 If you are thinking of buying a rangehood, here's what to consider.
There are three types of range hood available: island range hoods, wall mount range hoods and under cabinet range hoods. All usually come in 600mm and 900mm widths.
Ducted or recirculating
When you install range hoods, they can be either ducted to the outside or set up to recirculate the air within the kitchen. With the recirculation option, most of the grease and smells should be trapped by a special carbon filter. Moist air will still contribute to condensation problems and some smells may escape.
However, with external ducting, the process of removing a lot of hot air quickly does mean the room gets a little cooler.
Size of Range Hoods
With two pots on your cooktop, most hoods will cope pretty well, and won't let steam escape at the sides. However, most models won't cope very well with four pots of simmering water, particularly if they're only 600mm wide.
The bigger the range hood, the more effective it will be at removing steam and odours. If you have the space, consider fitting a 900mm-wide range hood over a 600mm cooktop. The extra width on each side will catch more steam.
Range Hoods Filters
All range hoods have a filter to trap oil and grease from cooking. Most have reusable, metal mesh filters that will go in the dishwasher. Because the filters are quite large they are not easy to wash in a standard sink.
Range hoods' Fans
Efficiency is not necessarily related to the number of fans. Some single-fan models can out-perform two-fan models.
Noise
Fans can be quite noisy on full speed, and there's a tendency for noise to increase with performance. A range of fan speeds is therefore useful: you don't need the thing whooshing away if you're just scrambling some eggs. Noise levels can get up to 60 or even 66 decibels (dBA).
Lighting
A good range hood will provide enough light over the cooktop for you to see into the pots. Many models use only a single 40 watt bulb, which many cooks won't find adequate. Others use two bulbs, sometimes suffusing them with a perspex strip. Many of the more expensive range hoods provide much better light with halogen lamps or suffused fluorescent bulbs.
Range hoods Maintenance
Range hoods are not maintenance-free. You need to remove and wash the filter, clean the body of the hood and occasionally change a light bulb. You should be able to perform most of these tasks easily - if there's a problem, contact your distributor.
Range hoods Controls
It's pretty standard for hoods to have their controls in an easy-access position on the front. However, some models have sliding switches that are a little tricky to set in the right position. Touch controls are easier to use.
|
My Orders 
About Range hoods
Contact us
