Cooker Hoods

The purpose of a cooker hood is to remove a variety of undesirable after effects of cooking from a hob. What a cooker hood can extract from a kitchen is,

1. Smoke
2. Odours
3. Steam
4. Grease

A cooker hood is placed directly above the cooker hobs. There is a space of around five foot between the hobs and the hood. The below image shows an atypical cooker hood,

An extractor can work in two ways,

1. Extract odours outdoors through a vent.
2. Extract odours by re-circulating them through charcoal and grease filters.

Most commentators prefer outdoor extraction. Whether this is possible will depend on where a cooker will be placed in a kitchen, and where the kitchen is located.

The extraction ability is measured in 'm3/h', which stands for cubic meter per hour. Which is standard measurement of airflow. A reasonable extraction rate is 480 m3/h.

A hood that relays on re-circulation can be up to thirty percent less efficient than a hood that extracts through an outdoor vent.

Another problem with re-circulation filters, is that they have difficulty with removing heat and smoke. There is also the task of replacing the filters on a regular basis.

Alongside a traditional cooker hood which is pictured above, there is also the option of an integrated extractor. It fits into the ceiling and does the same task.