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

In total we found 144 extractor fans ranging from $58 to $3,317. The average price of a new kitchen extractor is $625 and the 80% of extract hoods are priced between $167 and $1,264. The cheapest cooker hood that we found is the Cookology VISOR600SS at only $58, and the most expensive is the Elica Yin at $3,316.

Cooker Hood Brands - Price Range

Elica kitchen extractors start at $478 and their most expensive kitchen extractor costs $3,316. The average price of Elica kitchen extractors is $1,985 which is the highest average price of all kitchen extractor brands.

Miele extract hoods range in price from $800 to $2,800, and the second highest average kitchen extractor price out of all brands is Miele extract hoods with an average price of $1,800.

The third highest average cooker hood price out of all brands is Siemens kitchen extractors with an average price of $829. Siemens kitchen extractors start at $154 and their most expensive cooker hood costs $2,145.

Cooker Hood Brands - Average Ratings

We have evaluated 1 expert reviews and 1,211 user reviews for extract hoods and used this information to evaluate the average rating for each brand of extractor fan. The top three kitchen extractor 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 Kitchen Extractor Retailers

We found 79 current offers for cooker hoods from eBay making it the biggest cooker hood retailer. That is over 79 times bigger than the second biggest retailer, Adorama for whom we found 1 current offers for cooker hoods.

When Are Most New Extractor Fans Released?

We looked at the release dates for new extractor fans over the last 3 years, but couldn't see any obvious pattern. Last year most new extractor fans were released in January, with 11 new extractor fans released that month. 171 new cooker hoods were released in June 2018 making it the biggest month that year for new extractor fan releases. Also the biggest month in 2017 for new extractor fan releases was June, with 103 new extract hoods released that month.

How Fast Do Cooker Hood Prices Drop After Release?

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

That means a saving of $20 on a typical $625 new extract hood if you wait 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 cooker hoods 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 Siemens LF91BUV50, which can be purchased for $1,586.94, has the highest maximum extraction power and is a 940m³/h max extraction power cooker hood. The Cookology VISOR600SS, which currently retails for $58.30, has the lowest maximum extraction power and is a 180m³/h max extraction power kitchen extractor.

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.

The most frequently found type amongst new cooker hoods is chimney / wall-mounted. We found 1,854 cooker hoods that are chimney / wall-mounted cooker hoods. We found 383 kitchen extractors that are built-in extractor fans, making built-in the second most popular type amongst new kitchen extractors.

Noise Levels

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

Comparing all cooker hoods, the noise levels range from 24dB to 90dB. The noise levels of the majority of extractor fans range from 64dB to 68dB. The Gorenje DFGA9575BX, which is available at $460.04, has the loudest noise level and is a 72dB noise level extractor fan. The extractor fan with the quietest noise level is the Siemens LF98BIP50, which is a 42dB noise level extract hood and sells for $1,253.00.

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 cooker hoods. We found 621 cooker hoods that have an energy efficiency rating of A. The second most frequently found energy efficiency rating amongst new extract hoods is C. We found 487 extract hoods 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. 78 of their extractor fan 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 kitchen extractors 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. 98.7% of their kitchen extractor prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.