Compare the Best Cooker HoodsJune 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.

Kitchen Extractor Prices

Extractor fans range in price from $55 to $3,164 and in total we found prices for 81 extractor fans. The average price of a new extractor fan is $676 and the 80% of kitchen extractors are priced between $146 and $1,477. The cheapest extractor fan that we found is the Cookology VISOR600SS at only $56, and the most expensive is the Elica Yin at $3,164.

Kitchen Extractor Brands - Price Range

The average price of Elica kitchen extractors is $2,372 which is the highest average price of all extract hood brands. Elica kitchen extractors start at $1,866 and their most expensive extract hood costs $3,164.

Miele extract hoods start at $899 and their most expensive cooker hood costs $2,600. The average price of Miele extract hoods is $1,868 which is the second highest average price of all cooker hood brands.

Smeg extractor fans range in price from $122 to $1,499, and the average price of Smeg extractor fans is $811 which is the third highest average price of all kitchen extractor brands.

Cooker Hood Brands - Average Ratings

We have analysed 3 expert reviews and 1,227 user reviews for extractor fans and used this data to determine the average rating for each brand of kitchen extractor. The top three extract hood 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 Kitchen Extractor Retailers

The biggest cooker hood retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 36 current cooker 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 cooker hoods.

When Are Most New Extract Hoods Released?

Over the last 3 years we couldn't see any evident trend in the release month for new cooker hoods. 11 new cooker hoods were released in January 2019 making it the biggest month that year for new extract hood releases. In June 2018, 168 new cooker hoods were released making it the biggest month that year for new cooker hood releases. In 2017 most new extract hoods were released in June as well, with 103 new extract hoods released that month.

How Fast Do Extractor Fan Prices Drop After Release?

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

That means that on a typical extract hood costing $676 you could save on average $21 by waiting 6 months before buying.

Maximum Extraction Power

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

Across the range of kitchen extractors, the maximum extraction power range from 21m³/h to 2,500m³/h. The maximum extraction power of most extract hoods range from 650m³/h to 800m³/h. The Siemens LF91BUV50, which is on sale for $1,464.47, has the highest maximum extraction power and is a 940m³/h max extraction power cooker hood. The Cookology VISOR600SS, which is available at $55.62, has the lowest maximum extraction power and is a 180m³/h max extraction power extract 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.

We found 1,884 kitchen extractors that are chimney / wall-mounted kitchen extractors, which makes this the most frequently found type amongst new kitchen extractors. We found 392 cooker hoods that are built-in extract hoods, making this 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 extract hoods, the noise levels range from 24dB to 90dB. The noise levels of most extract hoods range from 64dB to 68dB. The Bosch DRR16AQ20, which can be purchased for $1,835.40, has the loudest noise level and is a 76dB noise level extractor fan. The extractor fan with the quietest noise level is the Siemens LF98BIP50, which is a 42dB noise level cooker hood and is available at $1,149.27.

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 common energy efficiency rating amongst new extractor fans. We found 647 extractor fans that have an energy efficiency rating of A. The second most common energy efficiency rating amongst new kitchen extractors is C. We found 505 kitchen extractors that have an energy efficiency rating of C.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Kitchen Extractors?

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 extractor fans. 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 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 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 extract hood prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.