Recirculating Extractor Hood

[yomellamoHelly]

Sorry for the boring topic ...... but are they any good nowadays? Have option of doing either, but need to make a decision in next few days.

Not very effective. We do put the carbon filters in, yet it hardly makes any difference to the smells & steam. Perhaps the layout of your kitchen is also relevant? My cooker is not near a window so that's not helping anyways!

They are just a grease trap - vented outside using rigid venting is much more effective.

We have a recirculating extractor and it is truly crap. It is quite an expensive Siemens one and one of the best and biggest available. Strong smells, e.g. fish, just get stuck in the filters and are re-presented for ten times after. Fortunately, it can be used both ways, and when we move house, soon, we will have it attached to an external vent.

So if it is feasible, and affordable, go for externally vented air , most certainly.

My cooker is on an internal wall. I'm about to replace the hob, after many years of using the one that was here when I moved in.
I have a truly ancient hygena extractor, so I'm guessing anything I get has to be better than what I gave now.
Are there any that are better than others? They vary in price enormously, but if they are all crap... I might as well buy a cheap one, and carry on using it mainly for the light, and open the window!

Our hob is not against an external wall, so we have a recirculating one above the hob, and a wall mounted extractor fan for, well, actual extraction.

A recirculator can make an attractive kitchen ornament, but is not much good for anything else.

A small builder, or you using a core drill from a tool hire shop, can make a neat round hole in a brick or block wall without much drama. If the cooker is not against an outside wall, you can run ducting above or through the wall cabinets.

I am tending towards a canopy extractor rather than a hood now. Modern ones are quite tall and vent out of the top rather than the back, so make the hole higher than you think you need.

Older, and some smaller or less powerful extractors may use a 100mm duct, but powerful modern ones may need 150mm. If you are making a new hole in the wall, I would go for the larger one. A larger duct may be quieter as the air is not pushing through at such speed and pressure.

Aargh. Ok I don't have an extractor fan. Only a recirculator.

I didn't know you could have a wall mounted extractor fan away from the Hob. I open the window or French doors!

Agree with you about the recirculator, john I use mine for the light.

hi Belle.

I am very fond of Elica. Email them for a catalogue. It is quite difficult to see the shape and dimensions online, as most of the body is above and out of sight, especially for canopy extractors.

I currently have a 1000mm hood, in case we get a range cooker one day, but 900mm and 600mm are more common.

An extractor that is wider than your hob will catch any fumes that might drift to the side.

p.s.

the instructions will tell you the minimum height above a hob, for safety, but IMO it is better to put it higher, at a height where you can't bang your face on it, even if you are tall.

Verify that the one you like has a knitted metal grease filter that will go in the dishwasher. Some still have paper or fibre grease filters. They get filthy.