Compare the Best Cooker HoodsJuly 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.

Kitchen Extractor Prices

In total we found 171 cooker hoods ranging from $50 to $3,200. A new cooker hood costs on average $660 and 80% of kitchen extractors are priced between $150 and $1,376. The most expensive cooker hood that we found is the Elica Yin at $3,200, and the cheapest is the Cooke & Lewis CLVHS60 at only $50.

Cooker Hood Brands - Price Range

The average price of Elica extractor fans is $1,782 which is the highest average price of all extract hood brands. Elica extractor fans start at $461 and their most expensive extract hood costs $3,200.

Miele kitchen extractors range in price from $760 to $925, and the second highest average cooker hood price out of all brands is Miele kitchen extractors with an average price of $843.

Siemens kitchen extractors range in price from $125 to $2,663, and the average price of Siemens kitchen extractors is $840 which is the third highest average price of all extractor fan brands.

Kitchen Extractor Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 1 expert reviews and 1,211 user reviews for extract hoods and used this data to determine the average rating for each brand of extract hood. The top three extractor fan brands are Bosch, Miele and Siemens. Bosch has an average rating of 89%, Miele has an average rating of 88% and Siemens has an average rating of 86%.

Biggest Extractor Fan Retailers

We found 116 current offers for extractor fans from eBay making it the biggest cooker hood retailer. That is over 14 times bigger than the second biggest retailer, Appliances Connection for whom we found 8 current offers for extractor fans.

When Are Most New Cooker Hoods Released?

We couldn't see any obvious trend in the release dates for new kitchen extractors over the last 3 years. June was the biggest month in 2018 for new extractor fans, with 167 new extractor fans released that month. In 2017 most new extract hoods were released in June as well, with 103 new extract hoods released that month. In October 2016, 345 new extractor fans were released making it the biggest month that year for new extract hood releases.

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.

A typical new cooker hood costs on average $660. By waiting 6 months before buying you could save on average $21.

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 most extract hoods range from 650m³/h to 800m³/h. The extract hood with the highest maximum extraction power is the Siemens LF91BUV50, which is a 940m³/h max extraction power extractor fan and is priced at $1,482.80. The Bosch DWI37JM60, which is available at $907.97, has the lowest maximum extraction power and is a 93.6m³/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 1,796 cooker hoods that are chimney / wall-mounted kitchen extractors, which makes this the most popular type amongst new cooker hoods. We found 382 extractor fans that are built-in extract hoods, making this the second most common type amongst new extractor fans.

Noise Levels

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

The noise levels of extractor fans range from 24dB to 90dB. The noise levels of the majority of kitchen extractors range from 64dB to 68dB. The extract hood with the loudest noise level is the Cookology IDLINT901SS, which is a 72dB noise level kitchen extractor and is on sale for $250.07. The Bosch DWB97LM50, which can be purchased for $699.55, 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.

A is the most common energy efficiency rating amongst new extract hoods. We found 591 extract hoods that have an energy efficiency rating of A. We found 473 kitchen extractors that have an energy efficiency rating of C, making C the second most frequently found energy efficiency rating amongst new kitchen extractors.

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. 116 of their extract hood prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of Extractor Fans 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.