Compare the Best Cooker HoodsMay 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 133 extract hoods ranging from $51 to $9,646. A new cooker hood costs on average $884 and 80% of kitchen extractors are priced between $255 and $1,654. The most expensive extract hood that we found is the Miele DA3690 at $9,646, and the cheapest is the Broan 433011 at only $51.

Kitchen Extractor Brands - Price Range

Miele extract hoods range in price from $800 to $9,646, and the highest average extract hood price out of all brands is Miele extract hoods with an average price of $4,628.

The average price of Elica extractor fans is $1,544 which is the second highest average price of all extract hood brands. Elica extractor fans range in price from $1,272 to $1,815.

Bosch kitchen extractors range in price from $165 to $1,819, and the third highest average kitchen extractor price out of all brands is Bosch kitchen extractors with an average price of $823.

Kitchen Extractor Brands - Average Ratings

We have evaluated 1 expert reviews and 1,201 user reviews for extract hoods and used this information to evaluate the average rating for each brand of extractor fan. Miele is the top rated cooker hood brand with an average rating of 91%. AEG is the second best brand with 90% and CDA is the third best brand with 89%.

Biggest Cooker Hood Retailers

The biggest cooker hood retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 116 current cooker hood offers from eBay. The second biggest retailer is Appliances Connection with 8 offers. That means eBay is over 14 times bigger than Appliances Connection when it comes to cooker hoods.

When Are Most New Kitchen Extractors Released?

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

How Fast Do Kitchen Extractor Prices Drop After Release?

New extract hoods drop in price by an average of 3% in the first 6 months after they wer first released. That means a saving of $28 on a typical $884 new cooker 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 kitchen extractors range from 21m³/h to 2,500m³/h. The maximum extraction power of most kitchen extractors range from 650m³/h to 800m³/h. The extractor fan with the highest maximum extraction power is the Siemens LI69SA683, which is a 930m³/h max extraction power extractor fan and can be purchased for $836.91. The kitchen extractor with the lowest maximum extraction power is the Bosch HCP30E51UC, which is a 21m³/h max extraction power cooker hood and is available at $894.10.

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 1,752 extractor fans that are chimney / wall-mounted kitchen extractors, which makes this the most popular type amongst new extractor fans. We found 380 extractor fans that are built-in kitchen extractors, making built-in the second most popular 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 extract hoods range from 24dB to 90dB. The noise levels of most extractor fans range from 64dB to 68dB. The Neff DEB 1612 N, which is priced at $261.80, has the loudest noise level and is a 72dB noise level extractor fan. The kitchen extractor with the quietest noise level is the Bosch DWF97MP70, which is a 43dB noise level cooker hood and is available at $1,402.75.

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 frequently found energy efficiency rating amongst new cooker hoods is A. We found 567 cooker hoods that have an energy efficiency rating of A. We found 456 kitchen extractors that have an energy efficiency rating of C, making this the second most frequently found energy efficiency rating amongst new kitchen extractors.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Extract 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 cooker hoods. 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 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 cooker hood prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's cooker hood prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was eBay. 100% of their extractor fan prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.