Extractor fan

[NotOnMyWatchSunshine]

Hiya! I'm going to start thinking about sorting my kitchen out, been putting it off for three years, but I can't take it anymore. My extraction fan is huge and awful and I cannot wait to rip it off the wall. So my question is, do I have to replace it? Do I need one? The current one isn't on an outside wall so I have no idea where the extracted stuff is even going? Can anyone please shed some light? Thank you

I assume it’s above your hob? If it’s not vented it will have an absorbent filter, possibly charcoal in it.

Yes you need one. It’s for Stefan from cooking and filters smells. Your kitchen ceiling and walls around the hob will get damp and greasy without it, unless you do zero actual cooking and just microwave or oven heat everything.

You can get filters which rise up behind the hob when in use, and others that suck the warm air down , typically in an island. These tend to be more expensive.
With regular overhead vents, there are many sizes, shapes and styles to choose from. So if that’s the way you decide yo go, shop around.

• steam, not Stefan, whoever he is.

Thank you so much for replying! I feared I would still need one, I think it'll be fine as long as it's not the size of the current monster. Need one to keep Stefan on his toes eh?! 😂

They are a legal requirement from 2006. I hate mine too but think they were a statement originally to look fancy. You can get concealed ones that look like a unit in the kitchen.

We have a flat panel ceiling one, which is great.
www.westin.co.uk/the-collection/ceiling-series/stratus-air/

They really are only effective, IMO, if they're actually vented. If they're just recycling the air through a filter, pretty useless. I'd check and see if you're actually required to have one. We have windows in the kitchen and induction, and I think we were told it wasn't a requirement, but went with one anyway.

When im cooking which isn't too often.
I don't switch my fan on, it may as well not be there I don't use it.

I'm led to believe that you don't need a cooker hood. If you already have some form of extractor, you should replace it with one as good or better. BUT...it doesn't have to be a cooker hood, it could be a thing like a bathroom extractor.

I have owned an over cooker extractor in my past 3 houses and in 17 years have not used any of them. Not even once. I open the windows a lot...and so far, no-one is any the wiser. (mind you, I never fry anything, so there's no fat-splatter)

Yes, you have to replace it with something of similar extraction or better, though a recirculating one doesn't actually extract outside so you may not need one, I would check. We just have an Xpelair type in our kitchen and it seem fine but we cook with electric, gas produces much more condensation when it burns so we would probably need a better on if we had gas

Thank you all so much! So who exactly do I "check" with?

You need to look at the building regulations regarding extractors, though if you have never had one that vents outside, no one would know what you had anyway, sometimes the vent pipes go above ceilings if not on an outside wall, if you google your extractor it may give you some information.

The building regs allow extraction to be either a cooker hood or a separate extractor fan elsewhere in the same room. If it is not next to the cooker the extraction rate needs to be higher, but the wall mounted Xpelair-type fans are still often quieter and more efficient as they aren't reverberating in a big metal box. You can get one with a humidity sensor, pull cord or other combinations of controls. And they are cheap as chips.

IME the area around the cooker gets greasy regardless of whether you have a cooker hood or not, you just have to clean the hood as well as everything else.

The rules are in "Building regulations Approved Document F" - any fan you think of buying will state its extraction rate in litres/second.

and a picture, its 30 l/s top and 60 l/s bottom (cooker hood optional)

You're so helpful, thank you so so much!!!!