Best Kitchen Hoods 2020 – Consumer Reports

Review Being Updated : 20/12/15

Kitchen Hood is an important kitchen equipment for the modern standard kitchen design. As it is one of the most common household needs, many businesses are producing and selling the kinds of kitchen hood on the market. However, it is not too easy when you are looking for one though many are available and can be selected. The issue is finding the ones which fit budget as well as your demands. Importantly, it has to fit to the decor and space you have in your existing kitchen designs. As for your easy search, our team has picked up many kitchen hoods to review. We have finally selected 3 of them which each one is great by their own features. As to find out which is perfect for your requirement, you could have a look at each one below.

Kitchen Hood Comparison By Brands:

Indeed, for many people, finding the right kitchen hood is quite confusing. However, this article will make you a lot easier to understand what you need and what kind of Kitchen Hood that works and fits best with your existing kitchen. Additionally, Kitchen Hood Buying Tips are also brought up for you. You really should read them before making any purchasing decision of a Kitchen Hood. At the same time, our team has spent many hours checking, testing and reviewing many Kitchen Hoods, and as for the result, we would recommend you the Broan 413004 if you need an under cabinet one. If you are looking for the built-in one, then the best for you would be ZLine ZLKB-36 and FIREBIRD Range Hood.

Broan 413004

Broan is a popular brand, producing many great quality Kitchen Hoods. And, it has its own specialization in producing under cabinet Kitchen Hood. As we are to recommend out an Under Cabinet Kitchen Hood, the Broan 413004 has been tested and proven great that worth recommending if you are really needing the Under Cabinet Type of Kitchen Hood.

Building with the charcoal filter for grease removal, Broan 413004 is a high quality Kitchen Hood for small kitchens and comes with the lamp lens which support up to 75W bulk. This lighting can ensure even brightness for your cooking. For the fan, it is maintenance-free, and two speed control has been designed to allow you to adjust it easily during and after cooking. Additionally, the air circulation of this Kitchen Hood is unique and smart. It could leave your kitchen much cleaner after your cooking. Asides from that, our testing tells that this Broan model is one of the very economical constructions as the Under Cabinet Kitchen Hood. In the meantime, because this Broan design is made up from great quality stainless steel, it is easy to clean and is extremely durable.

With 30 inches in wide, it works great if your cooking top is at this wide or smaller. This Kitchen Hood operates by 120V by the wire source. However, if we look into the design of this Kitchen Hood instead. This nicely-design Broan product is quite simply but stylish. Many users agree that it even fits best with stylish kitchen while its price is very reasonable. If you are not looking to spend much for it, you are recommended to check this out seriously. In short, for both the appearance and operation of this Kitchen Hood, it is among the best ones you could check out if your need is the type.

The Negative Points about the Product

Like most others, our testing experience along with users’ feedback, we have found certain points that are to know. Firstly, this Kitchen Hood is designed in a slime style. Therefore, it could make the height between your cook top and Hood higher if your old one is much thicker. Also, our testing proves that the operation of this Kitchen Hood is a bit loud and annoying. And, from one of the users’ reviews, she marked this Kitchen Hood down since it became rusted with hers after 7 months in use. However, generally, this product gets rated 4.5 Stars of 5 so far.

ZLine ZLKB-36

Instead, if you are looking for the best Kitchen Hood that blows the air out, ZLine ZLKB-36 is our pick for your choice. This is a very typical and popular Kitchen Hood that sells a lot online. It comes with 4 fan speeds users can easily adjust, and it is extremely powerful in extracting the smoke out with its 750 CFM. And, still, it performs quietly during your cooking. For its body, it is made up from premium quality stainless steel. That means it is dishwasher safe for the cleaning, and it is found quite durable for years long use.

The design of this ZLine ZLK-36 also includes the lighting feature. That is a common features in many best Kitchen Hoods. However, specifically for this lighting in the model, it has good brightness and is directional which is friendly for cooking. Similarly to the first suggested Kitchen Hood, this ZLine ZLK-36 comes with 760 CFM. That is powerful enough to blow out smoke quick. Another feature you really need to check out if the Kitchen Hood is best and fits well to your kitchen is the dimension – 36 x 19.7 x 10.5 inches. If you find it difficult to tell, you can check out your old one and see if this dimension would fit. Finally, though this Zline ZLK-36 Kitchen Hood is made in China, its quality has been impressive with its 4.5 star rated with a year limited warranted included.

The Negative Points about the Product:

Some issues of this Kitchen Hood for some users is with the cowling which the side panel and axle rubbed against each other. It needs an insert to help separate both. Also, some users finds the operation a little bit loud when it is switched highest. Strong vibration is another minor issue that is found during its operation.

FIREBIRD Range Hood

The last Kitchen Hood that is trusted and could be considered as your choice is the FIREBIRD Range Hood. At 30 inch in wide, this FIREBIRD Hood design is quite attractive and interesting. However, its feature is even more of the choice. It has an airflow of 760 CMF, and this Kitchen Hood is found to be operating quite silently at just 65 DB while the installation is a piece of cake. Additionally, the push control button of this item is designed very unique and easy to use. Nonetheless, as this FIREBIRD Range Hood is a Wall Chimney Type, it must be attached to the ceiling, and it fits well with the 8.5 inch ceiling or a little bite less.

Another very good point about this FIREBIRD design is it works great with or without duck. If you like to use it ductless, carbon filter is also included, and you can proceed it without any problem. Also, the dimension of this Kitchen Hood is 32.1 x 21.2 x 18.5 inches. You check if this will fit your kitchen space. Lastly, many users have noticed a good satisfaction over this Kitchen Hood since it works and performs great to get ride of smoke in the kitchen as well as grease, odor and heat.

The Negative Points about this Product:

Some users have reported that this Kitchen hook is a bit heavy and was found hard to hook to the wall after hard assembling. That is the mounting problem and assembling problem while the instruction is not useful. Also, some users think the glass edge should be longer.

What Features You Need to Look for in a Kitchen Hood:

Though you have found out the brand and model of the best Kitchen Hood you like, never forget to check if they are having these features. During the testing and by actual experience of many users, these are important features that make things difficult and easy for them.

1. Power Options: Power option and Speed fan control are quite important to check out. Commonly, a Kitchen Hood would be built in between 2 and 6 fan speeds. However, as long as your favorite one has two fan speeds, that would be good since you can switch to the strong one during your cooking and to the slow one after your cooking. If there is not fan speed control, you might end up getting annoy by its noise after your cooking when you still need it on to get ride of smoke and odor from your Kitchen.

2. Quiet Operation: Noise is to be careful. You will not be happy experiencing the loud noise everyday of your Kitchen Hood during and after your cooking. Many latest designs of best Kitchen Hoods are with advanced technology. It thus could perform powerfully but with less noise. According to our testing, the ones that produces about 56 DB are acceptable and good ones.

3. Make-Up Air: Especially, when you are having the Island Hood installed, you should be careful to look for the make-up air feature. When the Hood is powerful and big, it extracts air out fast and much, it thus needs the Make-up Air feature to pump air back in to keep the balance of the pressure in and outside of your home. If not, it might also disturb your breathing to an extent.

4. Lights: It is likely that the Kitchen Hood you like will include the lights. And, this is just to help remind you. Best Kitchen Hoods are designed with lights, and it could help you see things clear when cooking at night. That is quite helpful to many people who love to work in the Kitchen.

5. Thermostat Control: For safety reason, you should also find the Kitchen Hood that is built in with the Thermostat attached. It then tells you at what temperature it is now in. If you see it becomes too hot, you can do something about it immediately. So, it is good if your Kitchen Hood has the thermostat.

6. Exhaust Timer: This feature is of a great help after cooking. Still, after your cook, the hood will need to be on to take the smoke, grease, and odor away. However, you would not want to come back and turn it off. In this situation, the Exhaust Timer feature is a plus.

How to Buy The Best Kitchen Hoods

It is not strange at all if you find it confusing when to look for a kitchen hood that fits best with your kitchen. However, the guiding tips below will make things easier for you when you go out to pick one of the best Kitchen Hood.

1. Brand: Branding means a lot to any product including the trust customers are having on its products. And, when it comes to the Kitchen Hood, popular brands which many of their products are trusted include Broan, GE, Kenmore, NuTone, When-A-Hook, FIREBIRD and Viking. They are expert in producing the best Kitchen Hood with great quality and price. However, still, all designs are to fit different customers. Thus, you would need to check out each product technical specifications well before picking one up.

2. Type of Kitchen Hood: Kitchen hoods are available with so many types and designs. Importantly, they fit different purposes and kitchen decor. That is why you need to seriously look at this so that you could choose a better right one for your kitchen situation. Brief description of the most common types of Kitchen Hood will also be mentioned below.

Under Cabinet: Like its name says, this kind of Kitchen Hood is installed under the cabinet and work great to suck the smoke and odor away from your kitchen. Another good thing about this under cabinet type of Kitchen Hood is the fact that it often has the space saving design which is great and more important for small kitchen.
Wall Chimney Hood: Where there is no cabinet, the Wall Chimney hood is often used. Normally, it is mounted to the vent stacks, and it works quite well to extract and blow the smoke, grease, and odor outside.
Island Hood: Island Hood type is the biggest as normal among all types of Kitchen Hood, and it needs big, wide space of your kitchen to be installed. They are also the most expensive ones. However, it is more powerful and higher in performance with more and combined features of other Kitchen Hoods. Also, the Island Hood often hangs high on your cook-top. As a result, it has be be wider and bigger than your cooking surface to work best absorbing unwanted smoke, heat and odor out.
DownDraft Hood: DownDraft Hood is another type. But, many experts do not recommend this. DownDraft Hood works to vent smoke downward and blow out through and beneath the floor. It goes against the smoke direction, and that is why it is least effective comparing to other types of Kitchen Hoods.

3. CFM: CFM stands for Cubic Feet per Minute. That is the airflow ability of the Kitchen Hood. If you look into the specification of each one, you would see this. Normally, the bigger the number, the more powerful it could absorb smoke away from your Kitchen. Nonetheless, the best Kitchen Hood gets ride of smoke, grease, heat, and odor from your kitchen. So, bigger CFM does not mean it could capture all well, just to note about this. CFM built into a Kitchen Hood could be between 100 and 1200.

4. Size: To whatever type of Kitchen Hood, you should always get the ones with at least the same wide as your cooking-top. According to the testing of many Kitchen Hood, it could perform better and properly only if it has the wide of your cooking surface or even bigger.

5. Pricing: It will vary based on the type and size you need. For an under cabinet Kitchen Hood, it costs only about $100 or little bit more. However, for a bigger size Wall Chimney Hood, it could costs about several hundreds dollars. And, for the Island Design, it is the biggest, and it will cost over 400 dollars.

6. Installation: Each type of Kitchen hood requires different installation work. You had better follow the manufacture’s installation instruction tightly if you are to do it yourself. That would make things easier for you. For the mounting height, it is highly recommended that you leave the distance between 30 to 36 inches between your cooking surface and the Kitchen Hood.

7. Design: If talking about the exterior design, that would likely depend on your like only and what fits your kitchen most. However, you would also check out the control buttons such as the fan speed. Some are designed inside while the front one is best, and you can switch it the easiest.

Kitchen Hood Video Review

Kitchen Hoods We Have Also Reviewed:

1. This FIREBIRD Range Hood Vent is easily one of the best products out there you can get for your new kitchen. It is a very high quality range hood that gives up to 760 CFM airflow at a noise level of only 65DB. Performance wise, this kitchen hood from Fire Bird is indeed an amazingly quiet hood you can ask for.

2. Another one is this Kitchen Bath Kitchen Range Hood. It is manufactured with a nice two-piece, highly adjustable chimney that guarantees no visible welded seams. What is even more specail abotu this range hood is the fact it is designed with a great quality LED light that offers three times better brightness compared to other standard models.

3. AKDY New AZ1802, being used by many households today, has also been reviewed. It features a 900 CFM airflow with amazingly quiet blowers at 65 DB maximum blow speed. Moreover, this kitchen hood is also designed with a nice illuminated touch control function which is very user friendly and modern.

4. Next goes to Kitchen Wall Mount Stainless Steel Glass Range Hood Stove Vents. This particular kitchen range hood is greatly known for its genuine stainless steel build construction that offers both superb durability and great performance. Moreover, this device is also certified by the ETL Safety from the United States and Canada.

5. Broan 403004 Range Hood is also the one. For its build construction, this kitchen range hood is designed with a very high quality aluminum grease filter that has no problem with a dishwasher. The duct connector that comes included with this device also has a built-in damper that ensures a very effective and convenient performance.

6. Another product of AKDY also makes its place is the AKDY 30″ Kitchen Range Hood. Very easily mountable to the wall, this great quality kitchen range hood is manufactured with premium stainless steel materials that offer both rigidity and durability. The airflow of this kitchen hood stands at around 760 CFM, which is pretty legit for such a compact build design.

7. Kitchen Bath Collection Range Hood with Touch Screen Control Panel. The build construction of this kitchen range hood is pretty solid and great looking, making it a very nice add-on to the overall decor of your kitchen. Moreover, this device is also capable in running at a ventless operation. The premium LED lights of this hood is also very decent, comparing to other standard models out there.

8.Next is the Z Line ZLKB-36 Stainless Steel Wall Mount Range Hood, 36-Inch. Operating at a 760 CFM airflow, this high end kitchen device is such a nice equipment to have, making your kitchen activities a better experience to have. Quality wise, this kitchen hood is designed with a great quality stainless steel structure that offers both durability and performance.

9.The CYBER Classic Cabinet Range Hood 3 has somehow made its name in the runner up place of this top review list. With its ETL Safety approval from Canada and the United States, this high end kitchen hood is indeed a seamless stainless steel range hood that performs exceptionally well in any types of kitchen. The maximum power consumption and noise attribute of this device are also very user friendly.

10. Broan 413004 Economy Range Hood is also reviewed. Performance wise, this kitchen range hood can be placed in an ADA compliant application with great convenience. Moreover, the so-called Rocker type fan and light control of this device is also very spot on, making it a very easy and effective equipment to install in your kitchen.