Todays Kitchen Q – Extractors

New kitchen nearly done, but we’re struggling to get an extractor to fit the space we’ve got. The cooker is in an alcove (in former chimney breast) and we have limited space to fit an extractor. The “roof” of the alcove is concrete & steel braces and as such is difficult to get through. Any bright ideas from the hive?

Couple of pics:

This is going to sound a little harsh, and the OP may be missing some info…. but you got that far into finishing the job BEFORE figuring what extractor to use and how it was going to be fitted and ducted?!?!

Is there space to fit any sort of recirculating one?

do you have to have an extractor at that location? You coud get away witha 60l/s extractor located elsewhare in the kitchen to comply with B Regs although personally I’d prefer it above the cooker. But may be worth considering.

And looking at the pics wouldn’t the extractor be quite low if it was fixed to the underside? not sure what type you have in mnd though.

Where do you need to extract it to? ie is that an external wall?

I think your stuffed! We did our kitchen 3 years ago with exactly the same scenario, except we had a bigger gap between the stove top and the extractor.

What our fitter did was build a box in the chimney breast to slot the extractor in to, and we bought the slimmest extractor we could find, which still wasnt that slim (I think it was about 30cms).

I’m not sure if its building regs or not but your are supposed to have a minnimum gap between the stove top and the surface above, from your photo I would say you have no chance.

Whats the height of the gap?

bb – not harsh, you are right in your observation sadly 😕

We wrongly assumed it would be no problem fitting an extractor, and a bit of miscommunication between us and the trades has left us here.

It is low, the top is level with my head (so 5’8″ ish), so any extractor needs to be low profile. I’ve thought about having a window or wall one creamegg – it’s an external wall to the left, roughly 4 feet away. I also thought we could just have a plain, flush vent above the cooker, and then duct it to an external fan but the kitchen guy is saying no to that for some reason.

It’s about 3ft from stove top to roof, however it’s still to tile!

What height is it from the hob to the underside, I don’t think you’ll meet the minimum clearance for an extractor, especially as it is a gas hob.

Edit: If it really is 3ft (looks much less in the photos) then you should be able to meet the minimum clearance

Have you got a power supply to it? I cant see from the pictures. Theres no reason why you can’t install one in the wall to the left, but as stated it would need to be 60l/s (rather than 30l/s standard).

How would you duct it if you had a flush vent above it? Wouldn’t you have big boxing on your kitchen wall?

Where were you intending to duct it in the first place? Up through breast and accross between floor joists?

Give these guys a call

http://www.airuno.co.uk/

I’m sure they’ll be able to advise if its possible or not.

I don’t think theres an issue regarding minimum height clearance other than for practicality reasons.

Just installed ours and there were minimum clearances stated for electric and gas hobs. Can’t just be for practical reasons if they differ between the two (unless gas hob users tend to be taller or something 🙂 ). Might depend on the extractor of course

The intention was to duct out up through the chimney and across to the wall on the left. Up high, but yes, there would be a box of some kind. The idea of through the floor space is a good one though, I’ll ask the fitter about that.

I have a feeling we’re donald ducked though 🙄

You could do without, or stainless-plate the “roof” bit for easy cleaning and put extractor fans in the ceiling above the bit where you’d stand to use the oven. Not ideal.

Or, you could DIY it to some extent, the collection area need only be a small box, the fan can be located elsewhere and ducting taken in through the side.

The thing that takes the space up on the extractors is the fan. Can you buy hoods which are literraly just the hood without the fan, then you would only need to loose and 2-3″ for electricals etc.

Taking it to an extreme you could buy some thing like this, and dismantle the fan etc to leave on the filters and electricals for the lights…

Then put a fan on the left wall? IMO boxing in wouldnt look bad on the left wall anyhow especially if its an older house.

have you researched Visor Recirculation Cooker Hoods

http://www.empiredirectappliances.co.uk/product_information.aspx?ProductID=983&ProductCode=HTV10B_BR&ProdColourID=1556&specification=false