Compare the Best Cooker HoodsSeptember 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.

Extractor Fan Prices

The price range of kitchen extractors is from $71 to $2,663 and in total we found prices for 142 kitchen extractors. On average, a new kitchen extractor costs $858 and 80% of extract hoods are priced between $267 and $1,656. The Broan 433011 is the cheapest cooker hood at only $71, and Siemens LF26RG270 is the most expensive at $2,662.

Extractor Fan Brands - Price Range

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

Elica extract hoods range in price from $1,656 to $1,656, and the second highest average extract hood price out of all brands is Elica extract hoods with an average price of $1,656.

Siemens cooker hoods range in price from $167 to $2,662, and the average price of Siemens cooker hoods is $936 which is the third highest average price of all kitchen extractor brands.

Extractor Fan Brands - Average Ratings

We have evaluated 1,705 user extractor fan reviews written online and used this information to determine the average rating for each brand of extractor fan. The top three extractor fan brands are Bosch, CDA and Siemens. Bosch has an average rating of 91%, CDA has an average rating of 88% and Siemens has an average rating of 85%.

Biggest Extractor Fan Retailers

We found 135 current offers for extractor fans from eBay making it the biggest extract hood retailer. That is over 13 times bigger than the second biggest retailer, Appliances Connection for whom we found 10 current offers for extractor fans. The third biggest retailer is A J Madison with 1 current extract hood offers.

When Are Most New Extract Hoods Released?

Most new extractor fans tend to be released between April and June. In June 2017 187 new extract hoods were released making it the biggest month that year for new extractor fan releases. In 2016 most new kitchen extractors were released in October, with 356 new kitchen extractors released that month. The biggest month in 2015 for new extractor fan releases was April, with 340 new extractor fans released that month.

How Fast Do Extractor Fan Prices Drop After Release?

In the first 6 months after release, extract hoods drop in price by 9% on average. If you are prepared to wait then you could save an average of $77 on a typical $858 new kitchen extractor 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 extractor fans, the maximum extraction power range from 21m³/h to 2,500m³/h. The maximum extraction power of the majority of cooker hoods range from 650m³/h to 800m³/h. The kitchen extractor with the highest maximum extraction power is the Bosch DWI37JR60, which is a 1,000m³/h max extraction power cooker hood and currently retails for $1,125.27. The Bosch HCP30E51UC, which is available at $800.00, has the lowest maximum extraction power and is a 21m³/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.

Amongst new cooker hoods, the most popular type is chimney / wall-mounted. We found 1,617 cooker hoods that are chimney / wall-mounted kitchen extractors. We found 303 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).

Across the range of extractor fans, the noise levels range from 30dB to 90dB. The noise levels of the majority of extractor fans range from 64dB to 68dB. The cooker hood with the loudest noise level is the Bosch DUL62FA20, which is a 74.56dB noise level extract hood and sells for $166.43. The Siemens LC87KHM10, which currently retails for $807.10, 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.

A is the most popular energy efficiency rating amongst new extractor fans. We found 551 extractor fans that have an energy efficiency rating of A. The second most frequently found energy efficiency rating amongst new extractor fans is D. We found 386 extractor fans that have an energy efficiency rating of D.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Extractor Fans?

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 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. 125 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 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. 92.6% of their kitchen extractor prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.