Compare the Best Cooker HoodsFebruary 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.

Extractor Fan Prices

We currently list 123 kitchen extractors ranging from $48 to $3,331. The average price of a new cooker hood is $598 and the 80% of extract hoods are priced between $170 and $1,361. The cheapest extractor fan that we found is the Cooke & Lewis CLVHS60 at only $48, and the most expensive is the Elica Yin at $3,330.

Extract Hood Brands - Price Range

The highest average extract hood price out of all brands is Elica extractor fans with an average price of $1,993. Elica extractor fans range in price from $480 to $3,330.

Siemens extractor fans range in price from $154 to $2,147, and the average price of Siemens extractor fans is $829 which is the second highest average price of all extract hood brands.

Smeg kitchen extractors start at $129 and their most expensive kitchen extractor costs $1,499. The third highest average kitchen extractor price out of all brands is Smeg kitchen extractors with an average price of $814.

Cooker Hood Brands - Average Ratings

We have analysed 1 expert reviews and 1,209 user reviews for kitchen extractors and used this data to calculate the average rating for each brand of extractor fan. The top three extract hood 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 Cooker Hood Retailers

We found 67 current offers for cooker hoods from eBay making it the biggest extractor fan retailer. That is over 67 times bigger than the second biggest retailer, Adorama for whom we found 1 current offers for cooker hoods.

When Are Most New Extract Hoods Released?

We looked at the release dates for new extract hoods over the last 3 years, but couldn't see any prominent trend. The biggest month in 2019 for new extractor fan releases was January, with 11 new extract hoods released that month. In June 2018, 171 new cooker hoods were released making it the biggest month that year for new extractor fan releases. In 2017 most new kitchen extractors were released in June as well, with 103 new kitchen extractors released that month.

How Fast Do Extract Hood Prices Drop After Release?

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

That means that on a typical extract hood costing $598 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 extractor fans 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 Siemens LF91BUV50, which is on sale for $1,587.97, has the highest maximum extraction power and is a 940m³/h max extraction power extractor fan. The kitchen extractor with the lowest maximum extraction power is the Bosch HCP30E51UC, which is a 21m³/h max extraction power cooker hood and can be purchased for $599.00.

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 1,850 extract hoods that are chimney / wall-mounted extract hoods, which makes this the most frequently found type amongst new extract hoods. Built-in is the second most popular type amongst new kitchen extractors. We found 382 kitchen extractors that are built-in kitchen extractors.

Noise Levels

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

Across the range of cooker hoods, the noise levels range from 24dB to 90dB. The noise levels of the majority of kitchen extractors range from 64dB to 68dB. The cooker hood with the loudest noise level is the Gorenje DFGA9575BX, which is a 72dB noise level extract hood and is on sale for $462.01. The cooker hood with the quietest noise level is the Bosch DWB97LM50, which is a 45dB noise level kitchen extractor and currently retails for $691.84.

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.

The most common energy efficiency rating amongst new kitchen extractors is A. We found 620 kitchen extractors that have an energy efficiency rating of A. We found 483 cooker hoods that have an energy efficiency rating of C, making this the second most common energy efficiency rating amongst new cooker hoods.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Cooker Hoods?

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 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. 67 of their cooker 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 cooker 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 kitchen extractor prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.