Cooker Hoods Buying Guide

Read through this helpful cooker hood buying guide designed to tell you everything you need to know before purchasing a new cooker hood from mychoice.  With cooker hoods, design is often as important as function. Cooker hoods all work in pretty much the same way, by extracting food smells from your kitchen, either through a filter or expelling them via a tube leading outside. So it pretty much comes down to looks. Cooker hoods are designed to be placed above a hob or cooker in your kitchen. They come as either ducted/vented/perimeter extraction or recirculation models. They come with or without built-in lights. Check out the latest stainless steel and glass chimney combinations to find a hood to suit your kitchen. This cooking hood buying guide is here to help you find out which options are right for your needs.                   

 

You can either read the full guide or click on one of the links below to answer some of the common questions people ask.

 

 

 

 

Where Does My Cooker Hood Need To Be To fit Into My Kitchen?

 

You'll need to position the hood at a minimum of 65cm above a gas hob, or 43cm from an electric hob.               

 

You will also need to consider the following 3 factors: 

  1. It should be fitted directly above your hob.
  1. It should be within reach of an electricity supply.  
  1. If you choose a ducted/vented/perimeter extraction model it should have access to an exterior wall.                   

 

What Style And Size Of Cooker Hood Do I Need?

 

Cooker hoods come in five styles and each different style has its own size and features. The most important factor you need to consider is that your cooker hood must be the same size as your cooker/oven (e.g. if your cooker/oven is 60cm wide, your cooker hood needs to be 60cm wide).                   

 

**Chimney cooker hoods – Have a chimney leading off above the fan. You need to make sure that there is enough room above your cooker top for 75cm between the hob and the hood and room above the hood for the chimney vent. These hoods are designed to be mounted on the wall.         

**Island cooker hoods – Island models don’t need to be mounted onto a wall as they are designed to be suspended from your ceiling. Ideal if your modern style kitchen has your hob in the middle of the room.      

**Visor/conventional cooker hoods – These stick directly out of a wall. This kind of unit is very rarely found in sizes above the standard 60cm width.       

**Fully Integrated cooker hoods – These are built into the cabinet above your hob and are hidden behind a panel or door which must be open in order to use. Almost all integrated models are 60cm wide or less.                   

**Canopy cooker hoods - Are built-in to the underneath of a cabinet directly above the hob. They are sometimes confused with integrated hoods but while integrated hoods are hidden behind a door and can be shut away, canopy hoods are always visible.                    

 

Extraction or Recirculation? 

 

The majority of the cooker hoods we sell can be set to either an extraction or recirculation mode. Extraction should always be your preferred option, but here we look at the benefits and disadvantages.                    

 

Extraction 

 

Steam and odours are removed from the kitchen via ducting to the outside.                    

 

Advantages

 

**Removes airborne contamination – smoke, odours, etc. to the outside.

**No need to replace charcoal filters on a regular basis. Long term running costs are therefore cheaper.

**No charcoal filter in front of the motor means airflow rate is higher.

 

Disadvantages

 

**Some kitchens don’t allow for extraction due to a lack of space or capacity to install the ducting.  

**Additional initial costs, e.g. for ducting and installation.                   

 

Recirculation

 

A filter containing activated charcoal is used to remove odour and smoke from the air, before releasing the ‘scrubbed’ air back into the kitchen.                   

 

Benefits


**Can be installed pretty much anywhere – ideal if you can’t reach an outside wall with ducting

**Cheaper initial costs as ducting is not required 

 

Disadvantages



**Recirculates some heat and moisture back into the kitchen 

**The cost of regularly replacing charcoal filter

**Decreased airflow rate due to charcoal filter placement in front of motor                    

 

Filters

 

If the air is recirculated through the cooker hood, this is done through a grease then a charcoal filter. All cooker hoods will come supplied with a grease filter, but not normally a charcoal one. These can normally be obtained through the manufacturer’s website or their dedicated accessories and spares shop. A recirculation kit may also be required; this contains additional essential components to ensure that odour-free air is returned into the kitchen. The charcoal filter needs to be replaced every year or so, depending on how much you use your cooker hood. The grease filter can either be replaced if it’s paper, or washed – usually in the dishwasher - if of the permanent metal variety.          

  

 

What Extraction Rate Do I Need From My Cooker Hood?

 

The extraction rate is the speed at which a hood can filter air. A larger number means a faster rate of extraction but not necessarily a better hood for you. A suitable cooker hood will be able to change the air on your kitchen at least 8 times in an hour, but 12 times is ideal. A faster rate of extraction leads to cleaner air but also means a noisier appliance – something you won’t notice as much in a large kitchen but can make a real difference in a small one. 

 

 

How Much Does A Cooker Hood Cost To Run?

 

This is very difficult to judge, as it depends on which type of hood you are using, what features it has (like lights/total power) and how much you use it.                 

 

If you are upgrading your old hood, remember mychoice offer a recycling service, whereby we collect and recycle your old appliance when we deliver your new one. 

 

What Price Do I Need To Pay For My Cooker Hood?

 

Cooking hood prices can start from under £100 and go up to well over £2000.                    

 

**For less than £200 you can expect to find a number of basic visor and canopy styles available in generic silver and stainless steel.  These are suitable for almost all simple kitchen designs. The majority of models in this price range are a standard 50-60cm in width.             

**Between £200 and £400 a huge selection of chimney cooker hoods available in stylish stainless steel and black; most measuring between 60cm and 70cm in width.      

**Spend between £400 and £1000, there is a wide range of chimney and island cooker hoods available; select models even come with stylish glass canopies to go with the most modern kitchen. The average width of models in this price bracket is 90-100cm.                   

**For £1000+, you will find a premium collection of the best cooker hoods available with the best features. Mychoice also range a beautiful range of designer Cooker Hoods available in many sizes from 50cm-150cm.

 

Please give us a call if you have any questions about our dishwasher buying guide. You can call us Monday – Friday 9am-6pm on 01442 563 147 or on 0800 197 5391 at anytime from 9am to 10pm 7 days a week. Alternatively you can contact us by email on info@mychoice.co.uk and we will respond within an hour if received 9am-5pm Monday to Friday or as soon as possible outside of these times. Please give us a call if you have any questions about our dishwasher buying guide.