Does anyone here NOT have an extractor fan?

[LittleEsme]

My kitchen is nearly fully assembled and the kitchen designer has made an error in the design of the island. My hob is island based and given that I have low ceilings, we'd planned for a downdraft extractor to be fitted into the island behind the hob (it rises up when in use, and folds down when not).

The extractor doesn't fit however - the motor and cylinder cannot fit into the island below. I've bought a second brand of the same item but still, the motor and cylinder is too big. To house it, I now need to buy an extra 8" of cupboard to blend into my island so I'm going to lose floor space AND my island will change shape. This of course means that my cost of granite work top will increase.

I'm seriously considering not having an extractor at all. I have 4 large windows and a bifold in that kitchen to air the place. We are heavy garlic and spice eaters - is it a stupid idea to not extract?

I don't have one, but that's because my oven/hob is from about 1967... (it has one of those flip down grills and everything) I've had them previously though.

Pros: is good with getting rid of smoke, and helps stopping the rest of the house smelling of whatever you're cooking, does extract some of the oil residue meaning your kitchen get dirty less quickly, and you can just chuck the panels in the dishwasher

Cons: if it's not outdoor vented (ie the air goes straight back into the room), they're only of limited use for the smells, and they are so bloody noisy. Plus the overhead ones always seem to be at exact head-hitting height.

We hardly use ours because I can't cope with the noise of them (sensory) and I never had one in my mum's house growing up.

It does make your kitchen greasy unless you clean constantly. Smells aren't an issue IME (although I don't tend to mind smelling food, if I like the food) but grease is. It's not the end of the world, but instead of getting dusty, anything you don't move for a few weeks will gain a film of sticky dust which is impossible to just wipe off (it needs properly washing with hot water and detergent). That can cause an issue for storage, meaning anything seldom used needs to be kept inside a cupboard or alternatively washed before use, and it will stain anything porous that you keep in the room - such as books or pictures or wooden decorative items. Curtains (not such an issue as they are washable). The tops of the cupboards will gain a yellow colour (you can cover them with newspaper which you change every so often to avoid this, I don't because who is looking up there anyway?)

It's really annoying and it's in my future goals to get an extractor that isn't so loud. I think if you have the opportunity to do it and you're used to having one, you'll probably miss it if you don't.

@BertieBotts
I have not had an extractor in my kitchen which was built over 12 years ago, I never get grease anywhere! Ever. What are you cooking to produce so much grease residue? I grill of oven bake. I fry very little. If I do, it’s quickly browning or sealing meat. Occasionally a stir fry. Extractors do not extract heavy grease particles either.

If you submit details for BR approval showing an extractor, they really don’t care about checking you’ve installed it. They will check foundations!

Never had one. Don't like them.

We have one we never use, our kitchen isn’t greasy. New hob soon to be installed has built in extraction.

We have one but never use it. We never fry on the hob, only boil as we use our air fryer for most things now. Sauces etc get made in the instant pot so it's all contained.

@OxanaVorontsova

Where does the hob extract to? If you have an island it’s difficult to extract externally.

this sort of thing

I very interested in this.

We moved into this house with the hob where we now have an oven, so been in the same place for the hob. It had an 'extractor fan' above it

Except it wasnt, it wasnt vented to the outside and actually I hated it on because they're so noisy, it was just some charcol filter so wasnt sure what it was supposed to do

When we got the kitchen done we had a proper extractor fan put in place but then later we got a conservatory which was on that outside wall. I dont want the extractor fan air to blow into the conservatory as we have white rugs, white linen furniture in there and its a beautiful space, so we dont use the fan now

Im quite concerned about whether we should have a extractor of some description but cant see how we can now. We do open a window. We eat a lot of curries, chillis, heavily spiced food and OH cooks kippers quite a lot, then really do stench the house out for days. We dont have grease and fat over things,, not sure I understand that but we dont tend to deep fry or fry foods that much

I don't have one. It's the one thing I would change in the apartment if I owned rather than rented.

Spend whatever money it takes to get that extractor fan.

Don't have one, as have an oil fired range and it would cause issues, or so I was told. My walls are too thick to try and have one there, so we just open the window.

We have one, very rarely use it. It's noisy and not very effective. I'd rather have the extra cupboard space.

We have an island. We have a flush ceiling extractor fitted into a box frame which is vented out through the utility room to outside. It's excellent and I'm really glad we did it.

I’m surprised so many people are mentioning smells since the point of them is to extract humidity/steam from cooking, not smells. If you don’t have one then you run the risk of condensation and related issues. People who don’t have them, check behind the backs of your kitchen cabinets that are on external walls!

We have a window open much of the time in the kitchen we like fresh air anyway

But out of interest how on earth would you check behind the kitchen cabinets?

@BertieBotts excellent explanation.

@bellac11 take them out or cut a hole in the back - not an easy check but we had a damp surveyor out earlier in the week and he said people notice it all the time when changing kitchens. (We don’t have damp in the kitchen, only in the bathroom - due to an inadequate extractor fan. Damp surveyor said leaving the window open wasn’t enough)

We have just got an Xpelair type, you need one more if you cook with gas as it produces a lot of water as it burns, we have much less water vapour since changing to electric. Regarding building regs I think if there was one there before you have to replace with the same or better so it is no worse that what was there before

Yes it is. It doesn't extract smell or grease.

We found no damp or signs of condensation when we had the kitchen changed, yet clearly the original kitchen never had an extractor

We have no signs at all of any condensation, certainly wouldnt be messing about with my kitchen cupboards in that fashion.

Ive never had condensation or damp in any bathrooms Ive ever had either, no extractor in the bathrooms either, always have a window open. I dont know what people do to get condensation, perhaps its the structure of the home.

@bellac11

Condensation is a result of hot air/steam against cold walls and windows. Or colder than the hot steam! I have a well insulated house, double glazing and underfloor heating in 2 bathrooms. I don’t get condensation. I have 3 other bathrooms and although they don’t have u/f heating, they have substantial radiators. They are warm rooms so when hot water is run, they don’t steam up. Extracting helps but won’t take all water vapour out. I do notice some condensation on windows on ultra cold days but it’s rare. So warm insulated bathrooms, and quick showers is the answer. Venting helps but is not the only piece in the jigsaw puzzle.

Never had one growing up, just opened kitchen window. We’ve got fairly big kitchen and downdraught extractor on island. Use it when cooking steak or fish and quite often have window open too. But could live without it.

we don’t cook a lot of greasy food though.

I don’t have an extractor fan. Every year on our gas service the engineer tells me it’s illegal to use my gas hob without one. I’ve been here over 30 years, never had an extractor, never had any problems with smells etc.

I don’t have one and last weekend spent an entire day scraping congealed grease off the top of the fridge, the kitchen units, my cooking pots etc. Bicarbonate of soda is great!

No condensation or damp , but I am a fan of open windows.