How long has your broken cooker hood been sitting there waiting for you to get around to doing something about it?
We all do it.
You know you need to get somebody out, but then you’ve got to find the right person, contact them, wait for a reply and hope they actually turn up.
Luckily, this customer in Wyke got in touch with me about replacing their failed integrated cooker hood.
As an extractor fan specialist, kitchen ventilation and cooker hood replacement is something I’m happy to help with, so I popped out, had a look at what was installed and provided a quote for replacing it.
The customer had a couple of concerns about how big a job it was going to be.
One concern was whether they would need a new kitchen cupboard door because the existing door was attached to the old integrated cooker hood.
Thankfully, no.
In most cases we can reuse the existing kitchen door with the replacement integrated cooker hood.
They were also concerned there might be major alterations required to the kitchen units.
Again, usually not.
Integrated cooker hoods tend to come in fairly standard sizes, so providing we choose a suitable replacement, we can normally install the new unit into the existing kitchen without turning it into a major job.
For this replacement, we installed a Bosch integrated cooker hood.
I like these units. They’re good quality, have decent extraction power and come with washable aluminium grease filters.
The aluminium filters are particularly handy because when they get dirty, you can remove them, clean them and, depending on the manufacturer's instructions, many can be cleaned in the dishwasher.
The cooker hood also has built in lighting, giving the customer some useful additional light over the hob.
There was one other decision to make though.
Externally vented or recirculating?
This particular kitchen didn't have existing ducting taking the extracted air outside.
My recommendation was to consider installing external ventilation because, where practical, I generally prefer a cooker hood that actually removes the cooking air from the property.
However, installing new ducting would obviously increase the initial cost of the job.
Ultimately, it's the customer's home and their decision.
They decided to keep things simple and use the new Bosch cooker hood in recirculation mode with carbon filters.
With a recirculating cooker hood, air is drawn through the grease filter and carbon filter before being returned back into the kitchen rather than being discharged outside.
It can be a useful solution where installing external ducting isn't practical, but there is something homeowners need to consider.
The carbon filters are a consumable item.
They gradually lose their effectiveness and need replacing, so there is an ongoing cost involved if you want the cooker hood to continue performing properly.
External ventilation can involve a bigger initial investment because suitable ducting and an external vent need installing. Once that's done though, you don't have the same recurring cost of replacing carbon filters.
You simply need to keep the washable grease filters clean and maintain the cooker hood properly.
For this customer, recirculation suited what they wanted and we installed the appropriate carbon filters.
The old cooker hood was removed, the existing kitchen door was reused and the new Bosch integrated cooker hood was installed neatly into the existing kitchen unit.
No new cupboard door.
No major alterations to the kitchen.
Just a nice, tidy cooker hood replacement and, most importantly, an extractor that works again.
Another job completed for a happy customer in Wyke.
If your kitchen extractor has stopped working and you're searching for an electrician near me in Wyke, get in touch. Whether you need an integrated cooker hood replacement, advice about kitchen ventilation or want to look at externally venting your existing cooker hood, I'm happy to have a look and explain the options.
Your Local Electrician and Extractor Fan Specialist in Wyke.
