A cooker hood in the kitchen is necessary or not

Ventilation in the kitchen

It’s no secret that ventilation in the kitchen is important for any home. In order to effectively divert exhaust gases and provide an inflow of fresh air, in addition to the existing communications, tenants add an extractor hood. Immediately note that improperly installed device will not create the expected effect, rather deteriorate the existing natural ventilation. In our article we will learn why you need ventilation in the kitchen, as well as get acquainted with the types of such systems.

Types of kitchen hoods

Ventilation systems are divided into two types according to the principle of operation:

• Extractor, or ducted. They connect to a ventilation shaft, which makes them difficult to install. But with them you can not worry about replacing filters to clean the air. the ventilation will take the smells out of the kitchen directly into the street and fill the room with fresh air. These systems are great for those who love greasy, fried foods. к. They cope with large flows of air.
• Circulation. These hoods have no outlet to ventilation, but rather run the air through filters and deliver it back to the kitchen already purified. At the same time the smells will not escape from the room, but the heat from the kitchen such devices do not pull out. The installation of circulating hoods is simple and inexpensive. But every few months you will have to change filters, otherwise there will be no point in ventilation.

The design of flow-through and circulation hoods is manifold. What are they like?

• Dome hood. Or they are also called “kitchen chandelier hood” because of their appearance, reminiscent of a dome or chandelier. They work only with the air duct, can quickly air even a large kitchen. But such ventilation is one of the most expensive, they take up a lot of space and are installed only by a specialist, t. к. Fitted on the air inlet of the house.
• Built-in. Can be installed in a kitchen cabinet, they are practically noiseless, can clean a lot of air and therefore are suitable for big premises. They are inconspicuous, and you can choose from many options. from compact to large and powerful. But such ventilation is rather expensive, but with increased power and extra features the price will be many times higher.
• Suspended. Built such a hood in the kitchen wall, easy to install, takes up little space. But mostly it is only circulating, noisy and not suitable for large rooms. But it can be made not only flat. For example, a glass tilt hood for the kitchen can be just hanging.
• Stand-alone. It’s a ceiling-mounted hood in the kitchen. The bulk of the ceiling kitchen hoods. is the prerogative of restaurants, where the food is always cooked. Nowadays, large island hoods in the kitchen can also be found in ordinary apartments. They qualitatively clean the air in the entire apartment, look stylish, installed in any place. But of all kinds of hoods, they are the most expensive and the noisiest.

All hoods use filters. In flow-through hoods, they are grease traps and look like metal mesh. It is easy to remove and wash, so this filter is designed for a long life. And the circulating models have fine filters in the form of vessels with activated carbon (with the addition of resin or silver against bacteria). They clean and disinfect the air, but require constant replacement with new.

Note. Some models are equipped with a number of additional functions: lighting, timer, touch control, autoshutting simultaneously with the stove and others. The price of the extraction system depends on it, but many of the features are really useful in the kitchen.

Type of control ease of operation is made up of small things

What’s the best hood to buy? There are several types of control, which a person can choose, based on the price and convenience of the kitchen hood:

In the first case, the control will be done by touching or swiping a finger on the screen surface. Quite a convenient variant, which in terms of cost falls within the medium price range.

The remote type is the most successful option. It allows you to control the hood without getting up from your desk or when you are in a different room. This type will cost more than the others, but the comfort is worth it.

The pushbutton type is the standard version, which is equipped with most of the extraction systems. Also, it is the cheapest option, so the budget option will suit many.

Also, you should familiarize yourself with additional features of the hoods, which can make the use comfortable. For example, the backlight, which is installed on the vast majority of equipment. Incandescent, LED or halogen bulbs can be used.

Modern models necessarily have a remote control, even if the hood is installed with a button or touchscreen type of control. It allows you to interact with the device at a distance.

There are automatic hoods that turn on by themselves when a smoke sensor detects steam, odor or smoke. As soon as the smoke is removed, the device automatically turns off, so this function is an excellent energy saver.

The off timer is an excellent mode of operation that automatically turns off the hood after a certain time that has been specified by the person in the control panel. For example, after cooking for a long time there is still a characteristic smell after cooking, so you can set a timer for 30 minutes. During this time, the hood removes all the air and shuts down by itself.

It should be noted the design elements with which manufacturers equip modern models. These include: unusual backlights, unique shapes and a variety of displays.

The only time you need a cooker hood

If you have a gas stove and not an electric one at home, then it’s better to mount the hood, because it won’t be superfluous. You cannot guarantee with complete certainty that all of the valves on your board will work forever. Sooner or later it can start to leak gas. And if the hood doesn’t work properly or not at all, overnight, the room can be saturated with gas fumes, which are very dangerous.

You wake up at night just for a drink of water and automatically turn on the light. We all know what happens when you turn on the breaker. A short circuit occurs, as a result of which gas vapors can burst into flames in a second. This is how explosions occur in residential buildings, after which the houses can no longer be repaired and the tenants are resettled. All you had to do was install a cooker hood in your kitchen.

Do you need a cooker hood in your kitchen? That’s the unanswerable question

Clean air is an important part of the comfort of your home. Do not forget that air purification is required to create a microclimate in the living space.

This is a particular concern for people who have small children or suffer from allergies.

Clean air is the basis of a good microclimate in the house

So when you ask whether you need a cooker hood in the kitchen, think about how you would answer another question about whether you need clean air? The obviousness of the answer will no doubt be apparent to anyone.

Why, then, do we hear more and more debates and discussions on internet forums and in the media about whether a cooker hood is a must-have in the kitchen??

What’s the best stove hood for the kitchen??

Three different types of cooker hoods are currently available. Flat-panel cooker hoods are fixed to the stove hood and connected to the electricity supply. They incorporate special filtering systems that draw in air, purify it and release it back into the room. Dome hoods are constructed in a completely different way. they have attached elbow pipes, through which the extracted air is led into the ventilation system and does not return to the kitchen space.

Flat cooker hood in the kitchen

The functions of the flat and dome hoods are combined in a third type that takes up a minimum of space and gets rid of the destructive defect of the interior, when the pipes are pulled under the ceiling. These hoods have both integrated filters and a system for extracting the extracted air into the ventilation system. Pipes, exhaust air in such hoods is much smaller in diameter, do not violate the interior design, because they can easily be hidden in the kitchen cabinets. The third type of hood, which combines the functions of a flat suction and a dome suction, is more practical and efficient because it takes up less space but has two types of air cleaning.

Low noise and extraction power are directly related to one another. The more power, the better the result of the hood, but it will emit a lot of noise, which causes inconvenience to residents of the apartment. Hoods with the lowest power make less noise, but the result will be the same. The life expectancy of a hood is highly dependent on the grease filters installed in it. Some models

Dome hood

installed removable filters, which is enough to wash once a month with soap and water, while in other filtering system is not subject to manual cleaning and incurs additional financial costs to purchase replacement filters.

The navigation panel on almost all hoods is equipped with a timer with which you can adjust the suction and cleaning time. The suction power is also adjustable. When heating ready-to-eat meals a small capacity of 100-200 cu. m is required. meters, but if you have a burnt holiday roast you need a capacity of at least 600 cu.m. meters. It is best to purchase a stove hood in relation to the size of the stove hood. The width of the hob and the hood should be the same, but it would be much better if the width of the hood was slightly larger.

As for prices, among the huge range in stores of home appliances, a good and high-quality hood can be purchased among low-budget models, as well as among expensive exclusive and design. The classic kitchen can be fitted with an inexpensive enamelled hood that is very easy to clean thanks to its smooth surface structure. Stainless steel hoods are among the more expensive models. Aluminum hoods are not afraid of corrosion and do not leave fingerprints, as is possible with stainless steel hoods. The most expensive and practical option would be tempered glass hoods.

Arguments against installation

We propose to see what are the arguments against such a household appliance:

You can easily do without a hood if you just use ventilation systems. Extractor hoods are a relic of the past and their installation and purchase is only beneficial for the manufacturers of this type of appliances.
• The hood is an element of risk to human health, because grease particles will settle on the grease trap in this appliance, in which bacteria and microbes begin to actively reproduce. If the filters in such a device are not cleaned in time and replaced, there will be no safety. In addition, grease also begins to accumulate on the surface of the stove and kitchen furniture, provoking the formation of bacteria.
• The cooker hood always makes a lot of noise and is uncomfortable to use. It is also worth remembering that the kitchen is a place where there is constant noise, because on the stove will be cooking food (for example, frying meat), pouring water from the tap (when you wash dishes or products), the refrigerator, and the microwave also makes some noise. For this reason, another appliance will not be such a big source of noise, especially if you choose a model of hood that does not make a lot of noise when working.

Next, we suggest talking about whether and why you need an exhaust hood in your kitchen.

Kitchen hoods and appliances

Ventilation and kitchen hood are not the same thing, as many people mistakenly believe. The extraction device is a housing inside which there is a filter, an electric motor and a fan that drives such elements. The fan will create a draft of air, and through the filters begins to capture particles of soot, grease and various extraneous odors.

That way, the kitchen will be supplied with clean air, and there will be no soot and grease on the furniture and appliances. A ventilation system is a design that will create excellent air exchange in the kitchen. The cooker hood must be planned in the kitchen renovation and when choosing the furniture. Most people prefer to refuse it, as they believe that the kitchen space without a hood looks more aesthetically pleasing, and even more so if the room is too small in area.

Advantages and disadvantages of the hood in the kitchen with an electric stove

While some people consider the hood as an integral part of kitchen utensils along with the stove, refrigerator and sink, others believe that in the age of electrical appliances it has lost its relevance. To find out if you need an extraction hood in the kitchen with an electric stove or can do without it, it is necessary to understand what this device is used for, what functions it performs.

It is generally accepted that the best cooker hood is compatible with a traditional gas stove. When you cook on it, it gives off an odor that is difficult to remove with normal airing. So a special appliance that sucks in all the foul-smelling air is more important than ever.

Electric and induction stoves have none of these disadvantages. they produce no carbon monoxide, which is why some people think a cooker hood is unnecessary. Nevertheless, during cooking almost all processes take place in the same way. both on old and new stoves. Both the smell of grease and other strong odors spread well from both types of units.

The hood is able to get rid of any unpleasant odors that spoil your mood and appetite. This is especially important for families who are used to spending a lot of time in the kitchen, having breakfast, lunch and dinner together. It is important to keep the air clean in every room, regardless of the type of stove. Therefore, even in the kitchen with an electric stove hood is desirable, although not obligatory.

Drawing air into itself, this device captures both soot, and grease, and dirt thanks to special filters. grease traps. In addition, in the presence of a gas stove, it also removes the excess gas that is not burned during operation. All this allows not only to clean the air, but also to maintain a safe environment in the apartment, as well as to protect the surrounding objects from grease buildup.

Because if the smallest drops of fat are not sucked up by the hood, they will eventually settle on the surrounding surfaces.

However, despite so many positive qualities of the device, not all people install it in their kitchen. Sometimes this is due to the fact that they do not know why they need the hood over the stove. To understand whether a particular apartment owner needs it, it is worth considering all the pros and cons.

There are long debates about this rather unremarkable detail of the interior on some Internet forums. Some users say you can do without a hood in the kitchen, but others say you need one like the air. But this is not a question where you have to take sides. Here everyone decides for himself.

There are a lot of advantages to having a cooker hood. Here are some of them:

• This appliance eliminates harsh odors from the kitchen quickly, preventing them from spreading to other areas of the apartment. This function is particularly useful in small apartments or studios where no walls separate the kitchen from the rest of the room.
• Thanks to special filters it can save furniture, floor, windows and walls from grease and soot droplets. If there is no hood, they will settle on the surrounding surfaces.
• As it is a ventilating device, it can increase the air flow into the apartment with insufficient air exchange from natural ventilation at home. This allows you to maintain a healthy climate in your home.
• When you cook food, it releases a lot of moisture that humidifies the air. You don’t have this problem with your hood. it absorbs excess water from the atmosphere.
• For fans of ergonomics this device is also convenient: directly above the electric stove can not hang an additional cabinet, but to place it above the hood is quite possible.
• If you have a gas stove the stove hood also gets rid of combustion products. But it should be used properly. do not turn it on at the same time as the gas.
• Typically, this appliance has built-in light bulbs that are convenient to turn on to illuminate the stove. Otherwise, to achieve this effect, you would have to mount them separately, and that is much more difficult for many people.

There are people who not only do not want to install a hood in their home, but in general oppose this device. They think that its popularity is just a marketing ploy, and that it is useless. Well, and to their arguments it is worth listening to make a choice for yourself:

• The first thing you can notice when you turn on the device is how it makes noise. Although there are silent models, but they are usually much more expensive. Noise occurs during the operation of any ventilation device, but you can not argue that it can annoy some people.
• There are also many who live their whole lives without a hood and do not feel any discomfort. Their main argument against it is that it is useless: despite all the claimed functions, the effect of its presence is almost imperceptible.
• In a small room, it is not difficult to produce ventilation and without additional equipment. You just need to open a window and the air from the street in combination with the exhaust ventilation will do its job. Those who ventilate successfully without a cooker hood do not see the point in installing one.
• Owners of very small kitchens also agree with them, where installing anything other than what is already there is simply not possible. An air extraction system is usually quite bulky. Although there are some smaller models, but again, you will have to pay more.
• Another disadvantage associated with the fact that the hood is a device directly connected to the ventilation. When it works, it can create drafts from the vented chimney in the bathroom, which sometimes leads to problems with the operation of the system in neighboring apartments. So, if you provide the best climate in your home, you can spoil it for others.
• Exhaust hood filters, if not cleaned, get laden with grease and dirt that provide an ideal environment for pathogenic bacteria and other harmful microorganisms to develop. This argument is the easiest to challenge: if you clean the appliance regularly (and you should), you won’t have this problem. However, if you don’t have a cooker hood, you don’t need to clean it at all.
• It’s an extra appliance in the kitchen that you have to spend money on, and not everyone has it.

Many of the disadvantages cited are based on the fact that people are not aware of alternative exhaust appliances. Therefore, to make a decision, you need to consider the full range of variations.

There are two main types of hoods: flow-through and recirculation. They differ in the way they function. The first have a traditional way of air output. outdoors, while the second does not take it anywhere, but filters it and returns it back into the room.

Flow-through designs are much more efficient and can cope with more air exchange per unit time. So they are suitable for those who often cook greasy food. However, it is much more difficult to install such systems: you will have to hire specialists who will connect the device to the ventilation shafts of the house. In addition, you will need an anti-return valve that will not allow the exhaust air to return into the apartment.

Recirculation hoods are much more compact and do not require such a complicated installation. But their functionality is limited: they will not save you from unpleasant smells because all the air goes back through them. Nevertheless, they are able to remove dirt and grease from the atmosphere. Because of this, the filters built into them need to be changed regularly.

For those who find it difficult to choose, there are combined models which can work alternately in the modes of recirculation or exhaust air. Of course, they will cost a little more, and all the complexities of installing a flow-through hood do not disappear, but in some cases it is worth overpaying for such a model.

In addition, these units can vary in their design. Here are their basic variations:

Cooker Hoods Explained | by Hotpoint

• Built-in. devices with a retractable bottom panel. These are expensive models with many additional functions. Built into kitchen cabinets, almost does not take up space and blends seamlessly into the interior. They are easy to use, compact, beautiful and multifunctional.
• Suspended. most often are of the recirculation type, although there are also flow-through. They are flat panel mounted at the bottom of the cupboard. Compact, but they pump out small amounts of air. Best suited for small kitchens with low air pollution.
• Island. the most powerful, they can clean the air not only in the kitchen but in the whole apartment. Mounted to the ceiling in the right place, so it’s easy to install where you need it.
• Dome type. mounted on walls or ceiling, they look like a dome. The most common are the flow-through type.

It’s also worth considering how the kitchen will look like and what the pros and cons of having a kitchen hood is not installed. Despite the assurances of some people, it is possible to live without it at all. Weighing up the pros and cons, you can understand whether you need an exhaust hood over the stove in this particular apartment.

There are several advantages of such a state of affairs:

• Absence of unnecessary mechanical noise;
• more free space, which is especially valuable in small kitchens;
• The design becomes more concise, not burdened with heavy appliances.

However, we shouldn’t forget the problems that can arise in such a case. There are a little more of them:

• If the owners of the room love and often cook fried food, its smell will spread throughout the apartment, penetrating into the furniture, clothing and other textile coatings;
• to ventilate, you will have to constantly open the window sill. this may not always be convenient, especially in winter, and can lead to drafts, colds, death of flowers on window sills;
• All surfaces in the kitchen will eventually be covered with a greasy film, which is not easy to get rid of, and you will have to do general cleaning more often;
• It will affect the appearance of the room. the wallpaper and even the ceiling will lose its marketable appearance, the repair will have to be done very soon;
• If you use a gas stove, the carbon monoxide generated during operation will not go anywhere and can have a negative impact on human health.

Of course, the disadvantages of not having a cooker hood are much greater than the advantages. Many people live their entire lives without it, and nothing terrible happens to them. It turns out that in some cases you can safely do without it.

Many people choose not to have a cooker hood. Some people simply do not need it, but for others, its disadvantages outweigh the benefits. Here are the cases in which you can safely do without it:

• Some people practically don’t cook in the kitchen, and all food is ordered or only heated in the microwave. due to lack of time, unwillingness or inability to cook. There are also those who are practically only at home at night. For them, the kitchen is more like an extra room or a dining room. Of course, in that case, a cooker hood is of little use.
• The room is already equipped with a powerful ventilation system that reliably draws out all the unpleasant smells. Since the hood is also a ventilation device, it will simply duplicate the functions that are already there, and it is not necessary to buy it.
• In kitchens with an electric stove, this appliance is much less necessary than in those with a gas stove. Yes, it has many other useful features, but the electric stove does not emit carbon monoxide, so safety is ensured without a hood.

In all these cases you can easily do without additional ventilation systems.

Of course, to install them or not, everyone decides for himself, but the first thing worth remembering is that there are no variants, correct in all situations without exception, and the choice must be based on your own life rhythm and comfort level.