What Is the Difference Between a Cooker Hood and an Extractor Fan?

To understand the differences between a cooker hood and an extractor fan, we must firstly understand the functions and benefits of a cooker hood. They are…

Cooker hood functions

• The removal of smoke, steam and smells:

Cooking over a cooker requires the use of heat. As a result of the heat, you can expect smoke, steam and smells to rise. A cooker hood captures and extracts these, preventing them from lingering in your kitchen and home.

• Reduce grease residue:

When you cook, you can sometimes find grease on your pan, but did you know that grease can travel within air particles? Of course, they will be too small to see, but if left unattended, over time the grease will coat surfaces. Using a cooker hood will extract this immediately. 

• Maintain air quality:

Cooking fumes, and pollutants such as smoke, can reduce air quality if it is not extracted. By using a cooker hood, it naturally helps the air quality in the kitchen from becoming worse.

• Reduction of condensation:

Condensation can occur in a kitchen when cooking as a result of the heat and steam that comes from cooking. By using a cooker hood, it is being extracted instantly, without roaming the room and finding a cold surface to settle on.

Cooker hood benefits

• Comfort in the kitchen:

By using a cooker hood, you have air that is fresh and breathable. 

• Less cleaning time:

As a result of using a cooker hood, there is little to no grease on surfaces that would have otherwise settled elsewhere, this dramatically reduced cleaning times.

• Protection against grease:

The airborne grease that is accumulated by cooking, if left unattended, has the potential to damage your appliances, and latch on to your furniture. This would likely require a deep clean to fix, depending on the amount, and surface it settled on.

• Increased house value:

This benefit can change depending on the home and cooker hood, but a well-maintained cooker hood has the potential to help maintain or increase the overall value of your home if you are looking to sell it.

Extractor fans explained

Extractor fans serve a particular purpose. Extractor fans operate in order to remove stale air (and sometimes replace it with fresh air). It also removes smells and crucially helps to remove humidity which can eventually become condensation, and then mould.

Mould is a critical issue that must be avoided in any dwelling, if left unattended, it can spread quickly, and has the potential to cause severe health implications and allergic reactions.

Mould removal options

So what are your options? You will be happy to know there is more than one way to remove mould. Here are a few that we will list for you.

• Use a mould surface cleaner, or other mould treatment products if the mould returns after using this, there may be a leak in the area or inadequate insulation.

• Contact local mould removers, they will not only assess the cause but treat it too, however, this may cost more.

• Contact your landlord. If the landlord has highlighted issues like these as their responsibility in your tenancy agreement, then you can legally ask them to take care of it.

• Enquire about the ventilation, how old is it? Is it working efficiently?

What is the difference between a cooker hood and an extractor fan?