Quiet cooker hoods -- decibel ratings are very confusing!

alexanderalexander

I'm looking for a quiet cooker hood (chimney type, extraction, 70cm width).

I'm very confused by online sources regarding how noisy they are, as they are often contradictory about the same model. For example, Appliance World claims a certain model of Bosch cookerhood is 41 decibels, whereas the Bosch website says that the exact same model is 67 decibels -- a very big difference! (This isn't the only such discrepancy I've found -- there's a lot of different models where different websites give different figures).

Can anyone explain these discrepancies with the decibels? (And if anyone can recommend a genuinely-quiet cookerhood which meets my requirements, even better!)

EssexExile

53dB(A) is the important number on the Bosch site. 67 would be ridiculously loud, I'm not technical enough to know what that is referring to. On the other hand Appliance World's 41 is ridiculously quiet & is obviously wrong.

Ainsley1

Yes differing figures are very misleading rather than just confusing.
Just a note to assist you (I cannot advise any particular hood) when you look at the noise figures (dB(A) ) please bear in mind when comparing figures for hoods that small decibel differences will be virtually impossible to hear any difference in level in domestic surroundings. 2dB difference can be heard in studio/lab conditions but I suggest something like 4 to 6 will be more realistic when doing comparisons for hoods. Smaller than that is hardly a factor to take into consideration.
Having said that it does depend a bit upon the frequency of the noise as to how annoying it may be but you are unlikely to get that from a consumer advert!.....and then if it is not mounted well..........

Bubblecat

Sounds like the 41dB(A) is a sound pressure level at a given distance, the 67dB(A) a sound power level.

Clive_Woody

I may be wrong here but I think I read somewhere that quieter cooker hoods are possibly less powerful (i.e. not so good at extracting steam etc).

This may be an issue if you have an induction hob - as I understand that due to the efficiency of heating of this type of hob there is less additional hot air rising up, compared to say a gas hob, so the cooker hood has to work harder to "suck" things up.

I have an induction hob, but currently we have a very old Neff cooker hood which does sound fairly industrial when you fire it up. We will be replacing it but I am cautious not to get an underpowered extractor hood.

firefox1956

Bought a cooker hood & fitted it a few days ago.
Lovely build quailty compared with all the sheds stuff.
Great price collected it myself to save carriage.
http://www.premierrange.co.uk/cooker-hoods/cooker-hoods

EssexExile

Clive_Woody wrote: »

I may be wrong here but I think I read somewhere that quieter cooker hoods are possibly less powerful (i.e. not so good at extracting steam etc).

The technical specs will tell you how much air they move.

alexanderalexander

Thanks all for your replies.

bouncydog1

You need to calculate the size of the room to see what size cooker hood you need first of all, and then look at the extraction rate. No point at all in having a quiet hood, that allows your kitchen to fill up with steam! The kitchen company did the calculation for us and we've ended up with a 700 mm Neff hood that has a larger than normal vent. Room is a very large open plan affair.