Every home will have a kitchen where you cook and probably eat your meals, if it is of a decent size. Cooking does release smoke, steam, and aromas and this can hang within the kitchen or even spread to the rest of the home, something that you may not prefer. A range hood also called cooker hood, or chimney helps to control this hot air containing oil, water and scents.
A cooker hood is a an appliance used in kitchens in homes, that has fans and other devices that can make your kitchen free from heat, odor, and steam. You switch it on when you start cooking and all fumes and smoke will be taken out, or purified and recirculated, depending on the type of range hood that you go for.
To choose the right hood for your kitchen you need to consider a number of aspects, like size and location, its power, the layout of your kitchen, whether you want to vent the hot fumes out of the kitchen, or prefer to recirculate them, noise levels, and finally looks and budget.
Size and Extraction Power
The main purpose of using hoods is for them to capture all the smoke and heat. That is why it is important that you have a hood that is at least as wide as the range, or hob that you use, and a little beyond if possible, It must capture all the heat and fumes that arise from your cooking. The power of the extraction equipment should be such that it removes all the hot air and fumes, and if you consider the length of your range or cook-top, multiply this by 400 to get the needed power in CFM. Cooker hoods can be fixed on the wall just above your range, under cabinets if there are cabinets over it, or over the range, if you have a cooking island. It will work most efficiently if it is 24″ to 30″ above the burners, as this also gives you sufficient space to work, while it will removes all the heat. It is the layout of your kitchen that will help you to determine its right location in your kitchen.
Exhaust mechanism
Cooker hoods can work equally efficiently if they have a duct that carries out the hot air, or recirculate the air after treating it. These hoods use a fan to collect the heated air and fumes and then force it out of the kitchen through ducts that lead to the outside atmosphere. This hot air exhaust is sometimes objected to in apartments, and here the solution is to go in for hoods that are ductless. This hood recirculates the air after filtering and cooling it over baffles. These filters have activated carbon that helps in removing odor. It is important that these filters are cleaned once or twice every year, and more often, if you use a lot of oil in your cooking. This is fairly easy to do, as it means removing the cassette that contains the filter and giving it a good scrub. Some cooker hoods also are designed to clean the filter automatically, but will be more expensive.
Noise Level
Hoods use fans, and these can be noisy. You need to take this into consideration before you choose the right hood. Choose a hood that fits in well with your kitchen decor, as they come in various shapes, styles, and colors. Choose one that will suit your budget, and if you use it carefully and do the right maintenance, it can last you for years, and make it pleasant for working in the kitchen or eating there. Choose a model that comes from a reputed manufacturer and you should have no problems.
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