Compare the Best Cooker HoodsDecember 2019

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

We currently list 109 kitchen extractors ranging from $59 to $3,358. A new cooker hood costs on average $609 and 80% of cooker hoods are priced between $192 and $1,246. The most expensive kitchen extractor that we found is the Elica Yin at $3,357, and the cheapest is the Cookology VISOR600SS at only $59.

Extractor Fan Brands - Price Range

The highest average kitchen extractor price out of all brands is Elica cooker hoods with an average price of $2,009. Elica cooker hoods start at $484 and their most expensive kitchen extractor costs $3,357.

The average price of Smeg kitchen extractors is $814 which is the second highest average price of all extract hood brands. Smeg kitchen extractors range in price from $130 to $1,499.

Miele cooker hoods range in price from $800 to $800, and the third highest average cooker hood price out of all brands is Miele cooker hoods with an average price of $800.

Extract Hood Brands - Average Ratings

We have analysed 1 expert reviews and 1,209 user reviews for kitchen extractors and used these reviews to calculate the average rating for each brand of cooker hood. The top three extractor fan brands are Bosch, Siemens and Miele. Bosch has an average rating of 89%, Siemens has an average rating of 86% and Miele has an average rating of 86%.

Biggest Extractor Fan Retailers

We found 43 current offers for kitchen extractors from eBay making it the biggest cooker hood retailer. That is over 43 times bigger than the second biggest retailer, Adorama for whom we found 1 current offers for kitchen extractors.

When Are Most New Kitchen Extractors Released?

Over the last 3 years we couldn't see any prominent pattern in the release month for new extract hoods. Last year most new extractor fans were released in June, with 168 new extractor fans released that month. June was also the biggest month in 2017 for new extract hoods, with 103 new extract hoods released that month. The biggest month in 2016 for new extractor fan releases was October, with 338 new kitchen extractors released that month.

How Fast Do Extract Hood Prices Drop After Release?

New cooker hoods drop in price by an average of 3% in the first 6 months after they were first released.

That means that on a typical kitchen extractor costing $609 you could save on average $19 by waiting 6 months before buying.

Maximum Extraction Power

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

The maximum extraction power of kitchen extractors range from 21m³/h to 2,500m³/h. The maximum extraction power of most kitchen extractors range from 650m³/h to 800m³/h. The Siemens LF91BUV50, which sells for $1,464.42, has the highest maximum extraction power and is a 940m³/h max extraction power extract hood. The Bosch HCP30E51UC, which sells for $599.00, has the lowest maximum extraction power and is a 21m³/h max extraction power extractor fan.

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.

We found 1,845 extract hoods that are chimney / wall-mounted cooker hoods, which makes this the most common type amongst new extract hoods. We found 380 cooker hoods that are built-in cooker hoods, making built-in the second most popular type amongst new cooker 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 most cooker hoods range from 64dB to 68dB. The Gorenje DFGA9575BX, which is on sale for $524.77, has the loudest noise level and is a 72dB noise level cooker hood. The kitchen extractor with the quietest noise level is the Bosch DWK67HM60, which is a 48dB noise level extractor fan and currently retails for $737.81.

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.

A is the most frequently found energy efficiency rating amongst new extractor fans. We found 615 extractor fans that have an energy efficiency rating of A. C is the second most popular energy efficiency rating amongst new kitchen extractors. We found 484 kitchen extractors that have an energy efficiency rating of C.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Cooker Hoods?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying extract hoods. For each retailer it shows the total number of extract 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. 43 of their kitchen extractor 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 extract 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 cooker hood prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.