Fitting a cooker extractor hood beneath chimney

Curry_Queen

I want to fit an extractor hood above my cooker but it's situated in an alcove below a chimney access which has previously housed an aga/rayburn type stove judging by the circular hole (now filled) cut into the roof of the chimney breast, which doesn't leave me much room to play with :rolleyes:

The alcove itself is 1.3m wide and 1.8m high to where the chimney breast starts, which then runs 64cm to ceiling height. I only have 94cm clearance from the top of my cooker (gas) to the chimney breast, and regulations state that I need minimum 70cm clearance to base of extractor, so I'm struggling to find something to fit (needs to be 90/100cm wide) without making structural changes to the chimney breast.

The only extractors I've found thus far, in the width I need, are the chimney hood type but they are too big (in height) to fit. Is there any way of adapting these so that the long piece coming from the top of the hood could actually sit inside the chimney breast? Or does anyone know where I might find a standard flat type extractor in the larger widths?

Or, should I be looking to raise the chimney breast another foot or so by putting in a new lintel several courses higher? I know that would be a builders job and would need building regs to check it etc, and I also don't know what's actually behind the wall or whether the chimney is the full width of the alcove as the old flue entry is on the left hand side, as is a vent in the wall above, although following it up to the bedroom above, it appears there used to be a fireplace situated centrally in the alcove, but again a vent in the wall is placed to the left.

Being as this is a HA house I don't want to have to spend a lot of money on structural work (I don't know whether they would fund any of it or what the regulations actually state about having an extractor fan in a kitchen and whether it's a necessity these days) so any help or advice in finding a way round all this as cheaply as possible would be most helpful

rsvtoddy

Hi

Just done very similar - put a 60cm 'conventional' hood above hob built into the chimney breast. I used an Elica hood and they do them in 90cm width in different finishes (stainless, white, black etc).

Have a look for an Elica 90CST - should be about £150 inc delivery.

I was told I couldn't duct out using the vertical chimney due to condensation forming higher up, hence recirculating had to do. It actually vents through the front on the top of the > section as you look at it from the side(hope that's clear!).

Moving the lintel up will ba a major job!

Good luck

Mark

Curry_Queen

I've just had a look for the Elica hood you mentioned and I like it!

Thank you so much as I was worried this was going to turn into a major headache, not to mention the expense involved, so you've also saved me a lot of money too :T

Cheers! :A

Fraserca

Toddy - you say condensation would be a problem - I'm not sure - certainly for domestic use.
I have allowed the hood to vent into the old flue. I reckoned that there would be a constant flow of air up the chimney passing through the fan even when it was not in use. That should be enough to keep the flue dry.
I got it swept first then made sure the cowl was Ok at the top.

I don't imagine this would be Ok for a restaurant but for only a few meals a day ...

rsvtoddy

Fraserca

That's what I was told by the kitchen designer so I have to assume it's true! Ours is a chimney that was used until recently as an open coal fire and the prospect of soot coming down the chimney didn't appeal!

It's a long way up to the chimney pot so it would condense towards the top so I opted for the recirculate option.

CQ - my Elica hood seems fine although yet to use it as we haven't moved into the house yet.

Mark

hander

ARghh... I have this same problem um ... over 3 years later - and it still seems my choice of hood is something similar - which is ok but I don't love the hood...

Can anyone help with any alternatives? Or even a thought on extracting up the chimney breast?

My situation is:
A lintel height of 1900mm.
A cooker height of 900mm.
Standard distance for extractor above gas = 650/700mm depending on manufacturer - which leaves me about 250/300mm for hood (at its min height).

Thanks!

CKdesigner

Hi All, Ducting an extractor up a chimney is not a good idea for many reasons, the main one is that when you cook you are creating grease and fat, if you push this up the chimney (it doesn't matter how good the grease filter is in the cooker hood, much still goes straight through) then it will stick to the inside brick work. After a few years of these deposits you have the potential of a chimney fire.

I don't want to scare anyone but I have seen the result of this first hand and the only thing you can do if this happens is get out of the house!

The simple rule for extraction is 'always use the shortest simplest route to the outside'. Oh, and never up a chimney'.

hander

Thanks for this. This is useful to read.

I have an option to go out of the side of the chimney breast and then out of the front of the house ... however, I'm really stuck for extractors that will fit in the depth...

littlerose12345

CKdesigner wrote: »

The simple rule for extraction is 'always use the shortest simplest route to the outside'. Oh, and never up a chimney'.

HEllo.. sorry to dig an old thread out again! We were planning to use our chimney breast and have had it cut into to house our cooker/hob.
It's not on an external wall.

What type of extractor/hood would be suitable?

CKdesigner

Hi

Any extractor will do as long as it will physically fit and you duct it out of the side of the chimney and not go up it.

I suspect a built in model like this is the sort of thing you will need/have in mind.

Good luck

CK