Compare the Best Cooker HoodsJuly 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.

Cooker Hood Prices

We currently list 70 extract hoods ranging from $56 to $3,229. The average price of a new kitchen extractor is $653 and the 80% of extract hoods are priced between $138 and $1,499. The cheapest kitchen extractor that we found is the Cookology VISOR600SS at only $57, and the most expensive is the Elica Yin at $3,228.

Extractor Fan Brands - Price Range

Elica extractor fans range in price from $466 to $3,228, and the average price of Elica extractor fans is $1,936 which is the highest average price of all extractor fan brands.

The second highest average extractor fan price out of all brands is Miele kitchen extractors with an average price of $1,600. Miele kitchen extractors range in price from $899 to $2,000.

The average price of Siemens cooker hoods is $847 which is the third highest average price of all extract hood brands. Siemens cooker hoods start at $296 and their most expensive extract hood costs $2,369.

Extractor Fan Brands - Average Ratings

We have evaluated 3 expert reviews and 1,233 user reviews for cooker hoods and used this data to evaluate the average rating for each brand of extract hood. Bosch is the top rated cooker hood brand with an average rating of 89%. Miele is the second best brand with 86% and Siemens is the third best brand with 86%.

Biggest Extractor Fan Retailers

We found 34 current offers for kitchen extractors from eBay making it the biggest extract hood retailer. That is over 17 times bigger than the second biggest retailer, Adorama for whom we found 2 current offers for kitchen extractors.

When Are Most New Kitchen Extractors Released?

We couldn't see any prominent pattern in the release dates for new kitchen extractors over the last 3 years. The biggest month in 2019 for new kitchen extractor releases was January, with 11 new kitchen extractors released that month. June was the biggest month in 2018 for new extractor fans, with 168 new extractor fans released that month. In 2017 most new extractor fans were released in June as well, with 103 new extractor fans released that month.

How Fast Do Extract Hood Prices Drop After Release?

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

That means a saving of $21 on a typical $653 new kitchen extractor if you wait 6 months before buying.

Maximum Extraction Power

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

Comparing all cooker hoods, the maximum extraction power range from 21m³/h to 2,500m³/h. The maximum extraction power of the majority of extract hoods range from 650m³/h to 800m³/h. The extractor fan with the highest maximum extraction power is the Siemens LF91BUV50, which is a 940m³/h max extraction power extractor fan and sells for $1,499.03. The Cookology VISOR600SS, which is priced at $56.76, has the lowest maximum extraction power and is a 180m³/h max extraction power cooker hood.

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 common type amongst new cooker hoods is chimney / wall-mounted. We found 1,931 cooker hoods that are chimney / wall-mounted cooker hoods. The second most popular type amongst new kitchen extractors is built-in. We found 393 kitchen extractors that are built-in cooker hoods.

Noise Levels

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

Across the range of kitchen extractors, the noise levels range from 24dB to 90dB. The noise levels of most extract hoods range from 64dB to 68dB. The Cookology IDLINT901SS, which is available at $277.53, has the loudest noise level and is a 72dB noise level cooker hood. The Bosch DWB97LM50, which is priced at $631.29, has the quietest noise level and is a 45dB noise level extract hood.

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 extractor fans, the most common energy efficiency rating is A. We found 653 extractor fans that have an energy efficiency rating of A. We found 507 extract hoods that have an energy efficiency rating of C, making this the second most frequently found energy efficiency rating amongst new extract hoods.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Extractor Fans?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying extractor fans. For each retailer it shows the total number of extractor fans where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying kitchen extractors. 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. 34 of their extract hood prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of Extract Hoods for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

Assessing how cheap each retailer is for extract 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. 100% of their cooker hood prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.