Yes. A recirculating range hood works beautifully, the same way as a ducted range hood. The main difference is that rather than the air getting exhausted to the outside, it passes through a filter, and then recirculated back into the house.
Although extraction hoods are more effective than recirculation hoods, they are more expensive to install due to all the extra requirements. A recirculation hood pushes the air up through filters inside, which then remove any moisture and smells before the air is then reintroduced into your kitchen.
Recirculating cooker hoods are unable to remove steam or moisture caused by cooking, but they can still effectively remove grease and cooking odours improving the environment in your home if you are unable to fit an extraction hood in your kitchen.
Cooker hoods or a venting hob is not any legal requirement. But, your kitchen should always be ventilated by any window or venting duct. To remove the grease particles in a limited space, a ducting kitchen fitter is essential.
Recirculating hoods simply recirculate air inside the home instead of pulling the greasy cooking exhaust and venting it outside the home, which is never ideal. A recirculating hood can also be noisier than ducted models; they often require much more fan power.
Unvented range hoods do filter some grease and cooking odors from the air, but the general consensus is that they're nowhere near as effective. Nor do they remove heat and humidity, so they won't help keep your kitchen cool while you cook.
A ductless (or ventless) range hood does not vent out of the home, instead, it carries the debris and smoke form the air and filters it through a charcoal or carbon filter before releasing it back into the room. While many times this method is not as functional as a vented hood, it does work.
A recirculating cooker hood works by sucking up all of the air from your cooker and passing it through filters. As the air is passed through these filters, the oil and the grime in the air is captured, and fresh air is released back into the kitchen.
Do I need a recirculating kit for my range hood? Ducted hoods do not require recirculating kits since your kitchen air moves through ductwork to the outside of your home. Recirculating range hoods recirculate your kitchen air without a kit, so you don't need one for those either.
What is this? Carbon filters aren't necessary if your cooker hood uses extraction to remove odours and dirt outside. However, if your cooker hood uses air recirculation, carbon filters will help to remove cooking smells and keep your kitchen fresher and cleaner.
TYPE OF COOKER HOODS
Chimney Hoods » Designed to be mounted to a wall. Canopy Hoods »Positioned directly under your kitchen cabinet. Visor Hoods »A low cost hood designed to be mounted to a wall. Integrated Hoods »Hidden behind a cabinet door & activated by opening the door.
If you've read our other extractor hood articles (Fitting a Cooker Hood, for example), you may be wondering whether all extractor fans for the kitchen need to vent outside. The short answer is no. However, it greatly depends on the extractor fan you buy and which one is best for your kitchen.
PVC ducting is the cheapest one available, but is highly versatile and can be used in the majority of general ventilation connection applications, including cooker hoods.
As a general rule, we recommend a hood is 1.5 x the width of the cooking area. A free-hanging hood over an island should be twice as wide as the induction hob. 5 - Height: Always respect the manufacturer's recommended minimum.
Extraction is when the stale air is extracted out of the room through ducting in an outside wall to the air outside. Recirculation is used when it is not possible to duct out through an outside wall. The air is sucked into the hood, filtered, purified and pumped back into the room.
In short – yes, you do need an extractor hood. Since April 2006, building regulations state that extract ventilation must be fitted in a kitchen which has been built from that date onwards. A kitchen will meet these regulations if the unclean air is extracted externally.
With ducted hoods, air is extracted from the kitchen through a pipe that leads from the hood to an outside vent, whereas with recirculating hoods, air is extracted through a filtration system built into the hood, working to remove any grease and odour from the air before releasing it back into the kitchen.
The major difference between the two is that a ductless range hood, which is more common in most kitchens, uses a fan or blower motor to pull all the grease and smoke out of the air, then recirculates it. A ducted range hood, on the other hand, vents all the bad air straight to the outside.
UK regulations state minimum distance is as follows: Electric / Induction Hobs 650mm between hob and hood. Gas Hobs 750mm between hob and hood. Mixed Fuel Hobs (gas and electric together) is 750mm between hob and hood.
We don't recommend venting your gas stove with a ductless hood. A ductless range hood merely recirculates your kitchen air. The air moves into your hood through charcoal filters and back into the kitchen. A ductless range hood can't get rid of a lot of the ultra-fine particles that are harmful to your health.
A non ducted or ductless range hood is not the best option for gas stoves because they work by filtering the air inside the hood and returning it into the kitchen. Even if you have a hood with a high CFM rating, charcoal filters will not capture all the gas produced by the stove.
This will depend on your project circumstances. UK Building regulations state, “If you carry out any 'building work', and there is an existing extract fan (or cooker hood extracting to outside in the kitchen) you should retain or replace it. However, if there is no existing ventilation system you need not provide one.”
What type of cooker hood is best for you? There are two types of cooker hood: extraction and recirculating. Extractor hoods or fans are far and away the most effective type because they suck all steam and fats straight off the hob and eject it outside your home.