Cooker Hood low suction

FreshlyCutFlowers

Thanks for all the help I get on this forum, it really helps me out. Here's another one which hopefully is something I can do on my own.

My house has high humdity in the kitchen area at all times and I thought it was due to outside humdity seeping in but I've realized the cooker hood doesnt extract much steam at all and I think this probably could be a reason why it's always higher humidity.

When I turn the fan on I can hear it working harder based on the fan speed I choose, so it's doing something, but with the toilet paper test I quickly found that even on speed 3 (max) the paper does not stick to the grease filters at all, falls straight down - should it stick here as well if the suction is proper?
When I turn the hood off and take the grease filters off I can feel some air/draft coming out of both left and right side of the motor. If I turn the fan back on and try the toilet paper test on the left/right motor, it sticks as expected.

I have the Leisure H101PK but I'm a bit intimidated by the fact that this is electric and I have no idea what I'm doing. am I allowed to do anything to this at all or do I need to call someone in to find out if its working as intended?

edit: Adding some pictures in case it is helpful. There's some white stuff behind the cover on the left and right side of the motor and I really hope it's suppose to be there rather than some sort of build up.. I can't make out what I'm looking at.

coffeehound

Hiya.  It looks like those are pellets(?)



Perhaps charcoal, intended to absorb smells for if it is installed as a recirculator?  Can't think what else they could be.

Edit:  wall insulation?

FreshlyCutFlowers

I wasnt aware of the concept of recirculating. Suddenly the passive air vent on the wall makes a lot more sense and I know why I would ever keep it open instead of just running the extractor recirculator. This wasnt a problem in summer when I kept windows open anyway but in winter I've been keeping them shut.

I'm so confused as to why this would be installed as a recirculator.. I have two pipes coming up from my roof; One from the bathroom next to the kitchen and one from the kitchen itself..! How frustrating 

coffeehound

FCF, I added something else there you might have missed.  Think my recirculator comment is not applicable.  More likely it's wall insulation, which would indicate an inadequate installation.  So rather than venting neatly through the wall in a continuous sealed duct, it may instead be venting into the wall cavity, with a -- possibly offset -- grille on the outer wall.

[Deleted User]

Our old extractor and new one have options to divert the air and make them re circulating as opposed to extract to the outside. However we can see the pipe run and feel the air coming out the vent outside.

Our old extractor had a detachable charcoal filter as well that needed changing often. In the end we could not get them anymore and went without. But even clogged we could feel the extracted air at the external vent.

However, even with the new electric hob, we crack a window or open the trickle vents to help the fan shift the air when boiling stuff.

FreshlyCutFlowers

coffeehound said:

FCF, I added something else there you might have missed.  Think my recirculator comment is not applicable.  More likely it's wall insulation, which would indicate an inadequate installation.  So rather than venting neatly through the wall in a continuous sealed duct, it may instead be venting into the wall cavity, with a -- possibly offset -- grille on the outer wall.

This confuses me even further - I think maybe you had it right the first time but I'm gonna add some more images top see if it helps anyone determine what is going on here.

FreshlyCutFlowers

half_empty said:

..
However, even with the new electric hob, we crack a window or open the trickle vents to help the fan shift the air when boiling stuff.

I'm not used to having to do this but definitely will from now on.

[Deleted User]

Certainly when we had gas, we made sure the trickle vents at least were open throughout the house. Still find we need this with the electric hob for some cooking. That is say a full roast all the veg Sunday. But a few bangers low and slow on a Saturday am or some noodles (few mins tops for cooking), we don't bother.

But our new extractor is certainly shifting it.

coffeehound

Since it hopefully is set to extract rather than recirc, then, you could safely remove the two charcoal filters on the ends of the fan as they look quite obstructed.  They probably just pull off.  These hoods are not very powerful so need to have everything in their favour to work.  

I fitted one the same and found that only with a window open elsewhere as half_empty suggests, the kitchen door propped open a bit, and the fan run at full speed, would it extract adequately.

You could have a peek through the vent in the side of the hood that you indicated, and confirm that it has flexible duct attached and that it isn't twisted or kinked

Ganga

Are the charcoal filters not blocked ?

coffeehound

Ganga said:

Are the charcoal filters not blocked ?

Do you mean the grease filters?