Cooker Hood Buying Guide: Ducted, Recirculating or Slim

A cooker hood brief arrives with a term attached. In the UK, Ireland and Australia buyers ask for a cooker hood. In North America the same unit sells as a range hood. A tender document may call it a vent hood. The unit does not change, and the specification does.

AurumDine builds three types of extractor for importers, kitchen showrooms, apartment developers and appliance distributors.

Key takeaways

• A cooker hood is the same appliance as a range hood, named by market.

• Ducted models remove smoke. Recirculating models filter it and return the air.

• Airflow has to match the hob, the room and the duct.

• Baffle filters last for years, where mesh pads become a consumable.

What a Cooker Hood Has to Do

Three jobs, in this order. Clear smoke at the source. Hold grease out of the room. Stay quiet enough that conversation survives dinner.

A vent hood that fails the first job shows up as a complaint within a week. A kitchen hood that fails the third shows up in a review. Therefore a buyer should read the airflow figure and the noise figure together, not as separate lines on a sheet.

One more job matters in a rental. A modern stainless steel hood has to wipe clean with one cloth, because a cleaner touches it every week.

Ducted, Recirculating or Slim

Ducted. The hood pushes air outside through a duct. It removes smoke rather than filtering it, so it handles high-heat searing and wok cooking. It needs a wall or roof outlet, and the run has to stay short enough to keep pressure loss low.

Recirculating. The hood pulls air through a filter and returns it to the room. There is no duct at all. That suits a flat where the building will not allow a core hole. Our portable model runs this way from a USB supply and sits on the counter. A hot pot table or a tabletop grill then gets extraction without installation.

Most projects mix the three. A ducted premium cooker hood over the main hob. A modern stainless steel hood in a compact kitchen. A recirculating unit where no duct can run.

Sizing: Airflow, Duct and Mounting Height

Range hood cfm is the number buyers compare first, and the most over-specified. In practice, UK and EU buyers size on room volume and hob type, not on a single range hood cfm figure.

• Gas hob or wok burner: size up, because an open flame sends more heat into the room.

• Electric or induction: a lower airflow clears the same cooking.

• Open-plan room: add airflow for the volume the kitchen shares.

• Duct diameter: a 6 inch run moves far more air than a 4 inch run at the same fan.

A wall mount unit in our range moves 900 CFM through a 6 inch outlet. That suits a gas hob in an open room. The slim line comes in five duct sizes, from 6 inch to 12 inch, so a unit can match the extractor run already in the building. In practice, that matters in a refurbishment, where the duct exists and the hood has to fit it.

Range hood mounting height is the line buyers get wrong. Too low and a tall pan hits the body. Too high and smoke escapes before the hood catches it. We quote the figure for each model and ask for the hob type, because the two numbers move together.

Filters, Grease and Running Cost

A baffle filter range hood uses stainless panels with slots. Grease hits the panel, runs down the slot and collects in a tray. The panels lift out and go into a dishwasher. There is no pad to buy and no consumable to reorder.

Meanwhile a mesh pad works, and it clogs faster. In a rental portfolio, a mesh pad becomes a maintenance line on the budget. Therefore most of our trade buyers order baffle filters on the ducted line.

In addition, the filter decides the noise story. A clean baffle passes air. A clogged mesh starves the fan, which raises the sound without raising the extraction. One annual clean keeps the figure honest.

What Importers Should Specify

A cooker hood order closes on five lines.

• Type: ducted, recirculating or slim under cabinet.

• Airflow and noise: the CFM figure at the working speed, the dB figure at the top speed.

• Duct: outlet size in inches and millimetres.

• Filters: baffle, mesh or a replaceable screen.

• Documents: safety and EMC reports for the destination market.

The rest is commercial. Stock units ship from one unit. A custom panel, logo or packaging run starts at 50 to 100 units. Stock leaves in 7 to 15 days, and a custom run takes 20 to 30 days after deposit. A one-year warranty covers each unit, and we hold motors, baffle filters and control boards in stock. Units are built to CE and RoHS requirements, with third-party reports arranged for your market.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a cooker hood the same as a range hood?

Yes. The appliance is the same, and the name follows the market. A UK buyer says cooker hood, a US buyer says range hood, and a specifier may write vent hood. Order by the specification, not the label.

Do I need a ducted or a recirculating kitchen hood?

Ducted if the building allows an outside outlet, because it removes smoke rather than filtering it. Recirculating if it does not, or if the cooking happens at a table rather than under a fixed hood.

What airflow should I specify?

Match it to the hob and the room. A gas hob in an open-plan space needs more than an induction hob in a closed kitchen. Tell us the hob type and the room volume, and we quote the model that fits.

How high should the hood sit above the hob?

Range hood mounting height follows the hob type and the local code, and the two move together. We quote a figure per model, and we ask you to confirm the hob before the cut-out goes in.

How often does the filter need cleaning?

A baffle filter range hood takes a dishwasher cycle, so once a month in a home kitchen. In a commercial setting, weekly. A mesh pad needs replacing rather than cleaning once it clogs.

Final Thoughts

A cooker hood is a specification, not a synonym. Settle the type, the airflow, the duct and the filter before you compare prices. Confirm the mounting height against the hob. Then one premium cooker hood line can serve a ducted kitchen and a compact flat.

Review the wall mount range hood for the full specification. Browse the slim under cabinet model for compact kitchens. The full line sits in the range hood range. The sizing logic sits in a range hood buying guide.