Choosing A Cooker Hood
Cooker hoods are a long term investment piece that need to be the best in both visual appeal and the job it does.
Whereabouts in the kitchen your cooker is going to be placed will determine what happens to all of the moisture, grease and aromas from your cooker. So once you have chosen your brand new range cooker, it is time to choose a hood to match.
From size to style, plus things like the extraction method, there is a lot to consider when buying your hood. Not only do you want it to look good but you want it take the stress out of your cooking process by removing unwanted heat, steam, smoke and smells from the room. It will also give you useful lighting directly onto your hob.
Extraction or Recirculation
An extraction hood simply sends the air outside through an external wall. Extraction requires access to an external wall in order to place the vent. This can sometimes be a problem as certain kitchen layouts won’t allow this. A recirculation hood pushes the air up through filters inside, which then remove any moisture and smells before the air is then reintroduced into your kitchen. Most recirculation hoods also feature a grease filter as well as a charcoal filter, which both work together to remove the food smells and any smoke from the air.
Your extractor hood will clean the air around the whole room, not just near your cooker, so you need to factor in the size of your kitchen space in order to calculate the extraction rate your kitchen needs. This is particularly important if you have more of an open plan living space.
To work the rate out you will need to take the volume of your kitchen (length x width x height), then multiply this by ten to work out the minimum extraction rate you will need. For example, if you have a kitchen of 70m3, you’ll need an extraction rate of around 700m3/hr.
Size
The hood you choose should always be the same width as your hob or cooker, any smaller and it will not be as efficient. If you have an induction hob, aromas and moisture travel sideways as well as upwards, so you will require a hood that is wider than your cooker.
Style
Wall mounted hoods add a style statement to your kitchen and powerfully extract any odours. They often resemble a chimney in shape, being wide at the bottom and narrow at the vent. They are typically more expensive than integrated hoods but often look more aesthetically pleasing in a kitchen and the more logical choice to install. At Rangecookers we offer a variety of styles when it comes to wall mounted hoods, from the traditional to the super modern.
This three speed Rangemaster 90 hood comes in satin black or brushed stainless steel, offering very reasonable performance. This three speed hood also features two LED lights for a very clear view of your cooking, plus a good performance motor designed to perform efficiently at lower speeds. The aluminium grease filters can be cleaned in a dishwasher and the chimney section is extendable to suit your ceiling height.
For cookers placed as part of an island in the centre of a kitchen, an island hood is a great choice. You are free to position your cooker where you want it, with all sides being visible as it is suspended from the ceiling. One of the more glamorous of the hoods available, an island hood is one of the biggest and more expensive hoods to choose from. They attach directly to the ceiling, or are suspended from above, so you will need the height space in your kitchen for this. A lot of island hoods are made to look more like a lighting feature to create a more visually appealing look.
The Faber Odette Plus combines incredible technology with great looks, a combination that not only impresses guests but is also a highly practical addition. With Faber’s Up & Down technology the Odette Plus silently descends to illuminate and ventilate the hob when needed and ascends to be disguised as a light fitting when not. Its bright but discrete LED light ring provides effective illumination and adds to the A-class energy efficiency. Faber’s Airlane technology also places a hidden second fan unit in your ceiling (30cm depth), which gives you the choice of four outlet positions allowing you to vent out directly using a clever rising vortex of air. This efficiently pulls in steam and fumes from the top of the hood, as well as the room in general (this is an additional extra).
A hidden cooker hood is perfect for those who do not want to make it a design feature. They are integrated either into a cabinet or underneath the cabinet and can be disguised as any other wall cupboard. They are very simple to use and are ideal for smaller hobs rather than the larger models. These hoods are seamless, compact and will not impact on your kitchen's aesthetic. Under cabinet hoods can either include ducts that will transport the smoke and air out of the kitchen or without ducts that will recirculate the air back into the kitchen.
Perfect for chimney breasts or overhead built in situations, the Falcon FM900 is compact and very powerful. With four speeds, two bright natural white LED spotlights, washable aluminium grease filters and illuminated controls, this is a very high quality addition to any kitchen.
Ceiling hoods are ideal for open plan kitchens, giving a clear and unobstructed view. Similar to integrated hoods, they save valuable kitchen space and eliminate unwanted odours and steam from all around the room. Simply mounting directly to the ceiling, these hoods are very powerful and are ideal for those who large gas hobs or do more intense cooking.
The Faber Skypad 2.0 will recirculate clean, filtered air with maximum efficiency. In crisp stainless steel and white glass, with smart LED lighting strips, the twin brushless motors gives you amazingly quiet and energy-efficient performance, with the addition of Perimeter Aspiration which exploits the Venturi effect to give 25% less perceived noise (equivalent to 3dB(A). Delayed switch-off, remote control and Fabers Connection function (allowing you to operate the hood via compatible Faber hob controls) are there for daily convenience, and there is a Comfort Light mode for pleasant ambient lighting. The remote control unit controls the three high performance motor speeds, plus an even more powerful Intense mode, as well as the elegant linear LED lighting.
Depending on which cooker hood you choose, you may need to purchase additional parts like extraction kits or filters. If you would like to discuss which cooker hood would be best for your kitchen or have any questions about any of the products mentioned, please call our team on 01244 402 975 or visit our website here.
