A frequently asked question for anyone who is designing a new kitchen or renovating it is whether the hood in the kitchen is essential, as it is often considered a optional.
Our parents or grandparents didn’t have a hood in the kitchen, or if they did, it was certainly very noisy and had little ventilation. Over the years, hoods have evolved both in terms of performance and design. Let’s find out more thanks to the experts.
Houses change, hoods change
Compared to other appliances, which have evolved little over the years in terms of shapes and dimensions (think for example of washing machines or ovens), the kitchen hood is perhaps the appliance that has changed the most in history and which is adapting more to the needs of new living.
Think about it, there were once kitchens separate rooms from the rest of the house, there even existed the kitchen and the dining room (even today this solution is sometimes preferred), but it is undeniable that in recent years, with the shrinking of the average size of houses, and with other needs (fewer families and less time for cooking), kitchens have become an element integrated into the living room environments.
The new habits of contemporary living have led to having less time to cook and so kitchens have become smaller and smaller and have often been reduced to kitchenettes.
In the classic environments options open space with the living room and kitchen integrated, the aesthetic sense has become increasingly essential. From this perspective, kitchens have become increasingly integrated into the living area to the point of “disappearing” without wanting to show their function (or simply disorder), and with them the appliances, more and more often built-in, more and more often hidden .
The appliances that have most supported this evolution have been hoods, often not considered essential by users, often considered aesthetically not “up to par”. And so architects, furniture makers, but above all uninformed customers have tried to hide them or eliminate them completely.
On this topic I was lucky enough to interview those who have been designing hoods for 19 years, Fabrizio CrisàChief Design Officer of Elica, a Marche-based company that is a global leader in kitchen extraction systems, and made me think about how important it is to think about design in relation to these new habits and how to choose the right hood for us.
“Now the kitchen has become to all intents and purposes the living area of the house, while what it is generally called living has become the area entertainment with the classic sofa and TV arrangement.” Fabrizio Crisà reflects, explaining that the first question The thing to ask yourself when choosing a hood for your home is whether you need one extractor or filter hood.
Extractor hood: the characteristics
The extractor hood conveys the fumes outside the home using an exhaust pipe positioned on the wall or in a chimney. The extractor hood is equipped with grease filters.
Pro: The extractor hood is the most performing in terms of extraction functionality, as it literally throws fumes and grease out of the house and helps to eliminate odors more.
Against: thermal dispersion, in winter it sucks in hot air from the heated house.
Filter hood: the characteristics
The filter hood does not need to have an exhaust pipe to the outside. It has two filters: an anti-grease filter to absorb cooking fats and an activated carbon filter to reintroduce clean, filtered air into the home environment.
Pros: ease of positioning, not needing an external drain pipe.
Against: generally less performing in terms of suction
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