Window and shutter replacement on the Côte d'Azur

Most window advice is written for the UK, northern France or Germany, where new windows keep warmth in through a long winter. On the Côte d'Azur the winter is short and mild, so the bigger cost comes in summer.

Single glazing, or an old double-glazed unit, lets much of the sun's heat straight through. With sun on a south or west facade most of a July day, that pushes up cooling bills and makes rooms uncomfortable. Stone walls with high thermal mass even out the swings, but the glass is usually the weak point.

So choose the glass for summer. A window picked to let winter sun warm a Lille flat is close to the wrong choice above Antibes. Here you want the light in and the heat out. The devis (written quote) will show two figures: Uw, for how well the window insulates, and Sw, for how much solar heat gets through. Ask the installer which glass keeps summer heat down while still meeting the grant's minimums.

Old houses here rarely have standard openings. Hand-built stone walls give each window a slightly different size, so every frame is made to measure. Ask the fitter to measure each opening on site before quoting.

Frame material comes next. PVC usually costs least, aluminium and timber more. In a protected old town the choice may not be yours, because the ABF (the state heritage architect) can insist on timber in a set colour. Ask the mairie (town hall) first, before you compare prices on a material you can't use.

Then the wall around the window. Taking an old frame out can damage the stone reveal, and widening an opening means work on the lintel. Motorised shutters cost more than manual ones. Getting large units up to an upper floor on a narrow street can need extra access equipment.

Get two written quotes for the same list: the same windows, sizes, frame material and glass figures. Ask for shutters on a separate line. One lump sum hides what you're paying for the glazing and what for the shutters.

Shutters on this coast handle security, storm protection and shade. In a house lived in all year, the choice comes down to taste and budget. A second home that sits empty for months is different, because the shutters have to work with nobody there.

Volet roulant (roller shutter), volet battant (hinged shutter), volet roulant motorisé (electric roller shutter): the French terms you'll see on every devis.

Electric roller shutters, closed and locked remotely, usually suit an absentee owner best. Down, they deter opportunistic break-ins and protect the glass in a Mediterranean storm. Their weak point is power. If the electricity is cut, or the motor or its connection fails, the shutter stays where it last stopped until someone comes.

Hinged shutters have no motor to fail, but someone has to open and close them. For an empty house that means paying a caretaker or relying on a neighbour.

A common compromise here is electric roller shutters with a manual override crank. You run them remotely day to day, and if the motor fails a local keyholder can wind them by hand. It costs a little more up front.