Buying guides

Which cooker hood is best?

After choosing your oven, hob or cooker, a hood should be considered next, but with so many types on offer how do you find the right one? Our buying guide will explain all the options available to make you decision a little easier.

What is a cooker hood, and do I really need one?

A cooker hood allows you to remove moisture, odours, and grease quickly and efficiently from your kitchen, and provides better quality air for you and your family. Cooker hoods are also offer a great source of ambient lighting and can add abit of interest to your kitchen - thanks to a range of different styles available.

To keep your kitchen in peak condition, a hood is a must, as it will prevent your kitchen from getting damaged by excess steam and grease created when cooking on the hob. For house proud individuals, a cooker hood is a lifesaver at removing strong cooking odours like fish from your kitchen within seconds.

VENTING OUT OR RECIRCULATING?

All Smeg hoods have the ability to operate in recirculation mode and the majority can also operate in a ducted mode. For the very best performance, the ducted mode is the preferred choice wherever possible, however, if you have further than 3mts to get to an outside wall then it is recommended to recirculate instead.

DUCTING Extracts the cooking fumes and expels them outside, using a vent kit (available as an accessory). The diameter of the ducting hose should match the vent outlet of the hood.

RECIRCULATING Extracts the cooking fumes and passes them through active charcoal filters (available as an accessory), recirculating the cleaned air back into the room.

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WALL MOUNTED CHIMNEY HOODS

These 'traditional' Chimney, T-shaped and Angled hoods have the largest range of sizes, designs, and materials.

Looking to make a bold statement in the kitchen? take a look at the Portofino or retro hoods , as they offer a wide range of colors.

Have a Smeg range cooker? There are a variety of hoods to co-ordinate with many designs including Opera cooker hood s and Victoria cooker hoods

VIEW ALL WALL MOUNTED HOODS

COMBINED HOODS AND HOBS

These single unit 'hob in hoods' feature powerful induction cooking and an integrated hood in the centre which extracts cooking fumes down.

Its design provides great flexibility as there are no limitations on where it can be placed within the kitchen, it can be installed in front of a window or on an island.

This is a great option if you want to install your oven elsewhere in the kitchen as space must be left beneath the HOBD's for the installation requirements.

VIEW ALL HOBD MODELS

DOWNDRAFT HOODS

Downdraft models can be hidden beneath your worktop when not in use and then at the touch of a button will rise up ready to extract away cooking odours and vapours.

These are perfect for minimal kitchen designs and can be used in island units.

VIEW ALL DOWNDRAFT MODELS

CEILING AND ISLAND HOODS

Both Ceiling and Island hoods are ideal if your hob is to be installed on a kitchen island unit. They will help keep large open plan kitchens odour free.

A Ceiling hood is perfect if you want a minimalist look as it will sit flush into the ceiling.

A number of other integrated hoods are also available in the Smeg range such as Telescopic hoods and Canopy hoods.

VIEW ISLAND HOODS

FEATURES TO LOOK OUT FOR

There are many things to consider when choosing a hood and some of these are listed below.

AUTO-VENT 2.0

Smeg's innovative Auto-Vent 2.0 system connects the hob to the hood and controls the extraction fan speed automatically to suit the cooking temperature and power settings on the hob itself.

LIGHTS

All Smeg hoods now include energy efficient LED lights. These lights are long lasting, save money and perfectly illuminate the work surface below. They can be switched on regardless of the fans and used simply to create ambience lighting in the kitchen.

CONTROLS

There are many control types on offer including touch controls, push button controls and slider controls.

POWERFUL EXTRACTION

All Smeg extractor hoods have a minimum of 3 extraction speeds but most hoods have further speed options including Intensive speeds for super-fast extraction.

REMOTE CONTROLS

Some Smeg hoods include a remote control for easy access anywhere in the kitchen, whilst others can be purchased separately for select models.

NOISE LEVEL

Unfortunately, it is impossible for any hood to be silent, however Smeg hoods have relatively low noise levels, some as low as 40db, for minimal disruption in the kitchen.

WHAT ELSE SHOULD I LOOK FOR?

24h air filter function, when selected this function refreshes the air for c. 10 minutes every hour over a 24 hour period, at minimum speed and an imperceptible noise level.
Perimeter extraction panels, very efficient and aid noise reduction.
Automatic switch-off, a special setting switches off both the extraction and the lights, after a predefined time, during which the hood keeps on purifying the air until it turns off automatically.
Warning light (s) to let you know when filters need changing.
Dishwasher safe grease filters, for easy cleaning.

Need help?

Did you know that Smeg have a dedicated support website which is full of useful information about our products, including everything from how to clean your grease filters to how to register your warranty?

Read our FAQ's

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SMEG UK Ltd The Magna Building, Wyndyke Furlong, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1DZ