Are timber windows draughty?

[thisisbloodyridiculous]

We're planning a bit of a refurb this year including new doors and windows. Our curently timber windows haven't been cared for and are either blown or have rotten sills. There's a bad draught from the windows even on days with no wind!

Considering our options - are all timber windows draughty? I haven't lived in a house with them before this one so no experience of anything besides pvc. Keeping the heat in the house is my priority when choosing new windows!

New ones with draught excluders aren't too draughty but I'd say they do start to lose their magic after a few years. We have double-glazed wooden sashes and now hang our laundry on the landing as it dries overnight from the wind rushing through from the window .

Double glazed wood should be fine, you can have draught excluding brushes fitted as part of the installation.

They tend to cost a bit more though. What about having your current windows restored? Often this is a lot more cost effective, and far cheaper.

I have a UPVC window that whistles like fuckery when it's windy, and moves about. Most of our sashes are great - some are draughty but I have secondary glazing on the largest ones, (magnetic type) and plan to fit brushes on the rest at some point.

We've got painted, double-glazed hardwood windows and they're not draughty unless the vents are open. They're probably 22 yrs old now, painted every 3 years and last summer DH replaced one sill and did a small repair to one other frame.

Our timber sash windows are 128 years old they are not draughty, my DH replaced 1 sill and 2 sash cords. There is no intrinsic reason timber should be draughty if measured and fitted properly in the first place

Most of our windows are 1920s Crittall dating from when the house was extended, but there are a few 163 year old timber sashes in the older part of the house that were never replaced and these are a mixed bag. Some are fine with no draughtiness at all, whereas one typically it's in the room where I slept last night to avoid DH's snoring rattles like crazy and lets in masses of cold air. In our defence we only bought this house a year ago and have yet to address window issues with fitting brushes or secondary DG.

At our last house we fitted hardwood DG sashes (no vents) and these were not draughty at all.