Kitchen extractor fan

[DoNotDisturb]

I've got bogged down in Google and past threads and I'm totally confused now...

I want an extractor for a big kitchen/diner/family room. Mainly to suck in grease but also to keep down moisture for condensation.

Any recommendations? Does anyone have one that they love/hate?

Thanks in advance!

Has anyone had a kair heat recovery extractor? They are pricey but if they do what they say they sound fab. Although not sure about grease as seems to focus on condensation..

Hmmm

I can't really help but wish we had chosen a quieter one for our large kitchen/diner/snug...

Which ever one you get, make sure it is outside vented - much more efficient.

I would prefer one with an external motor to cut down on noise, but the choice of styles is more limited.

It's so hard deciding isn't it

a cooker hood will be much better than a wall fan, because it will capture the steam, fumes and grease at source, rather than after they have drifted round the kitchen,

It is an advantage if it is wider than the hob, to catch fumes that drift sideways. The fitting height should be slightly above the head of the person cooking, so they can't bang it with their head.

It is essential that it vents through the wall, or via a duct. Recirculating hoods are available, they can be used as a kitchen ornament but perform no useful function.

Thanks pigletjohn but my oven is in front of a window so can't put in a hood.. Any recommendations on the best wall vented fan?

The kair heat recovery one only removes 35.6m3/h on boost which based on your previous comments on this doesn't seem that good... However other than this I was going to buy it..

I've had a heat recovery in a kitchen, and don't recommend it, because it didn't suck air out of the kitchen and cause suction which prevented cooking smells drifting round the house.

Like in a bathroom, an effective extractor will suck air from the rest of the house through the gap under the (closed) door, so no air flows or drifts from the kitchen into the rest of the house.

If you must have a wall fan, get a big one. A little 100mm fan is weak and noisy. A 200mm or 250mm is bigger and can spin slowly and laziliy with hardly any noise, but if cranked up to high speed will be much more powerful. It's about air-brick sized. It should be right up by the ceiling as steam and hot air rise.

I would be looking for about 250 cu.m/hr extract rate. A big room needs more power.

I once had a vent-axia in a big kitchen which I was happy with. The casing came apart for cleaning (kitchen fans collect grease and fluff) and on mine the motor unplugged from the surround with no connections to undo. Manrose is a more budget brand. The speed control switch (wall mounted) can be surprisingly expensive. The wiring can be run from the kitchen lighting circuit, or you can have an FCU on the kitchen socket circuit, with all the other switches and sockets which I hope you arte having in a row 200mm above the worktop.

Put it where you can climb up for cleaning easily.

I designed my kitchen around the need for great, quiet extraction and followed PigletJohn's advice from many such previous threads.
We ordered a hood that is 30cm wider than our 90cm hob so a bit of a giant! Extracts between joists to outside with a soundproofed rigid hose and inline motor. It changes the air in my 120cubic metre kitchen diner 9-10times an hour.
It may well be over engineered, but I was paranoid about smells settling in soft furnishings in the kitchen diner.

I had a giant cooker hood and it was expensive and noisy when switched to full power. Currently have no extraction at all! Large open plan kitchen with a glass roof. We decided not to have an extractor popping up out of the island. The old one was so noisy and not overly effective, so we rarely used it and we had no problems at all. I would not have a vent axia type. Just plain ugly. In your case I would look at ones which pop up from the work surface. Could you build your cooker out from the wall and put the extractor behind the hob? This would work but it is not a cheap option. My sink is 800mm from the wall, not 600mm which would be conventional. If you have a large kitchen you could do this. The extractor would pop up in front of the window though!

Thanks everyone! I'll study up and try and make a decision..