Compare the Best Cooker HoodsSeptember 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.

Cooker Hood Prices

We currently list 91 extractor fans ranging from $49 to $3,189. The average price of a new kitchen extractor is $573 and the 80% of cooker hoods are priced between $123 and $1,248. The most expensive cooker hood that we found is the Elica Yin at $3,188, and the cheapest is the Cooke & Lewis CLVHS60 at only $50.

Kitchen Extractor Brands - Price Range

Elica cooker hoods range in price from $460 to $3,188, and the highest average extract hood price out of all brands is Elica cooker hoods with an average price of $1,775.

The average price of Bosch cooker hoods is $796 which is the second highest average price of all cooker hood brands. Bosch cooker hoods range in price from $221 to $1,802.

The average price of Miele cooker hoods is $783 which is the third highest average price of all kitchen extractor brands. Miele cooker hoods range in price from $760 to $805.

Cooker Hood Brands - Average Ratings

We have evaluated 1 expert reviews and 1,220 user reviews for extract hoods and used these reviews to calculate the average rating for each brand of extract hood. Bosch is the top rated cooker hood brand with an average rating of 89%. Miele is the second best brand with 88% and Siemens is the third best brand with 86%.

Biggest Extractor Fan Retailers

We found 30 current offers for cooker hoods from eBay making it the biggest extractor fan retailer. That is over 30 times bigger than the second biggest retailer, Adorama for whom we found 1 current offers for cooker hoods.

When Are Most New Cooker Hoods Released?

We couldn't see any evident trend in the release dates for new extract hoods over the last 3 years. The biggest month last year for new cooker hood releases was June, with 166 new extract hoods released that month. In 2017 most new cooker hoods were released in June as well, with 103 new cooker hoods released that month. 343 new extractor fans were released in October 2016 making it the biggest month that year for new kitchen extractor releases.

How Fast Do Extractor Fan Prices Drop After Release?

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

A typical new extractor fan costs on average $573. By waiting 6 months before buying you could save on average $18.

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 extractor fans range from 650m³/h to 800m³/h. The kitchen extractor with the highest maximum extraction power is the Siemens LF91BUV50, which is a 940m³/h max extraction power kitchen extractor and currently retails for $1,466.94. The extractor fan with the lowest maximum extraction power is the Bosch HCP30E51UC, which is a 21m³/h max extraction power extractor fan and is available at $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.

Amongst new cooker hoods, the most popular type is chimney / wall-mounted. We found 1,819 cooker hoods that are chimney / wall-mounted extract hoods. We found 382 kitchen extractors that are built-in kitchen extractors, making this 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).

The noise levels of extractor fans range from 24dB to 90dB. The noise levels of the majority of extract hoods range from 64dB to 68dB. The extractor fan with the loudest noise level is the Cookology IDLINT901SS, which is a 72dB noise level extractor fan and is priced at $249.17. The extractor fan with the quietest noise level is the AEG DVB3550B, which is a 47dB noise level kitchen extractor and is available at $622.94.

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.

We found 605 extract hoods that have an energy efficiency rating of A, which makes A the most frequently found energy efficiency rating amongst new extract hoods. We found 479 cooker hoods that have an energy efficiency rating of C, making C 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 extract hoods. For each retailer it shows the total number of extract 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. 30 of their extractor fan 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 extractor fans 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.