Cooker extractor fans go by a wide variety of names, such as kitchen hood, extractor hood, ventilation hood, and electric chimney. Although they are most often installed directly above your oven by being mounted on the wall, there are many other model types available, such as those integrated into your cabinets, free standing types, chimneys, and island range hoods which are installed in your ceiling. This article will take a look at each of these different types and hopefully you will have a better idea about which one you would like to have installed in your home.
The most widely used style of cooker extractor fans are known as the canopy hoods and they are installed to hang directly over your kitchen stove. They are used to suck up all the polluted air, steam, and airborne grease that can result from cooking. This is done by either evacuating the tainted air completely from your home, or by running it through a filter and recirculating it through your home. In order to evacuate the air form your home, you will need to have ductwork connecting your fan to the outside which can be costly. If this is not the option for you, then you will need a filter based system.
Next, there are the island range hoods, which use a chimney like structure to carry the polluted air out through your ceiling. One of the drawbacks of this style is that they are practically impossible to disguise since they are out in the center of the room. They are also usually more expensive than the other models, but this is because they are so much more efficient. Their high performance allows them to draw the air through long stretches of duct without losing strength.
The freestanding cooker extractor fans are very similar, but they do not have the chimney and as such do not evacuate the air completely from the home. They will instead use a charcoal filter to clean the air and then recirculate it through your kitchen. You will usually have the choice of a disposable filter that you will have to replace every so often, and a reusable one that you can simply wash in the dishwasher before replacing.
These days you also have a lot of accessories to choose from for your cooker extractor fans as well. First of all, most models come with incandescent or fluorescent lights to illumine your cooking surface. There are many other add-ons as well though such as electromechanical controls, thermal sensors, automatic on and off, protection against overheating, and even cleaning reminders. The prices of these machines vary, so it is difficult to give an approximate price. However, you can typically expect to pay anywhere from 0 to ,000. The custom built models may cost even more.
