Extractor fan and cooker hood in kitchen

Squirtle17

Hi,

A couple of months ago I bought and moved into a 5 year old house. In the kitchen, there is both a cooker hood above the hob/oven and also just in front of the fridge there's a ceiling extractor fan.

This fan is on constantly, and is incredibly loud and annoying. There is no switch to turn it off, unlike for the bathroom extractors which all have switches above the door to the rooms they are in. On the day we moved in we asked the vendor (who lived in the house since it was new) if there is a switch for it and she said no and that it needs to be on all the time to comply with building regulations. There is a small switch-sized bit on the wall of the kitchen that houses the fuse for it, and as the fan is so loud and below our bedroom we have been pulling this out over night and pushing it back in during the day.

Does anyone know if there is any truth to an always on extractor fan being required in a kitchen to comply with building regulations. As mentioned, the kitchen has a cooker hood (that seems to work fine) and a large openable window, with window vents.

I know it's possible to get quieter extractor fans but I'm wondering if it's possible just to rip the damn thing out.

Thanks for your help.

EssexExile

If it really is just an extractor fan & not part of some whole house ventilation system, just take it out. Where does it vent to?

Fire_Fox

Current and previous Building Regulations are on the Planning Portal website. Ventilation is a strategy: room size and layout are relevant to requirements. This area changed/ evolved/ expanded fast in tandem with insulation and heating.

A cooker hood is an extractor fan so not sure what you mean?

A ventilation unit intended to be on constantly would usually be very quiet. Some are intermittent on timers or humidistats. Might need cleaning, adjusting, servicing or might be badly installed. Search online for instructions and troubleshooting.

FreeBear

Squirtle17 wrote: »

Does anyone know if there is any truth to an always on extractor fan being required in a kitchen to comply with building regulations.
I know it's possible to get quieter extractor fans but I'm wondering if it's possible just to rip the damn thing out.

An extractor should be installed in a kitchen to remove smells & damp air. But as for it being on 24/7, I think someone is trying to pull a fast one on you. There should certainly be an isolator switch so that it can be turned off (for example when servicing it).

In your shoes, I'd just pull the fuse permanently and look at getting rid of the fan all together - As long as the cooker hood is venting to the outside, that should provide more than ample ventilation.

Squirtle17

Thanks for the responses. I know a cooker hood is an extractor, the one I am referring to as extractor fan is the type you would usually have in a bathroom, in the ceiling. I’ve never come across this type in a kitchen before.

I did have a look on the planning portal website but am completely clueless about this sort of thing and I didn’t find it particularly clear on ventilation.

I would just get rid of it or turn it off permanently, I just want to make sure it’s not important in preventing damp.

How would I go about finding out if it’s part of a whole house ventilation system?

EssexExile

Squirtle17 wrote: »

How would I go about finding out if it’s part of a whole house ventilation system?

I doubt it is, the fans for those are all but silent & usually in a big unit in the loft, you'd have vents in other rooms too. I just couldn't think of any other reason why there would be a fan on permanently.

Pull the fuse out & leave it out for a few months, if all is well after that remove the fan & block off the hole.

PasturesNew

If it's a newish build .... are there neighbours who would have the same? They might know.

coffeehound

Is there anything unusual about the building or the area? E.g. is the kitchen in a basement? Is it windowless? [Edit: nope you already confirmed windows.] Are you in a region with high background radon levels?

Since the fan has been running for up to five years, it is probably due for replacement so a new one would be much quieter.

.

Jonesya

Where does the cooker hood vent to - is it definitely venting outside, is there an external vent ? or does it recirculate and blow back into the room?

Not impossible that the cooker hood is recirculating and that there's just the one extractor.

Ectophile

The fuse you've described sounds like a normal "fused connection unit" or FCU. It would be quite simple to replace it with a "switched fused connection unit" or SFCU. That way you could turn the fan on only when you need it.

jennifernil

Jonesya wrote: »

Where does the cooker hood vent to - is it definitely venting outside, is there an external vent ? or does it recirculate and blow back into the room?

Not impossible that the cooker hood is recirculating and that there's just the one extractor.

This is a very likely explanation.

My daughter bought a newbuild 6 years back, buyers were able to select their own units and appliances for the kitchen, she chose a cooker hood that extracted to outside and requested it be fitted as such.
All the bathrooms, utility and the kitchen have these "always on" extractors, they run constantly at a slow speed and run faster when the light is turned on. They do all however have an on/off switch high up on the wall.

These fans are a requirement under the Building Regulations apparently. They are quiet in operation and are designed to run constantly.

After a week or two in the house she noticed that there was condensation running down the outside of the cooker hood chimney, and on investigating discovered that the kitchen fitters had installed it as a recirculating model, and even then had not fitted it correctly.

The site manager was called and a serious discussion took place after which he agreed to bring the electrician and the plasterer along and they removed the little fan, picked up the ducting it used, and connected the cooker hood to it instead.

A good result eventually!