Cooker Hoods Buying Guide

We recommend that to extract cooking smells in an efficient manner that a cooker hood should be at least as wide as the hob as long as you have the space. There are plenty of widths to choose from, starting from 25cm up to 120cm.  Popular cooker hood widths are:

• Less than 60cm width cooker hoods are ideal for smaller hobs;
• 60cm to 69cm width cooker hoods are suitable for the typical 60cm hob width;
• 70cm to 90cm width cooker hoods are great for larger hobs;
• 90cm width or more cooker hoods are more suited for range cookers and huge hobs;

Staall Tip: Smaller sized cooker hoods are ideal for small/compact kitchens and tend to be quieter and have lower extraction rates; but larger cooker hoods are a most for bigger kitchens as these will require more powerful motors to recycle greater volumes of air.

There are several types of cooker hoods you can choose from:

• Canopy cooker hoods are built into the underside of a cupboard and are completely concealed, they are discreet and functional rather than stylish.
• Telescopic cooker hoods are built into the underside of a cupboard and feature an extending section for a more streamlined profile when not in use.
• Integrated cooker hoods are built into the underside of a cupboard and are hidden behind a cupboard door, these are the most inconspicuous hoods, blending seamlessly into your kitchen.
• Chimney cooker hoods are fitted to a wall and extend down from the ceiling, they also have a high performance and very stylish but do require space.
• Visor cooker hoods are fitted to a wall and ideal for smaller kitchens;
• Ceiling or island cooker hoods are fitted on the ceiling and tend to be large, stylish and really make statement. But also are quite expensive.
• Downdraft cooker hoods are fitted on your kitchen worktop;

When deciding to buy an Extraction cooker hood, also known as Ducted cooker hood, you should consider the following:

• They filter the air by removing the smoke and grease out of the kitchen by sucking it out and then send it outside through a pipe;
• They also are the most effective and fast when clearing your kitchen of steam, smoke and smell;
• They need to be mounted/fixed on an external wall or at least somewhere where the ventilation hose can be connected to outsid;
• They also tend to be louder due to their power;
• They may also require a profession installer to fit the extraction cooker hood.
• They usually are more expensive than recirculation hoods.

Recirculation cooker hoods are ideal if you can't vent your cooker hood externally. Things to consider:

• They come with a grease filter that can be made of metal, paper, or cloth, however carbon or charcoal filters that remove unwanted odours and smoke, and  neutralise odours as you cook, before releasing the clean air back into your kitchen;
• They can be installed anywhere in your kitchen;
• Recirculation hoods recycle the air in the kitchen passing it through filters that clean the air as it travels through the fan before being reintroduced to the kitchen as clean air.
• Recirculation hoods can usually be fitted yourself and can be positioned on internal walls.
• They are not always as quick as extraction hoods;
•  Tthey are often cheaper than compared to extraction cooker hoods prices.

 Other cooker hoods freatures considerations should be:

• Extraction rate for your cooker hood should be able to change the air in your kitchen around 12 times per hour;
• Noise level of most cooker hoods is around 60dB avoid cooker hoods that are louder than this;
• Remote control lets you switch cooker hoods settings quickly;
• Energy efficiency rating of cooker hoods vary from G to A++; where A== is the highest rate your cooker hood energy efficiency can have;
• Lighing of cooker hoods usually come with 1 or 2 lights which is ideal to light up the cooker hob and surrounding space;
• Controls of cooker hoods vary from touch controls, push button or slide controls. Touch controls give a stylish finish and can be easy to clean. Push button controls are really easy to use;