How to choose a hood: basic recommendations
Content
Cooker hood is one of the most important appliances in the kitchen. Thanks to her, the kitchen gets rid of odors and harmful fumes that can form during cooking. These fumes adversely affect not only the well-being of residents, but also the room: walls, ceiling, furniture, so choosing the right hood for a gas stove is an important task. There are some nuances here, since each view gives a different efficiency for different conditions of installation and operation.
Why do I need to clean the air with an exhaust hood?
Each hostess of the house forcibly becomes the owner of a personal account, which turns out to be the kitchen. This is a daily workplace for all our compatriots. While at home, most of the time girls spend there.
The air condition in the kitchen directly affects the state of health. During cooking, everything is contaminated with food particles that separate when heated, not to mention the combustion products. Yes, and the smell itself can bring discomfort, not only to you, but also to neighbors. It is scientifically proven that such a situation can negatively affect appetite and mood. And one airing will not work. It is better to immediately capture the gassed air and pull it out of the room. Here you will need the help of the hood. Our advice will help her choose.
Hood classification
By cleaning mode
Cleansing can occur in two ways.
- Using special built-in filters.
- Exhaust ventilation, in which air is moved outside the room.
100% cleaning is provided by the second mode. Such systems are connected to a special ventilation duct or chimney, but this is not always possible. In addition, an extra duct can ruin your kitchen design.
If you decide that it is better to choose a hood filter, you will need to buy cartridges. They will need to be changed as necessary. Filters are divided into coarse and fine cleaning. The former look like nets made of reusable metal, particles of fat linger on them, they can be washed. Many are allowed to wash in the dishwasher, because it’s extremely difficult to manually remove the stubborn fat.
There is an additional filter - a disposable mesh made of synthetic material, which must be changed periodically. Fine filters are carbon filters, which are purchased separately and also require replacement with new ones. Depending on the operating conditions, the shift frequency ranges from 4 to 6 months. They look like a container with activated carbon. Disinfection elements can also be added there: cation exchangers, silver, ion-exchange resins. Sometimes such filters are included in the standard package.
Some hoods have a warning signal about the need for care and filter replacement. Also on the accessory itself there may be special characters that will disappear as it becomes dirty.
To size
To know how to choose a cooker hood, you need to rely on the dimensions of the stove. The equipment should not be smaller than it, it is better to larger to effectively clean the air.There are standard models for this device: 120, 90, 60, 50 cm; and non-standard., but the latter option is extremely rare.
Performance
This parameter shows the amount of air that passes through the device in an hour. Measured in cubic meters. According to sanitary standards, all air should be changed at least 12 times a day.
To calculate how to choose the hood for the kitchen according to this parameter, you can take the following formula: multiply the kitchen area by the ceiling height, then by 12 (air exchange rate adopted by the SES), then by the potential safety factor (equal to 1.3). For example, for a kitchen with an area of 6 meters and a ceiling height of 2.5 meters, equipment with a capacity of at least 234 cubic meters / hour is suitable.
By volume of work
When choosing a cooker hood in the kitchen, one should also take into account such subtlety as the noise level, because a lot of time is spent in the room, and it should not turn into a headache. Among the sounds emit not only the noise of the motor, but also air, which moves in equipment like the wind. A high volume is generated due to several reasons.
- The electric motor belongs to the "loud" models.
- Bad airflow direction.
- Incorrect hole design in the filter.
- The presence of solid materials in the grease filter.
In modern hoods, fans have a special blade structure that affects noise reduction at maximum performance.
How to choose a hood for the kitchen by this criterion? Look at the specifications of the manufacturers.
For normal indoor activities, the noise in dB can range from 30 to 50.
Less is better. Above 60 will be unbearably in the kitchen for a long time.
By hood power
This parameter characterizes not so much the productivity of the device as its efficiency. The hood power for the kitchen is the amount of energy spent on the operation of electric motors, lighting and other electronic components. The main number of hoods has several modes of engine operation. For such models, manufacturers will indicate not only the maximum power consumption, but also its intermediate values.
By way of management
Which hood is better by this criterion? There is no concrete answer, since this is a matter of taste. There are three main types of management.
- Push-button (with a convex button).
- Touch-electronic (non-convex buttons).
- Slider-slide (has a mechanical horizontal switch).
Modern devices no longer do with mechanical buttons. Moreover, this does not provide for an upgraded electronic filling. Now, when controlling, you can adjust the engine modes, backlight, performance, if available, the operation of an ultraviolet disinfection lamp. All this contributes not only to ease of use, but also to economic performance.
Additional functions
Some models are equipped with additional features that also make it easier to cook and stay in the kitchen as a whole:
- Interval turning on the device. That is, once an hour the hood operates for 5 minutes, so that clean air circulates around the clock. The power used is minimal.
- The remaining stroke of the fan. This ensures the operation of the hood after it is turned off. The time interval is from 5 to 15 minutes. So the air is cleaned completely after cooking.
- For the same purposes, an electronic timer is used, but for a longer time.
- Built-in clock.
- Almost all models are equipped with a backlight. It does not affect ventilation, but during the cooking process it is a necessary and convenient addition.
Incandescent lamps, halogen lamps and fluorescent lamps (this is a less common option) are used as a light source in hoods. They are closed with a frosted or diffused glass.The most inexpensive option is with incandescent lamps, but devices with halogen lamps are more economical due to the small amount of electricity consumed. You can replace the blown bulbs yourself.
Design
Classic (traditional) range hood
This is a hanging option, which is installed on the wall above the hob, and a hanging kitchen cabinet is already located above the hood. The advantages of the device include compactness. Such devices most often have acrylic grease filters. The main mode is air recirculation.
To better retain small particles, the model should be understaffed with disposable carbon filters. This is the most inexpensive option in which the smell is only partially neutralized. There are more expensive devices in which there is the possibility of connecting a corrugated hose. With this function, the air will be better cleaned, so you can spend less on carbon filters. For a larger area of air capture, special visors are made of glass or plastic.
Built-in range hood
It is mounted directly in a hanging cabinet above the stove. Most often, they have a sliding panel, due to which the working area of the air intake increases. This has a positive effect on facilitating the management of the device, as well as increasing its performance.
Two motors and multi-layer grease filters are standard equipment. Their price is not much higher than hanging hoods, so if you decide which model to choose from these two, give preference to the latter.
Dome (fireplace) hoods
Their difference is that they can be mounted on the wall and ceiling above the stove. They are considered the most effective in removing fumes. The name “mantelpiece” was given to them due to the fact that their dome shape is similar to the exhaust system of the fireplace. They are also divided into three types: all-metal, metal with glass, classic hoods made of wood or finished with natural wood.
You can choose a hood hood in any design, as it is diverse. It is very fashionable now to acquire creative high-tech models.
Sometimes the intake part in such devices is made inclined - this slightly increases the cultivated area, and also minimizes the risk of impact on the device.
Corner hood
This is also a kind of dome. It differs in that it has a special shape of the body, which allows you to install it in the corner of the kitchen. Usually there are few angular hoods, since the purchase of such a hood is usually a necessary measure when it is not possible to install another model.
With this knowledge, choosing a hood is easy for you. Make every effort and the ideal device will delight you for many years.
