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

We currently list 1371 extract hoods ranging from £25 to £3,689. On average, a new cooker hood costs £464 and 80% of extractor fans are priced between £100 and £994. The most expensive extractor fan that we found is the Miele DA 6700 D at £3,688, and the cheapest is the Cooke & Lewis CLVHS60 at only £25.

Cooker Hood Brands - Price Range

The highest average kitchen extractor price out of all brands is KitchenAid kitchen extractors with an average price of £2,250. KitchenAid kitchen extractors range in price from £1,500 to £3,000.

The second highest average kitchen extractor price out of all brands is Miele kitchen extractors with an average price of £1,285. Miele kitchen extractors start at £266 and their most expensive kitchen extractor costs £3,688.

Mercury extract hoods range in price from £1,049 to £1,275, and the third highest average extractor fan price out of all brands is Mercury extract hoods with an average price of £1,160.

Cooker Hood Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 1 expert reviews and 1,201 user reviews for kitchen extractors and used these reviews to calculate the average rating for each brand of kitchen extractor. 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 Kitchen Extractor Retailers

The biggest kitchen extractor retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 822 current kitchen extractor offers from eBay. The second biggest retailer is AO with 372 offers. That means eBay is more than twice as big as AO when it comes to extractor fans. Appliance City is the third biggest retailer with 356 current offers.

When Are Most New Cooker Hoods Released?

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

How Fast Do Extract Hood Prices Drop After Release?

On average, in the first 6 months after release, cooker hoods drop in price by 2%. That means a saving of £8 on a typical £464 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 the majority of extractor fans range from 650m³/h to 800m³/h. The KitchenAid KEICD12030, which sells for £3,000.00, has the highest maximum extraction power and is a 1,651m³/h max extraction power extractor fan. The Bosch DWJ67HM60, which is on sale for £671.61, has the lowest maximum extraction power and is a 58m³/h max extraction power extract hood.

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.

Chimney / wall-mounted is the most frequently found type amongst new cooker hoods. We found 1,752 cooker hoods that are chimney / wall-mounted extract hoods. We found 380 kitchen extractors that are built-in kitchen extractors, 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).

Across the range of 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 Caple BXC911, which currently retails for £199.00, has the loudest noise level and is a 76dB noise level cooker hood. The cooker hood with the quietest noise level is the Hotpoint PHBS68FLTIX, which is a 35dB noise level extractor fan and is available at £246.97.

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 567 cooker hoods that have an energy efficiency rating of A, which makes this the most common energy efficiency rating amongst new cooker hoods. C is the second most frequently found energy efficiency rating amongst new extract hoods. We found 456 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 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 extract 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. 633 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 cooker 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. 77% of their extractor fan prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.