC window, a new timber window or secondary glazing, because published figures for those are two to five times apart.
The firm's list was unchanged when we checked it on 17 September 2026
We'll pass your details and a rough number of windows to a local installer, who can price the ones in your house.
Ask for a quoteWhat to check before you sign a quote
Put your quotes side by side and go through these six things for each one. Where a quote says nothing, ask the installer to add the answer in writing.
Start with the glass and the frames. A quote that names neither can't be weighed against one that names both. A lower total may just mean lower-grade glass, or frames that aren't thermally broken.
The last two checks are Building Act protections. Implied warranties and a 12-month defect repair period come with every residential job, whatever it costs. From $30,000 incl GST, the job also needs a written contract, and the installer has to provide prescribed disclosure information.
If the house is in Wellington City and is a listed heritage building, or sits in a heritage area or a Character Precinct, find out before you sign whether the work needs resource consent, and whether the quote allows for it. There's more on double glazing timber sashes and casements, including when the council refunds consent fees.
- The glass type, named in writing
- Whether the frames are thermally broken or standard
- The wind zone the windows are designed for, and the wind zone label on new windows
- The glass unit warranty and the workmanship warranty, listed separately
- A written contract for any job of $30,000 incl GST or more
- The 12-month period for fixing defects
Pricing an opening with two glass units
Take a window with a fixed pane and one sash that opens. That's two glass units, so the firm's range for one unit doubles for the whole opening.
Two is only an example. We couldn't find a count of how many glass units Wellington windows usually have, so we haven't assumed one.
The same sum for an aluminium insert in a timber surround, using the firm's February 2026 price, comes to about $2,000–3,000 for two units, incl GST.
Our arithmetic, from the published prices above
Aluminium frames
$1,100–1,700
per opening with two glass units
Timber frames
$1,600–2,400
per opening with two glass units
Incl GST.
If you'd rather have the sum done on your own windows, send your details for a local installer to price them.
Ask for a quoteHills, scaffolding, access and wind zones
Wellington installers say the house itself can add to the price. Nobody publishes a Wellington figure for any of it, so these are things to ask about rather than figures to add.
Getting to the windows
Installers say scaffolding or a platform for upstairs windows adds cost, and so do hills and hard access. If getting to the windows is awkward, mention it when you send your details.
The only access figure we found is a national estimate that leaves out GST, so we haven't used it. Ask for access to be priced as its own line.
Glass for the wind zone
Installers also say glass for a higher wind zone costs more, and that it's worked out pane by pane against the zone. NZS 3604 sets the zone for your own site from several factors, including how exposed it is and the shape of the land around it, so ask which zone the quote assumes.
Sashes, leadlights and low sills
The firm that publishes the Wellington price list also says some windows cost more to do. It names counterweighted sashes, leadlights you want to keep, colonial bars, and shaped or opening panes.
A low sill can bring in safety glass.
Is Wellington dearer?
Nothing we found shows prices here running above or below the rest of the country. Two national price sites that show a Wellington figure just add a few percent to their national one.
What a whole house costs, from national figures
The whole-house figures published in Wellington cover different kinds of job, so for a three-bedroom house we've used national bands.
Use them for scale rather than as a budget. Replacement sits higher because the frames are new as well, and thermally broken aluminium or uPVC higher again. Your own figure comes from the count of glass units or openings, the frames, and how easy the house is to work on.
National figures for a three-bedroom house, from sources checked in September 2026. GST isn't stated in them.
Retrofit$10,000–25,000
Replacement, standard aluminium$25,000–45,000
Replacement, uPVC or thermally broken aluminium$32,000–60,000
To get a figure you can budget with, send your details and ask for a written quote.
Ask for a quoteDoing some rooms now and the rest later
People posting glazing jobs in Wellington ask about doing the bedrooms first and leaving the rest of the house for later. Some installers suggest starting with south-facing rooms and those most exposed to the wind.
Price guides say windows done in stages cost more overall than the same windows done in one go. None of them puts a figure on the difference.
So ask for the quote both ways, with one price for the first rooms and one for every window in the house. Check whether the rate per glass unit still holds when you come back for the rest, and for how long.
If scaffolding is already going up for a re-roof, ask what the upstairs windows would cost while it's there, and what they'd cost later with scaffolding of their own.
What people ask about double glazing prices
What is the typical cost of double glazing around Wellington?
There's no settled figure for Wellington. One local firm publishes its prices per glass unit, and for a whole house the national three-bedroom bands are the nearest guide.
A written quote on your own house is the figure to plan with.
How much is double glazing for existing windows?
If the frames or the timber surround stay, one Wellington glazing firm's February 2026 list runs from $550 to $1,480 per glass unit, incl GST. Where you land depends on the frame, and on whether you keep the old sash, have a new timber sash made or fit an aluminium insert.
What does double glazing cost in 2026?
For 2026, the Wellington prices we've used come from one glazing firm's list, published in February 2026. It prices new glass in existing frames per glass unit, and new aluminium windows at $1,500–2,500+ per opening, incl GST.
Is there a price per square metre?
Not one we'd use. Published square-metre figures differ by up to five times, and at least one isn't clear about what area it measures. The Wellington list prices per glass unit and per opening, so count those instead.
Can I get help paying for double glazing?
There's no grant for windows in Wellington, but you can look into borrowing to double glaze.
Have your own glass units counted and priced
Send your details through, and a local installer can look at the windows in person. Ask for a price on each glass unit or opening, so the quote is easy to check.