THE REASONS

Steam created by the cooking process can cause unpleasant wet walls and furniture making the kitchen a less pleasant place to be. In extreme cases mould can form on decorations and kitchen units can be affected so much that doors jam and carcasses bulge as they absorb water. Wallpaper may peel away and the joints become obvious.

Strong cooking can spread throughout the house, onions in the boudoir may clash with the talcum power!! Cooking oils may vaporise when frying and then deposited in areas surrounding the cooker. The decor suffers and redecorating is required sooner than would be necessary and as so many new properties have a combined kitchen/dining room, the need for a hood has never been stronger.

When kitchen planners design a new kitchen, they don't ask their customers "do you want a cooker hood?" they ask "what type of hood do you want?" They would not plan a kitchen without a fridge and they no longer plan a kitchen without a hood.

THE SOLUTION

A cooker hood will, if installed with ducting, extract from the kitchen virtually all steam and strong cooking odours and collect on the disposable or washable grease filters all airborne grease created whilst cooking. When foul air is extracted, fresh air must come into the room to replace it, this process is expressed by air changes per hour.

PRACTICALITY

For all this to happen many conditions must apply, the hood must not be too noisy or people will be reluctant to use. High noise levels can be tolerated for short periods on high speed, low speed must be reasonably quiet

The hood should ideally be ducted out to the outside of the house using the correct size ducting determined by the ducting diameter of the hood. A wide variety of ducting is available in both flexible and rigid form allowing for most installations to be ducted out even if the wall upon which it is mounted is not an outside wall.

Elica Collection

The Elica Collection represents the pinnacle of the entire Elica range. These unique cooker hoods, including models created by David Lewis, the renowned international designer, are universally acclaimed for their matchless design and innovative technology.

Both aesthetically and in terms of quiet performance, this prestigious collection creates a stunning focal point for contemporary kitchen design - truly a breath of fresh air in form and function. The Collection includes wall mounted, island and built in hoods.

Elica Concept products define themselves by their extraordinary elegance and effortless efficiency, cleverly combining an inspired choice of materials with an unparalleled dedication to design detail. The result is that their innovative solutions transform any kitchen they grace.

Contemporary styling in stainless steel, aluminium or glass won't fit all kitchens, that's why Elica have traditional integrated cooker hoods, built in cooker hoods as well as models specially designed for use with range cookers - in all colours.

The hood must be powerful enough to change the air in the kitchen (ideal 12 time per hour, minimum 8) To calculate the volume of the room multiply length x width x height. An average room is 25m3; therefore the extraction rate required is 200 to 300m3h. Minimum required as specified in the building regulations for new kitchens effective April 1990 is 108m3h.

When ducting out is impractical, or there is no apparent condensation in an already well ventilated kitchen the hood may be installed in the re-circulating mode with a well fitted charcoal filter. This must be replaced periodically at intervals specified by the manufacturer.

When a hood is fitted in the re-circulating mode, it will be less effective than if it was ducted out, but it will still:-

• Collect all the airborne grease at source and preserve decor.
• Weaken cooking odours and largely confine them to the kitchen area.
• Dissipate the steam so preventing localised damp patches in the room.

INSTALLATION IN THE RE-CIRCULATING MODE

Problems are very rare when no ducting is involved, however, there must be first a fibre or aluminium grease filter, and secondly a charcoal filter. There must be a clear gap between these two filters, if not grease will quickly contaminate the charcoal filter, rendering it useless within a few weeks.

Grease filters should be replaced every 3 or 4 months, and charcoal filters at around 18 months according to the amount of cooking time on the hob.

CHOOSING A COOKER HOOD

Key consideration is style and look. However to ensure the hood of choice gives optimum performance it should be ducted to the outside of the house. The ducting needs to be the right size, as correct ducting will extract virtually all the steam, cooking odours and airborne grease from the kitchen. When it is impractical to install ducting in the home, charcoal filters can be used to re-circulate fresher air around the room. Whichever method chosen, Elica adopt only the latest European standards when measuring the efficiency if their products, Elica cooker hoods are recognised around the world for their unsurpassed performance.

TYPES OF COOKER HOOD AVAILABLE

Freestanding cooker hoods - usually supplied with a charcoal filter are competitively priced and available in 60 and 90cm widths, with single or twin motor.

The Integrated cooker hood - (60cm width) only used in fitted kitchens is always fitted between wall units and finished with matching door front. Opening and closing the door switches the fan on and off at the speeds previously set activating hood lights to illuminate cooking surface.

Built In and Canopy Hoods are fitted into the base plate of wooden or metal canopies. Available in both 60 and 80cm widths, with single or twin motors. These models are only visible when viewed from below as they are generally fitted into specially made decorative canopies

Chimney and Island Hoods - Highly visible, high tech models used as features within the kitchen with halogen or fluorescent lamps and high performance fan motor systems. Accessories such as spice rack, utensils rails and back plates are available to enhance the appearance of the hood.

D R Cooker Hoods Ltd, 2 Alpha Road, Aldershot GU12 4RG

sales@drcookerhoods.co.uk

www.elica.co.uk

01252 351111

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