10
Extractors and cooker hoods
Building Regulations require that all domestic kitchens must
be equipped with an extractor fan and providing the fan is of
sufficient size, cooker hoods are accepted. See below.
A cooker hood is an extractor fan enclosed within a hood with
a grease filter incorporated in the underside.
There are two sorts of cooker hood: those for extracting air to
outside and those for re-circulating air over a carbon filter and
back into the kitchen to remove the cooking smells.
Needless to say re-circulating models are a poor substitute for
extractor hoods and are only of some slight use if it is utterly
impracticable to install a duct to the outside.
The type and size of cooker hood will depend upon the lifestyle
and the size of the kitchen. The near professional cook with a
large kitchen and an adjacent dining area will need a power-
ful fan, while a small flat with a minute kitchen can make do
with the smallest size that will satisfy the Building Regulations.
Extraction performance
Although the Building Regulations lay down a minimum
extraction rate for a kitchen fan, this may well not be large
enough to be effective. See pp. 72, 73.
The recommended air changes per hour for domestic kitchens
is 10 to 15.
To calculate the size of fan required:
Find the volume of the room in cubic metres (m3)
Multiply the volume of the room in cubic metres
by the number of air changes per hour required
118 Architect’s Pocket Book of Kitchen Design
For example:
kitchen 4 m 5 m 2.5 m 50 m3
air changes required 12
50 12 600 m3/h
Manufacturers’ catalogues give the maximum and minimum
extract rates in litres/second and cubic metres/hour.
one m3/h 0.777 l/s
one l/s 3.6 m3/h
Extractor fan outputs range from about 200 to 800 m3/h
Depending on size, extractor fans in cooker hoods are approx-
imately rated between 220 to 380 W.
Siting of fans
The most common cause of unsatisfactory mechanical
ventilation is short circuiting of air movement between the
fan and nearby air inlets, such as open windows or external
doors.
Fans should be mounted as far as possible from such sources
to work effectively.
Insufficient air replacement can also cause problems especially
in well insulated houses with draught-proof windows.
If necessary make provision for air replacement with gaps
under room doors, internal grilles in doors, airbricks, etc.
Fans and cooker hoods should not be positioned above a high
level grill, nor should the underside of a cooker hood be too
low over a hob for fear of catching fire.
Each fan manufacturer will give recommended clearances.
Typically they may be:
65 mm minimum over a gas hob
55 mm minimum over an electric hob.
Extractors and cooker hoods 119
Ducting
Ducts from extractor fans should ideally be as short as possi-
ble and as close to an outside vent grille as possible.
For maximum efficiency a duct should be no longer than 5 m
deducting 1.2 m for every 90° bend.
Ducts should rise up immediately a minimum of 300 mm from
the extractor fan before any bends to avoid turbulence.
Where possible use 45° bends rather than 90° bends.
If 90° bends are necessary, use large radius bends.
Suitable materials for extractor fan ducts are:
rigid PVC, galvanised sheet steel and flexible
aluminium
Avoid spiral-concertina hoses which reduce air flow and gen-
erate noise by flapping.
Avoid any flat ducting (rectangular in section) as these will
considerably reduce performance.
Horizontal ducts should have a 25 mm fall to outside to get rid
of any condensate.
Long vertical ducts may need condensation traps to allow
condensate to evaporate.
Duct diameters should always be the same size as the outlet
from the extractor and never reduced.
Usual sizes are: 100, 120 and 150 mm diameter
Terminate ducts on the outside wall with a louvered grille
incorporating a back-draught shutter.
120 Architect’s Pocket Book of Kitchen Design
Noise
Extractor fans are noisy – the larger amount of air extracted
the greater the noise.
Check when a powerful fan is required that the noise levels
are tolerable.
The decibel rating for different sizes of fans ranges from 50 to
70 dB(A) re 1 pW.
Types of cooker hood
There are six basic different types of cooker hood:
Chimney large wall-mounted hood, sometimes made
to suit range cookers with big skirt and
chimney in matching material
Island similar to chimney hood but for a hob in an
island situation
Integrated concealed in wall cabinet with top hung
pull-out flap matching cabinet doors.
Telescopic slimline hood with motor concealed in wall
cabinet operated by full-width narrow pull-
out section at base
Canopy concealed behind a fixed panel matching
cabinet doors with air intake grille set level
with bottom of panel
Standard wall-mounted over hob with extract duct
behind wall cabinet door
All cooker hoods incorporate grease filters. The best are made
of stainless steel which can be washed in a dishwasher.
Cheaper models have disposable paper filters which typically
need changing twice a year.
Extractors and cooker hoods 121
Island hood
Chimney hood
Integrated hood
Telescopic hood
Standard hood Canopy hood
Basic types of cooker hood
122 Architect’s Pocket Book of Kitchen Design
Chimney hood ss 900 wide
Island hood ss and glass 900 wide
Canopy hood 524 wide
Integrated hood 600 wide
Telescopic hood 600 wide Standard hood 600 wide
Cooker hoods – by Baumatic
Extractors and cooker hoods 123
Cooker hood features
The following features may be included:
lights typically 2 20 W halogen lamps
speed level switch usually for 3 levels
automatic sensor humidistat
run-on facility timer set for fan to overrun
interval ventilation to ventilate room periodically
charcoal filter for re-circulating models
grease filter for extraction models
saturation indicator for filter changing/washing
splashback matching splashback, often sold together
with range cookers
Hob extractors
In addition to the extractors described above, there are also
hob extractors. These are NOT suitable for gas hobs and are
not as efficient as overhead cooker hoods. However, they can
be useful alongside electric barbeque hobs which can emit
noxious fumes at hob level or where uninterrupted headroom
or view is desirable.
They are designed to be set alongside domino hobs in island
or peninsular worktops. They extract the air downwards through
125 mm diameter ducts into base cabinets and horizontally to
outside.
The fan is positioned either at the bottom of the base cabinet
or externally at the end of the horizontal duct.
It is not always easy to accommodate the horizontal duct
unless there is convenient floor joist space or it can be carried
along the ceiling of a floor below.
See illustration overleaf.
124 Architect’s Pocket Book of Kitchen Design
Hob extractor with automatic sealing Hob extractor with grille alongside
flaps – shown open-operated by electric hobs operated by control
touch control panel knob
Installation drawing
of direct suction
hob extractor with
duct in base
cabinet turning
horizontally to link
with remote fan on
outside wall
Direct suction hob
extractor with 90°
rotating arm which can
extend to 420 mm above
hob. Contracts back
flush with worktop
when not in use.
Hob extractors – by Gaggenau
