Compare the Best Cooker HoodsAugust 2020

Types of Cooker Hoods

Cooker hoods come in all shapes and sizes. The 3 main fitting types of are island (free hanging), wall-mounted and built-in. The hood that is best for you will be dictated mostly by the shape of your kitchen, and the position of your cooker within it.

Island

They are regularly used for kitchens where the cooker is situated in a central ‘island’ work surface. They are the most stand-out and visually impacting style of hood, and give a kitchen a modern, open-plan feel.

Wall-mounted

These hoods are attached to the wall of your kitchen directly above the hob, pulling smoke and dirty air away from the cooker. They aren’t as dramatic as island hoods, but aren’t hidden like inbuilt extractors. They can be simple as a ‘visor’ hood over the hob, or as eye-catching as giant ‘chimney hoods’ looming over the whole cooker. Wall-mounted hoods are the most common type of cooker hood, and suit all kitchens, from the very small to the larger ones.

Built-in

These hoods are generally smaller and quieter, but also come with less power. They are meant to be integrated into cupboards and ‘hidden’ away from obvious view. Because of their smaller size, they are ideal for more cramped kitchens, or places where a traditional chimney extractor hood would be too bulky.

Extraction Types

Cooker hoods work by sucking up the air given off from cooking, and either moving it to the outside through a duct or cleaning and recirculation it inside the room. Most cooker hoods can be operated both ducted and in recirculation mode.

The extraction power rating is measured in m³/h - the higher a hood’s extraction rating, the quicker it extracts air from the room.

Ducted

Ducted hoods feature a duct which channels hot air and smoke to the outside. Because they require access to the outside air (normally through a hole drilled through an outside wall), these type of hoods usually require specialist installation, or a hole from a previous installation. Extracting the air is more effective than recirculation the air.

Recirculating

Recirculating hoods take the dirty air and smoke given off from cooking, pass it through a filter to clean it, then blow it back into the kitchen. They do not require outside access, so are easier and less invasive to install, but are not as efficient at removing smoke and cooking odours as ducted hoods.

Filters

Filters serve to trap grease and smoke given off by cooking, leading to a better-smelling and cleaner kitchen. There are 2 different types of filters for cooker hoods - grease filters are important for all different types of hoods, since they help reduce the grease in the air and the smell of cooking. Carbon filters, on the other hand, are only necessary with recirculating air systems, since they strip the smoke from the air before it is recirculated back into your kitchen. These filters last about a year before they need to be replaced.

The hoods in our system are given a grease filtering efficiency grade. The better the grade, they more efficient they are at removing grease and odours from the air.

Cooker Hood Colours

Cooker hoods come in many different colours to best complement your cooker and kitchen. Most hoods can be found in plain silver, white or black but you can also find more adventurous colours - from bright red to fluorescent green - if you really want to make a statement!

Noise Level

A cooked hood is basically a large fan, so they make can make quite a lot of noise when turned on. The noise will depend on the power level of the extractor used - generally speaking the more powerful the fan, the louder it will be. Other factors such as the material used for the hood may also affect the noise level of your cooker hood.

Many hoods feature a low and high speed, with differing noise levels for each.

Extractor Fan Prices

We currently list 105 kitchen extractors ranging from $59 to $3,359. The average price of a new cooker hood is $720 and the 80% of kitchen extractors are priced between $166 and $1,742. The most expensive kitchen extractor that we found is the Elica Yin at $3,359, and the cheapest is the Cookology VISOR600SS at only $59.

Extract Hood Brands - Price Range

The highest average cooker hood price out of all brands is Elica cooker hoods with an average price of $2,010. Elica cooker hoods start at $484 and their most expensive cooker hood costs $3,359.

The second highest average extractor fan price out of all brands is Miele cooker hoods with an average price of $1,600. Miele cooker hoods start at $899 and their most expensive extractor fan costs $2,000.

Siemens cooker hoods range in price from $203 to $2,490, and the third highest average extract hood price out of all brands is Siemens cooker hoods with an average price of $909.

Extractor Fan Brands - Average Ratings

We have evaluated 3 expert reviews and 1,233 user reviews for extractor fans and used this information to evaluate the average rating for each brand of extractor fan. The top three extractor fan brands are Bosch, Miele and Siemens. Bosch has an average rating of 89%, Miele has an average rating of 86% and Siemens has an average rating of 86%.

Biggest Extractor Fan Retailers

The biggest extract hood retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 36 current extract hood offers from eBay. The second biggest retailer is Adorama with 2 offers. That means eBay is over 18 times bigger than Adorama when it comes to extractor fans.

When Are Most New Extractor Fans Released?

We looked at the release dates for new cooker hoods over the last 3 years, but couldn't see any clear trend. 13 new extract hoods were released in January 2019 making it the biggest month that year for new kitchen extractor releases. In 2018 most new cooker hoods were released in June, with 168 new cooker hoods released that month. June was also the biggest month in 2017 for new cooker hoods, with 103 new cooker hoods released that month.

How Fast Do Extract Hood Prices Drop After Release?

In the first 6 months after release, extract hoods drop in price by 3% on average.

If you are prepared to wait then you could save an average of $23 on a typical $720 new extractor fan by waiting 6 months before buying.

Maximum Extraction Power

'Max Extraction Power' denotes the maximum speed of air extraction for the cooker hood.

Comparing all extract hoods, the maximum extraction power range from 21m³/h to 2,500m³/h. The maximum extraction power of most cooker hoods range from 650m³/h to 800m³/h. The kitchen extractor with the highest maximum extraction power is the Siemens LF91BUV50, which is a 940m³/h max extraction power extractor fan and currently retails for $1,575.08. The Cookology VISOR600SS, which currently retails for $59.05, has the lowest maximum extraction power and is a 180m³/h max extraction power kitchen extractor.

Types

The type of the cooker hood denotes it's case design, such as wall mounted or integrated. Different kitchen designs will favour different types of hood.

The most frequently found type amongst new kitchen extractors is chimney / wall-mounted. We found 1,934 kitchen extractors that are chimney / wall-mounted extractor fans. Built-in is the second most common type amongst new kitchen extractors. We found 394 kitchen extractors that are built-in extract hoods.

Noise Levels

'Noise Level' denotes the noise level of the cooker hood, measured in decibels (dB).

Comparing all extractor fans, the noise levels range from 24dB to 90dB. The noise levels of the majority of extractor fans range from 64dB to 68dB. The extract hood with the loudest noise level is the Bosch DRR16AQ20, which is a 76dB noise level extractor fan and can be purchased for $1,956.53. The Siemens LF98BIP50, which is available at $1,236.08, has the quietest noise level and is a 42dB noise level extractor fan.

Energy Efficiency of Cooker Hoods

The Energy Efficiency Class of a cooker hood shows how well it uses energy, and how much is unnecessarily wasted. Products are ranked from G to A++ in terms of how little energy they use compared to the norm.

We found 657 extractor fans that have an energy efficiency rating of A, which makes this the most popular energy efficiency rating amongst new extractor fans. We found 509 extractor fans that have an energy efficiency rating of C, making this the second most common energy efficiency rating amongst new extractor fans.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Extract Hoods?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying kitchen extractors. For each retailer it shows the total number of kitchen extractors where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying cooker hoods. For each retailer we took all of their prices and looked at what proportion of those prices where the cheapest on the market. The cheapest retailer that we found was eBay. 36 of their extractor fan prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of Kitchen Extractors for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

Assessing how cheap each retailer is for cooker hoods by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of kitchen extractor prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's kitchen extractor prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was eBay. 100% of their kitchen extractor prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.