Compare the Best Cooker HoodsJune 2018

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.

Extract Hood Prices

In total we found 99 kitchen extractors ranging from $71 to $2,640. The average price of a new extractor fan is $825 and the 80% of extractor fans are priced between $212 and $1,680. The most expensive extract hood that we found is the Siemens LF26RG270 at $2,639, and the cheapest is the Broan 433011 at only $71.

Extract Hood Brands - Price Range

Smeg extractor fans start at $1,699 and their most expensive cooker hood costs $1,699. The average price of Smeg extractor fans is $1,699 which is the highest average price of all cooker hood brands.

Elica kitchen extractors range in price from $1,679 to $1,679, and the second highest average extractor fan price out of all brands is Elica kitchen extractors with an average price of $1,679.

Siemens kitchen extractors range in price from $165 to $2,639, and the average price of Siemens kitchen extractors is $982 which is the third highest average price of all kitchen extractor brands.

Cooker Hood Brands - Average Ratings

We have analysed 851 user extractor fan reviews written online and used this data to calculate the average rating for each brand of extractor fan. Miele is the top rated kitchen extractor brand with an average rating of 91%. Gorenje is the second best brand with 90% and Bosch is the third best brand with 90%.

Biggest Extract Hood Retailers

The biggest cooker hood retailer by number of products currently for sale is Cameo Kitchens. We found 349 current cooker hood offers from Cameo Kitchens. The second biggest retailer is eBay with 159 offers. That means Cameo Kitchens is more than twice as big as eBay when it comes to extractor fans. Appliances Connection is the third biggest retailer with 10 current offers.

When Are Most New Extract Hoods Released?

April to June is the most common period for new extractor fans to be released in. That means that most of the latest extract hood technology was released in within the last 3 months, and now is good time to buy. Last year most new extractor fans were released in June, with 188 new extractor fans released that month. October was the biggest month in 2016 for new extract hoods, with 366 new extract hoods released that month. 336 new cooker hoods were released in April 2015 making it the biggest month that year for new kitchen extractor releases.

How Fast Do Extractor Fan Prices Drop After Release?

On average, in the first 6 months after release, extract hoods drop in price by 8%. That means that on a typical extractor fan costing $825 you could save on average $69 by waiting 6 months before buying.

Maximum Extraction Power

This denotes the maximum speed of air extraction for the cooker hood.

Comparing all extract hoods, the maximum extraction power range from 21m³/h to 1,651m³/h. The maximum extraction power of most extract hoods range from 600m³/h to 700m³/h. The Siemens LI99SA283, which is on sale for $938.81, has the highest maximum extraction power and is a 930m³/h max extraction power extractor fan. The Bosch HCP30E51UC, which currently retails for $849.10, has the lowest maximum extraction power and is a 21m³/h max extraction power cooker hood.

Types

We found 1,386 kitchen extractors that are chimney / wall-mounted cooker hoods, which makes this the most frequently found type amongst new kitchen extractors. Built-in is the second most popular type amongst new kitchen extractors. We found 311 kitchen extractors that are built-in extract hoods.

Noise Levels

This denotes the noise level of the cooker hood, measured in decibels (dB).

Comparing all kitchen extractors, the noise levels range from 30dB to 76dB. The noise levels of the majority of kitchen extractors range from 64dB to 68dB. The Bosch DUL63CC40, which is on sale for $256.51, has the loudest noise level and is a 72dB noise level extract hood. The extractor fan with the quietest noise level is the Bosch DWF97MP70, which is a 43dB noise level extract hood and is priced at $1,431.87.

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.

Amongst new extract hoods, the most common energy efficiency rating is A. We found 422 extract hoods that have an energy efficiency rating of A. We found 337 extractor fans that have an energy efficiency rating of C, making C the second most common energy efficiency rating amongst new extractor fans.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Kitchen Extractors?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying cooker hoods. For each retailer it shows the total number of cooker hoods where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying extract 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. 156 of their extract hood 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 extract hood prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's extract hood prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was eBay. 98.1% of their kitchen extractor prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.