Cooker Hood Filters – Charcoal Filters Vs Grease Filters?

Jen

August 1, 2021

Last updated on November 30, 2021

Charcoal Cooker Hood Filters Vs Grease Filters

Often, when buying a new cooker or cleaning our current one, we think only of the cooker itself and we tend to ignore one of the most important pieces! The hood of your cooker is a vital part of the appliance that too many of us neglect, and while we neglect to think about the cooker hood we certainly don’t think of filters. So what are the differences between Charcoal cooker hood filters vs grease filters?

The cooker hood is there to extract the odours, the grease in the air and the steam emanating from your cooker whilst you are preparing your food. Having the right cooker hood for your needs is very important.

A part to which we are even more oblivious is the cooker hood filter. The cooker hood itself uses a fan to extract the steam, odours, grease and either, depending on the positioning of your cooker with regard to your kitchen, send it outside or recirculate it back into your home. The filter is therefore an essential part of the cooker hood, as without it the air extracted by the fan would not be changed in any way.

What is a charcoal cooker hood filter?

A charcoal cooker hood filter is the necessary filter for a cooker hood that recirculates the air back into the house.

A charcoal cooker hood filter is indeed the best choice for a cooker hood that is engineered to recirculate the air it extracts back into the kitchen. The charcoal acts as a purifying filter which cleanses the air before it is recirculated back into the house. The cooker hood filter’s role is to extract all the greasy air, steam and odours emanating from what is being prepared on the cooker.

In order to avoid any unwanted excess odours from being redistributed back into the home, the charcoal acts as an extra filter to the filter itself, meaning that you will have no excess smells lingering from that fish, cheese or any cooking smells that pack a strong odour!

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Hood extractor fan in the kitchen next to hanging cabinets

What is a grease Cooker Hood Filter?

The main difference between a charcoal cooker hood filter and a grease filter is how they deal with odours.

Whilst both filters are adept at trapping airborne grease and filtering the steam emanating from the cooker itself, the charcoal filter has the extra job of filtering the odours provided by the cooking, whereas the grease filter does not. The reason for this is that a charcoal filter is provided mainly for cooker hoods that recirculate the air back into the kitchen. No one wants the same smells and air from their cooking being fanned back into the home! Depending on what you are cooking, this would be an unfortunate mistake.

Therefore, the charcoal filter was added to these specific types of cooker hood, in order to solve that particular issue. The grease cooker hood filter is just as useful when it comes to containing the grease and filtering the steam as a charcoal one. They are a part of all cooker hoods, whereas a charcoal filter is an optional piece of equipment. If upon purchasing your cooker hood, you are able to purchase one with a metal or aluminium filter, these are more eco-friendly as they only need washing every few weeks, as opposed to being thrown away and re-bought!

Do All Cooker Hoods Need Filters?

Yes, all cooker hoods need filters.

It is very important to have a filter in your cooker hood, as the lack of one could cause grease damage to your appliance, not to mention leave lingering grease laying around your kitchen! Cooker hood filters are very easy to clean and/or replace. Make sure that your cooker is off, cold and, depending on your appliance you will want to check in the instruction manual, you may proceed in extracting and dealing with it accordingly.

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Man’s hands cleaning aluminum mesh filter for cooker hood. Housework and chores. Kitchen cooker hood on the background

How Long do Cooker Hood Charcoal Filters Last?

Cooker hood charcoal filters need replacing every 3 to 4 months.

When it comes to charcoal cooker hood filters, it’s important to know when to change them. To ensure that your cooker hood is fully functional, your charcoal filter has to be clean. Generally speaking, experts say that a charcoal cooker hood filter should be changed every 3 or 4 months. This of course depends entirely on how much you cook!

Luckily, charcoal filters are common pieces of material and are therefore easy to replace. When buying your cooker hood, maybe inquire as to the possibility of buying the correct filter from the same shop in the future.

Cooker Hoods – Further Reading

We hope you have found this article informative and helpful.  We also have a few more guides and reviews to help you when researching cooker hoods:

Cooker Hood Guide
The 10 Best Cooker Hoods
The Best Air Venting Hobs

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