How to choose the right kitchen hood

Modern kitchen is difficult to imagine without an exhaust. This household appliance has become a mandatory attribute in any apartment or private house. Its main purpose is to bring water pairs from the room and smells prepared on the meal plate. In this article, you will learn how to choose the right kitchen hood and do not get confused among numerous offers of manufacturers.

Types of exhaust

The kitchen is a special room in every home. All family members are gather here, and each person spends about half of his home. That is why it is very important that the air and the atmosphere in the kitchen are as cleaner and more favorable. The air purification problem is in the first place, because the aromas of food are constantly hidden in the room, combustion products produced. In the insufficient ventilated room under such conditions it is very uncomfortable.

Some believe that to ventilate the kitchen, it is enough to open the window, others pin all responsibility for natural exhaust ventilation, which is in each apartment of a multi-storey house. However, in fact everything is more complicated. Note that the hood is placed directly above the cooking surface or stove so that the combustion and water vapor products fall into the device as quickly as possible and allocated from the room. If ventilation is carried out only through the window and grille under the ceiling, a pair with microscopic particles of products, oils and fats, will inevitably settle on the walls near the stove and the ceiling above it. Only a small part of them will be eliminated through the ventilation holes, and literally in a year in such a kitchen it will be possible to observe the darkening of the interior decoration or obvious fat stains on the ceiling.

Now it becomes obvious that the extractor helps not only maintain the air in the kitchen clean, but also significantly extends the deadlines for the operation of the interior decoration. All hoods act on the principle of forced ventilation, tightening the air inside and passing it through the filter system. But what then will happen to this air, depends on the design features of the device. Distinguish recycling and flowing hoods. The first, as can be understood from the name, passes the air through the filters, clean it and release it back into the kitchen. The second only remove water vapors and combustion products through the external ventilation system. They are easy to recognize the pipe left from the device into the wall or ceiling. Power hoods are considered more efficient than recycling, and faster remove exhaust air from the room.

To know how to choose a kitchen hood, you need to study the features of the design at least in general terms:

1. Suspended - a series of devices distinguished by the lowest cost and the simplest installation, so that they are most popular. They work on a recycling principle using reusable filters, which significantly prolongs their life.
   
2. Dome - devices called so because of their original form - externally they resemble an umbrella. More precisely, the first dome kitchen hoods were similar to umbrellas or classic fireplaces (the second name - the fireplace), but now the designers continue to leave traditional forms. Devices are attached to the wall above the stove. They can act both in recirculation mode and in the flow.
   
3. Built-in - embedded kitchen hoods are designed for kitchens with built-in equipment and stove in particular. The device is comfortably hiding in the closet above the stove and is not knocked out of the overall interior design.
4. Island - one of the most stylish and expensive devices mounted in the kitchen, where the stove is located in the center of the room. Island hoods work on a flow principle and are intended mainly for spacious kitchens. As a rule, they are characterized by high performance, and therefore are used at the professional level in the catering industry.
   
5. With a retractable working panel - one of the latest developments of technicians who have time to earn great popularity. The devices are distinguished by extraordinary compactness due to the fact that when the narrow working panel "hides" into the wall or kitchen furniture. By the way, if in the name of the model you see the word INOX, the kitchen hood of an embedded type. So, the models of CATA TF5260 INOX and KRONA KAMILLA 2M 600 INOX are very popular.
   

Functional features

Correctly selected modern extract can eliminate up to 97% of polluted air from the kitchen, but the emphasis here should be done on the word "right". Most people do not know which kitchen hood to choose, and are guided only by the price factor or number of positive feedback on the seller's website. However, the question should be approached at all on the other side, and first of all determine the desired productivity of the device. The performance affects the capacity from it, in turn, the level of noise of the device depends. Also, an essential role is played by appearance, dimensions, case material, etc. The factors that should be taken into account are quite a lot, but they need to be understood in order not to buy an expensive beautiful and completely useless "toy".

When choosing, pay attention to air pressure indicators created by the engine. If they are at the height, then the extractor has good performance. The pressure is injected with fans, therefore, a powerful exhaust must be powerful fans: 1 or 2 pcs. They can work on 2 or 4 speeds, respectively. The power of the drawing is the power of its fans, and it is from this that the device's performance depends. Performance is called the ability to delete a certain amount of air during the set time. For modern hoods, this parameter ranges from 180 to 700 m³ / h. However, there is one "underwater stone" - a powerful extract with high performance will be very noise. Fortunately, for home use, it is rarely turned on the device to a maximum, and if it is necessary sometimes to remove evaporation or smoke, if the food has burned, you can suffer a few minutes.

To determine how powerful the extract should be specifically for your kitchen, you need to make simple calculations. Find the size of the room and the volume of furniture in it. Remove from the first indicator the second and multiply the "clean" volume by 10. This is the number and will determine the desired drawing performance. At the same time, the established sanitary standards should also be taken into account that require full replacement of air in the kitchen 10-12 times per hour.

There is another way to calculate the performance that may seem easier to you. So, first find the area of \u200b\u200bthe kitchen, multiply it to the height, and then multiply by 12 (the air exchange rate of sanitary standards). The result multiply by 1.3 (stock coefficient) and get performance. For example, you need to choose a hood for a kitchen with an area of \u200b\u200b6 m² and a height of 2.5 m: ((6 * 2.5) * 12) * 1,3 \u003d 234 m³ / h.

How to choose kitchen hood

So, the most important parameter - the performance of the hood - already defined, but this is not all that you need to consider when choosing.

Basic selection parameters:

1. Size - in theory, the more hood, the better, but the bulky device is unlikely to decorate the interior, and ergonomic devices are very expensive. Here you need to repel from the size of the plate - the hood width should be the same or slightly more than the width of the plate. Otherwise, it will skip part of evaporation and combustion products, which slowly, but will correctly spoil the suspended kitchen furniture and internal decoration. For example, if the slab in the width is 60 cm, you need a hood for a width of at least 70 cm, and better all 90, if there is a free space.
   
2. Control - Each exhaust on the outside of the housing is the control panel: touch, push-button or slider. In terms of use and care, the touch panel is much more convenient than the slider, where the hood mode is selected by a mechanical slider. The buttons are still simpler, but, as practice shows, over time, small particles of dirt and products are clogged in them, which worsens the appearance and operation of the device. The touch panel is enough to wipe with a cloth.
   
3. Modes of operation - you already know that the hoods can be recycling and flowing. If you decide to buy a recycling model, we recommend immediately acquire replacement filters for it and choose such a model, filters for which it is easy to find on sale.
4. Filters - filters detain microscopic particles in the exhaust air. So, the filters of fine and coarse cleaning are distinguished. All of them are metal meshs with different cross sections - from the size of the section and depends the efficiency of smelling. Metal filters are reusable and as they are contaminated need to be washed. Also in the hood can be installed an additional filter in the form of a disposable mesh from synthetic fibers. Such grids are not intended for washing and need to be replaced by new ones. The replacement frequency depends on the intensity of the use of exhaust in circulation mode. By the way, almost all models can be reoriented to recycling mode. Some budget devices work at all without metallic grease filters, removing the exhaust air through the ventilation channel, but the efficiency and durability of such devices is quite low.
   
5. Functional - besides the ability to remove fat and unpleasant smells of air, hoods can have additional features. For example, the residual stroke of the fan helps to save energy consumed by the exhaust - the device continues to clean the air another 5-15 minutes after the disconnection, operating at the lowest power. Many draws are equipped with an electronic timer that turns off the device after graduating from cooking. Also, almost all devices have built-in lighting, and since the hoods are installed above the stove, the additional light helps when cooking. More economical and most convenient to choose exhaust with halogen, and not with conventional incandescent lamps.
   
6. Noise level - earlier we mentioned that the more powerful fans in the extract, the higher its performance, but the stronger it is noise. The noise level is measured in decibels, and "very quiet" extract can be called if it produces noise no more than 45 decibels. For insulated kitchens, not combined with other rooms, it is suitable for up to 50 decibels. But if this indicator grows up to 70, the hood enabled will be very disturbed - the noise from it can be compared with the situation when someone is spending loud from you.
7. The case material is important not only the technical component of the model, but also external data, of course, if you do not need to choose an embedded kitchen hood, which you then simply disguise under the closet. The housing can be made of aluminum, stainless or enameled steel, plastic, tempered glass. The processed aluminum has proven it best - its value fully corresponds to good quality. The surface of such extracts matte, which fits perfectly in any interior. The main advantage of such a material is that it is not visible traces from fingers, which you can not say about glossy surfaces or glass. Glass hoods will definitely look very stylish and modernly, but to maintain such an appearance they need constant care.
   

Cost of erasek

The market presents a huge number of models from a variety of manufacturers, respectively, and the price range is very wide. First of all, it is worth noting that in this case it will be mistakenly guided by the rule, the higher the cost, the better the product. For example, cheap kitchen hindrances Hepesty have proven themselves as durable and comfortable. Once again we remind you that it is more important to choose the model with the desired technical characteristics, and its cost will play a minor role. It should also be taken into account that the price of the device has a great influence its appearance - stylish design models are an order of magnitude higher.

Differences of models of extracts of various price categories:

1. The cheapest is the hood with a plastic case and a minor number of metal parts. The control panel is usually a button or slide, operating modes (fan speed) are not more than 3. The performance of such devices is usually no more than 450 m³ / h. Additional lighting is usually represented by one or two incandescent lamps.
2. The average category is models with stainless steel housing, tempered glass or aluminum. Here are already found devices with simple touch panels and even with displays. Lighting can be carried out by halogen luminaires or incandescent lamps. The performance of such devices is slightly higher compared to the previous line - up to 650 m³ / h.
3. Expensive hoods have the highest performance up to 1300 m³ / h. The case of such models is made of tempered glass, natural wood can be used for decoration. Functional capabilities are very diverse - temperature sensors, smoke sensors, humidity, filter contamination, remote control, etc. Lighting only halogen lamps.

Review manufacturers

Finally, we suggest you familiarize yourself with the small list of the most famous manufacturers of kitchen and home appliances that offer draws of various price categories. Many at the beginning of their search immediately pay attention to the products of "promoted" German and Swiss brands Bosch, Siemens, Electrolux and Kuppersberg. The cost of such devices is quite high, but the quality and external data is fully justified by this price.

We will look at these and other brands who have managed to establish themselves from the best side:

1. Elikor - Association of companies engaged in the production of premium household appliances. Elycor kitchen hoods are distinguished by impeccable functionality - they have adjustable backlight, protective transformers, timer. Management is performed using the touch panel. Due to high power, elikor kitchen hoods are suitable for professional use.
   
2. Elica - products are distinguished by simple and concise forms, assembled from high quality components. The manufacturer does not hesitate to constantly introduce new technologies, improving productivity and other operational characteristics of their devices.
   
3. CATA - Assortment of kitchen hoods CATA is annually updated with new advanced models. The latest most remarkable novelty is an OMBU TCC with a capacity of 1260 m³ / h with a futuristic design and low noise level even at maximum speed.
   
4. Electrolux is a popular European brand that supplies one of the best kitchen huts. The DD8765 M model has been particularly popular - a stainless steel housing, neon backlight, concise design. Control is remotely or using a special ball controlling the air purity of the room.
   
5. Krona is the famous Italian manufacturer, producing multifunction household appliances with a sophisticated stylish design. Distinctive feature of KRONA kitchen hoods - low noise, but powerful fans capable of working in several speed modes. The functionality of the instruments is also at the height - there are contamination sensors of filters, temperature, humidity, smoke, halogen or neon illumination, timers, etc.
   
6. Best - the best kitchen hoods, if we translate literally. The name only confirms the quality of the assembly, functionality and durability of instruments. Best kitchen hoods are distinguished by the original design, which immediately allocates them among the models of other manufacturers. Products refer to the average and high price level. Most of the instruments are equipped with advanced metal grease filters, control can be sensory and remote, good sound insulation of fans operation even at maximum speed.
   
7. Bosch is a German giant of modern technology. It makes literally everything you need for a comfortable stay in the house or apartment, amateur repair and professional construction activities. As for the kitchen hoods of Bosch, they meet all the requirements of quality and convenience, are not devoid of aesthetic and designer diversity.
   

The extractor is undoubtedly the desired kitchen appliance. It helps not only enjoy the constantly clean and fresh air, but also protects furniture and internal finish from premature wear. Choose a hood right, and then even an inexpensive model will create perfectly comfortable conditions in the kitchen.