Choosing the Right Extractor Fan for Cooking

Why the Extractor Matters So Much in a Lancashire Kitchen

In Chorley and across Lancashire, we cook in very different kitchens. A stone-built terrace off the main road, a 1930s semi with a galley kitchen, a modern open-plan place with a breakfast bar — each one behaves differently when you put a pan on the heat. What they share is a problem: cooking pushes a surprising amount of moisture and grease into the air. Boiling pasta adds well over a litre of water to the room, a Sunday roast adds more, and frying throws out fine grease that settles on every surface it touches.

In older Lancashire properties, that moisture lands on cold external walls, around window reveals and behind units, where it feeds condensation and black mould. In open-plan homes it drifts into the lounge and upstairs landings. A decent extractor fan, properly matched to your hob and your ducting, is the single most effective thing you can install to stop all of it.

Match the Fan to Your Hob and Its Position

The hob and the hood are a pair, so buy them as one decision rather than two.

• Width: the canopy should be at least as wide as the hob, and ideally 100mm wider overall so it catches the plume as it spreads.
• Height: allow a minimum of 750mm above gas burners and 600–650mm above electric or induction hobs — always check the hob manufacturer's own figure, as some ask for more.
• Fuel type: gas produces more moisture, heat and combustion by-products than induction, so it needs a stronger, better-ducted hood.
• Layout: a wok burner at the very front of a hood that only draws well at the back will always struggle. If you use one regularly, think about placement before you commit.

For kitchens with an island or a peninsula, a ceiling or downdraft extractor solves the headroom problem, but expect less effective capture than a wall-mounted canopy, especially with tall pots.

Ducted or Recirculating? The Decision That Shapes Everything

Ducting to outside is always the better option where it is possible. Air and grease leave the building completely.

• Ducted: aim for 150mm rigid ducting with as short a run as you can manage — under three metres, with no more than two gentle bends and 45° elbows rather than 90° ones.
• Avoid long flexible hose: 100mm corrugated hose can cut airflow by around a third and collects grease in its ridges.
• Solid walls: many Chorley and Lancashire homes have thick stone or Accrington brick walls that need core drilling. Budget for it and check whether you are in a conservation area or a listed building before work starts.
• Recirculating: fine for light cooking or where ducting is genuinely impossible. Air passes through a grease filter and a carbon filter, then back into the room. Carbon filters need changing every three to six months, and recirculation will never remove moisture, only some odours.

Working Out the Right Extraction Rate

Extraction rates are quoted in cubic metres per hour (m³/h). As a rough guide, work out your kitchen's volume in metres and multiply it by ten for a closed kitchen, or twelve to fifteen for an open-plan space.

A 3m x 3m kitchen with a 2.4m ceiling comes to about 22m³, so you want around 220m³/h minimum — most hoods comfortably exceed that. An open-plan room measuring 60m³ wants closer to 720m³/h. Buy more capacity than you need and run it on a lower, quieter speed rather than buying a small fan and running it flat out.

One important safety point in older homes: a very powerful extractor can depressurise a room and pull fumes back down an open-flue boiler or wood burner flue. If you have either, take advice from a Gas Safe registered engineer or a HETAS registered installer before going large.

Practical Details That Decide Whether It Works

• Noise: look for a hood that runs below 60dB at its everyday speed. Check the figure at the boost setting too — some jump to 70dB, which is unpleasant.
• Backdraught shutter: fit one on the external wall vent to stop cold draughts, rain and insects coming back in.
• Make-up air: the fan can only push air out if air can get in. A trickle vent or a slightly open window makes a real difference.
• Lights and controls: easy-clean controls and good task lighting over the hob are worth more day to day than a glossy finish.

Living With It: Filters, Noise and Everyday Cooking

Extractors reward a little routine. Switch the fan on a minute before you start cooking, not halfway through, and leave it running for ten to fifteen minutes after you finish so the last of the moisture clears. Keep lids on pans where you can, and don't crank the oil to smoking point — that's when grease and smells get everywhere.

Wash metal grease filters every month in hot soapy water, or put them through the dishwasher, and replace carbon filters on schedule if you're recirculating. Wipe the canopy and the underside of the hood regularly; baked-on grease is far harder to shift later.

Get those few things right and your kitchen will stay drier, fresher and easier to clean — which, in a Lancashire winter with the windows shut, is exactly what you want.