Which cooker hood is best?

Generally speaking, the best cooker hood for you is the one that fits your kitchen layout, hob size and design preferences.

Depending on where your hob is located – on an island or against a wall – you have different cooker hood designs to choose from. Some common options: canopy cooker hoods, ceiling cooker hoods, integrated cooker hoods, glass cooker hoods. The size is primarily dictated by the width of your hob. Of course, small cooker hoods are available to suit smaller spaces.

In addition to design and size, the noise level of a cooker hood is crucial. While a completely silent cooker hood has yet to be invented, there are many low-noise models to choose from.

This is just a small taste of what to consider. Browse our cooker hood buying guide below for complete answers to your questions.

1. Which type of cooker hood fits my kitchen?

Which cooker hood to buy depends on its placement in your kitchen. More precisely, if your hob is on an island or peninsula, you have different options to choose from than if your hob is against a wall.

Cooker hoods for island hobs.

Ceiling cooker hood

Can be installed either directly in or mounted on the ceiling.

Island chimney cooker hood

Hanging from the ceiling, it makes a big visual statement.

Venting hob

A hob with a built-in extractor fan is quiet and discreet.

Cooker hoods for hobs against a wall.

Wall-mounted cooker hood

Available in traditional chimney as well as flat or angled models.

Integrated cooker hood

Built into the kitchen cupboard for maximised storage space.

Telescopic cooker hood

Pull out the flat section below the cupboard to operate.

Canopy cooker hood

Compact and fully integrated into the cupboard above the hob.

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A modern kitchen hood mounted above a cooking surface, with a scale indicating a height of 70cm.
Sleek black kitchen hood mounted on a white wall, with a measurement marking showing 80cm below it.
A modern black kitchen hood mounted on a wall, with a measurement scale indicating a height of 90cm.

2. What size of cooker hood do I need?

To determine which width of cooker hood to choose, look to your hob. The rule of thumb: to properly remove cooking odours from the kitchen, a cooker hood must be at least as wide as your hob.

60cm cooker hoods: Available as wall-mounted, integrated models, and venting cooktops.

70cm cooker hoods: Available as wall-mounted models.

80cm cooker hoods: Available as wall models, retractable downdraft models, and venting cooktops.

90cm cooker hoods: Available as wall-mounted models, integrated models, retractable downdraft models, island chimney models and ceiling models.

Visit our products page and use the filters to find the perfect cooker hood for your kitchen in the width you need.

3. Would a venting hob work instead?

If you're also buying a new hob, redesigning your kitchen or simply yearning for a sleek aesthetic, a venting hob is worthy of a closer look, especially if your hob is on an island. A venting hob is an induction or ceramic hob with an integrated hood fan – essentially two appliances in one.

The advantages: No need to buy a separate cooker hood, no obtrusive hood fan blocking your view.

A modern kitchen scene featuring a wooden countertop with a pot and pan cooking and steam rising.
So practical: cook and extract steam with one appliance.
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A high-quality motor comes standard on our low noise cooker hoods.

4. Cooker hood noise levels: how quiet should my appliance be?

Because a cooker hood typically runs while you cook next to it, a low-noise model is highly recommendable. Anything above 70 decibels is disturbing and can lead to buyer's regret.

A low-noise cooker hood

Our recirculation inclined hoods emit just 59 decibels, making them the quietest in Europe*. Look to the energy label to see the decibel output of each model.

Pro tip: Even our most powerful cooker hoods are designed to keep noise to a minimum thanks to their aerodynamic design, stable construction and high-quality motor.

Which is our quietest cooker hood to buy? Find out now.

* According to EN 60704-2-13 measured with separately available recirculation filter and chimney.

5. What benefits do smart cooker hoods with Home Connect have?

Wi-Fi-ready smart cooker hoods open up a world of new possibilities – for example when paired with the Home Connect app.

  • More flexibility: Control the fan speed, light and ambient colour, sensitivity, and duration via the Home Connect app.
  • Maintenance alerts: Know exactly when to clean or change the cooker hood filter.
  • Voice control: Turn on the hood hands-free, for example, with Google Home or Amazon Alexa.

A person holding a smartphone displaying a smart appliance app in a modern kitchen.
Access and control your cooker hood on your smartphone.
A modern kitchen cooktop features a pot of boiling pasta and a frying pan with sautéing shrimp.
Modern kitchen with a stainless steel pot and frying pan on the stove, featuring a Wi-Fi symbol.

6. Which additional features are useful?

Innovative features on some of our models help provide a more convenient and comfortable experience with your cooker hood.

Self-regulating fan speed:

The PerfectAir sensor constantly detects the level of odour in the air and adjusts the fan speed automatically. This ensures your kitchen air is always clean and fresh.

Cooktop-based hood control:

Turn on the hob, and your hood turns on automatically – brilliant! Simply synch them via the Home Connect app to control the cooker hood on the hob interface.

Smart Hood Automatic:

Connect your hob and hood via Home Connect, so they speak the same language. The ventilation will automatically switch on and adjust to what's happening on the hob.

7. Do I need to switch to a different cooker hood filter?

Cooker hoods are fitted with two types of filters, a grease filter and an odour filter. A metal grease and particle filter comes standards on all our models. To reduce unpleasant cooking odours in ductless hoods, our cooker hoods come fitted with an active charcoal filter, our CleanAir standard odour filter.

Does your kitchen often smell unpleasant after cooking strong-smelling foods? Our CleanAir Plus odour filter is especially effective at reducing odours. For greater convenience, our LongLife odour filter is especially long lasting. You can upgrade to either anytime.

CleanAir standard odour filter

  • Reduces 60-80% of odours
  • AntiFish treatment
  • 6-12 month lifetime

CleanAir Plus odour filter

  • Reduces over 90% of odours
  • AntiFish treatment
  • AntiPollen feature
  • 12-18 month lifetime

LongLife odour filter

  • Reduces over 80% of odours
  • Up to 10 year lifetime
  • Regenerate in the oven 3x/year

Pro tip: Using a CleanAir Plus odour filter also noticeably decreases the cooker hood noise level compared to a standard filter.

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Which cooker hood should I buy?

Ready to choose a new hood? Our Hood Finder makes it easy. After answering a few questions about your kitchen space and personal tastes, we'll tell you which model ticks all the boxes.

Modern kitchen design featuring sleek appliances, a stylish range hood, and a functional countertop workspace.

What are the best cooker hoods?

Which cooker hood is best? The answer depends on your kitchen layout and personal preferences. The best cooker hood brand is also a matter of personal choice. One thing we are certain of: our cooker hoods are German-engineered to please the senses. They look good, effectively reduce odours and come in low-noise models to keep the peace.

How high should a cooker hood be?

It depends on the type of hob you have. For electric hobs, the cooker hood should be installed around 45 to 64cm above the cooktop. A gas hob requires a slightly higher clearance of at least 65cm.

Modern black kitchen hood mounted on a blue wall, demonstrating airflow with red arrows.
Modern black kitchen hood mounted on a blue wall, with arrows indicating airflow directions.

Ductless or extraction hood: what's the difference? 

Ductless hoods, also known as recirculating hoods or non-vented hoods, draw in air and clean it using a grease filter and active carbon filter. The cleaned air is released back into the ambient air of the kitchen.

Similarly, extraction hoods draw in air and clean it via a grease filter. Then it's piped straight to an extraction point on the outside of your home.

Pro tip: Most of our cooker hoods can be installed as a ductless hood or an extraction hood, though you might need an adaptation kit.

Cooker hood reviews: what do others say?

Rear Venting

This item was purchased specifically because it had the option of being rear venting, which was vital in our case. Rear venting hoods are few and far between. The item is fairly well built (being Bosch) and seems to work quite well (limited use, 2 weeks so far). The hood is as noisy as one would expect but not excessively so and most of the time it is only used on the lowest sttings. It is neat looking and very easy to use. Our one negative point is that it is stainless steel and shows marks easily. We would have preferred a black hood but had no choice. Altogether quite pleased with it so far.

Does the job

As the title suggests, it does the job. But we have had to replace the opaque plastic light cover twice now. No force on it. The catch to click it in to place has snapped twice. Design flaw.

Nice little 60cm hood.

This hood is easy to use and copes really well with all the steam, it is direct vented outside. Did wonder if it would be too small compared to the 90cm but it's fine. Very happy with hood.

replacing an older extractor fan

I found it very simple to replace my extractor fan ( 20 years old ) with all dims being exact. An excellent product

Very good design, operation, clean

This is very neat and we are venting to outside world and it's incredibly efficient. Maybe a tiny but noisier than I had hoped, but it removes all fumes when needed. Very happy over all and it looks easy to take filters off and run through dishwasher.

Which cooker hood to choose? These criteria might help you decide.

Need help? Hood Finder.

Our Hood Finder helps you choose the right model in a few clicks.

Compare our series.

How does a Series 8 hood differ from a Series 6 hood? Find out now.

Online support for cooker hoods.

From cleaning and maintenance to troubleshooting support, get tips and advice.

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View our full range of products. Filter according to your wants and needs. Buy online.

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