Can anyone recommend a recirculating cooker hood?

1. Value for money and probably mid-range on our budget.
2. Super quiet.
3. But super high extraction rate.
4. Washable filter and reasonably priced charcoal replacement filters.
5. Nothing too modern looking. Simple is good.

I assume 1, 2 and 3 are contradictory priorities.

Would we be helping ourselves if we went for a canopy hood and built it into a dense sound-proof cabinet or would it not make enough difference to warrant the effort?

Are there any other left-field advances in this area that we should consider?

Note: we're using passive ventilation with heat recovery (Ventive).

The STOVES ST S900 seems almost too good to be true. Does anyone know of a reason why it might be?

Posted By: jms452Pretty much any hood can recirculate in my experience and once you get to super high flows this does not necessarily translate into great 'filtration'.

Its not really filtration - it is actually a diffusive process based on the residence time so upping the flow can actually reduce the effectiveness of the (carbon) filters.

Our existing hood ended up working fine once converted to recirculating with the correct filters.
See:http://www.cookerhoodfilters.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" >http://www.cookerhoodfilters.co.uk/(no connection other than customer)...

Oh right, that's really interesting, thanks John.

We have a hood we scored on Freecycle but it's not re-circulating. How do you go about converting them?

I think so. The "chimney" above the hood will typically have slotted vents to provide the re-circulation in the event that the output duct is not connected. However, some have knock-out panels or require that you order a different chimney.

David

2 tasks for a recirc hood -

Grease removal (usually by dragging air though a dense metal grill) - same whether extract or recirc
Smell removal using carbon filters. (On extract you just dump the air outside)

I suspect you want fast flow for the first but not the second

At the very expensive end have a look at Berbel. Use Dyson style vortex to spin out the grease, high quality motors for low noise.

For recirculating they use a large container of loose carbon that can be refilled so less frequent changes and lower cost when you do. For extract they sell a powered insulated vent that opens only when the hood is in use. Due to our design I'm ending up with review but I still think extract is probably better. I've not done the sums but -
In summer losing the heat is an advantage.
In winter whilst theoretically you can use the waste heat in reality kitchens usually overheat when cooking so it's still not a major problem. In an airtight house though you probably need to open s window to stop sir being dragged through the Mvhr

Doubt that'll be doing your ventilation ducts any favours Dave.

Posted By: ShevekDoubt that'll be doing your ventilation ducts any favours Dave.

Could be. I'll check it in a while to be sure, but I doubt what little grease there is makes it as far as the MVHR terminals.

Posted By: mikrtI have now decided to vent to outside with 2 auto dampers, one outside and one inside.

I am of a same mind if I build again. I have a recirculating hood and it is next to useless at reducing the smells of cooking.