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Ducted or recirculating cooker hood

Updated: 22 October 2026

You are choosing a chimney hood for a house with an outside wall, or for a flat where a new hole is refused, and the listing says the hood can do both. Ducted or recirculating is a real split in what leaves the kitchen. Ducted air goes outside. Recirculated air comes back, with some smell reduced and the steam still in the room. The [chimney hood comparison](/hub/fireplaces-and-stoves/chimney-hood) is the amazon.co.uk set from 19 October 2026. Peter F. read the listings and Approved Document F Volume 1 (2021). We did not test a duct in a kitchen. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are choosing a chimney hood for a house with an outside wall, or for a flat where a new hole is refused, and the listing says the hood can do both. Ducted or recirculating is a real split in what leaves the kitchen.

Our top picks

CIARRA CIARRA CBCS6201 60 cm

Best overall

CIARRA CIARRA CBCS6201 60 cm
8.3/10about £79.99
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COMFEE' COMFEE' KWH-PYRA17B-60

Rank 2

COMFEE' COMFEE' KWH-PYRA17B-60
8.5/10about £49.99
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FIREGAS FIREGAS FGS-EBV40Z460CC

Best value

FIREGAS FIREGAS FGS-EBV40Z460CC
7.0/10about £75.67
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.What leaves the kitchen
  2. 2.What Part F actually asks
  3. 3.Filters in this set
  4. 4.When ducting is the wrong hole

What leaves the kitchen

A ducted cooker hood is a fan, a grease filter, and a pipe to outside. A recirculating chimney hood uses the same fan and a carbon filter, and air comes back through the grilles. Hill & May’s buying guide puts it plainly: ducted extraction removes moisture, and recirculation takes some smell while heat and humidity stay. Duct outside if you can run a short 150 mm duct to an external wall or a proper roof terminal. Recirculate only if that wall cannot be drilled, fit the carbon filter the model actually uses, and still plan a separate extract to outside. The how to install a chimney cooker hood page covers the pipe.

What Part F actually asks

Approved Document F 2021 Volume 1 is the English guidance. Table 1.1 gives 30 litres a second for a kitchen when the hood extracts outside, and 60 litres a second when the extract is not via the hood. Diagram 1.2 says a recirculating cooker hood alone does not comply. Thirty litres a second is 108 cubic metres an hour, and 60 litres a second is 216. The earlier checks are on the chimney hood buying guide.
CIARRA CIARRA CBCS6201 60 cm

Testsieger

CIARRA CIARRA CBCS6201 60 cm
8.3/10about £79.99
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Filters in this set

The carton tells you whether recirculation is possible on the day it arrives. Not every CIARRA includes the carbon filter. The CAS pair is the clear example of a CIARRA you still have to buy filters for. The CBCS6201 states them in the box, along with a UK plug. The AEG DKB5660HM does not confirm a recirculation kit. The ventilation field says Exhaust, so treat it as a ducted machine until a manual says otherwise. If you duct outside, take the carbon filters out. They add resistance once the air is leaving the building. Grease filters stay in. The COMFEE' KWH-PYRA17B-60 at £49.99 is easy to buy and incomplete for a flat. Who each box suits is on best chimney cooker hood.

When ducting is the wrong hole

A duct to outside is the better path, and the hole still has to be the right hole. The exhaust must not discharge into a flue used by an appliance that burns gas or another fuel. Fisher & Paykel states that limit. The chimney that serves a stove, a gas fire, or an open fireplace is that flue. A chimney cooker hood does not line a stove flue. If the only chimney in the flat is the stove’s, recirculate and add a separate extract that does not use that flue. Stop if the planned hole meets the stove flue.

Common questions

Which mode actually removes steam?
Ducted extraction does. The fan sends moisture, grease, and odour outside, as long as the duct is intact and not dumped into a roof void. A recirculating hood can reduce some cooking smell through a carbon filter and returns the steam to the kitchen. Homebuilding and Hill & May both describe that humidity staying in the room. If the windows still stream after you fit carbon filters, the mode is doing what recirculation does.
Does a recirculating chimney hood meet Part F?
Not on its own, under Approved Document F 2021 for England. Diagram 1.2 says a recirculating hood alone does not comply. You still need a route to outside at the right rate. The English table does not write the rule for Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland.
What if I live in a flat and cannot drill an outside wall?
Recirculate, with the carbon filter that belongs to the hood, and plan another extract to outside if the work has to meet Part F. In this set, start with a box that includes the filter, such as the CIARRA CBCS6201 or the CBCS9102, rather than the COMFEE' KWH-PYRA17B-60 or the CAS9201A, which sell the filter separately. The AEG listing says Exhaust and does not confirm recirculation. A flat with no outside route is a building constraint. It does not make recirculation remove steam.
Do I leave the carbon filters in when I duct outside?
No. Remove them when the hood is ducted. Rangemaster’s duct guidance tells you to take charcoal filters out, because they obstruct air that is already leaving the building. Leave the metal grease filters in place and wash them. Fit the carbon filters only in recirculation mode, and replace them when they stop cutting smell. A hood can be convertible and still be set up wrongly if both filter types stay in for a ducted run.
Which hoods in this set include the carbon filter?
Included: CIARRA CBCS6201, CBCB6201, CBCS9102, CBCS6765C, the FIREGAS, and COMFEE' KWH-CH60A17EM12S2-UK. Separate: CIARRA CAS9201A, CAS6201A with code CBCF002X2, COMFEE' KWH-PYRA17SS-60 with CF04, KWH-PYRA17B-60, and KWH-ANGJ64B-60. The AEG DKB5660HM is unconfirmed for recirculation. CIARRA on its own is not a yes. Check the model, because the CAS listings are the ones that leave the filter out of the carton.
Can I duct into the chimney that serves a stove?
No. Do not discharge a cooker hood into a flue used by a stove or by any appliance burning gas or other fuel. Fisher & Paykel’s guidance is the clear statement of that limit. Use an external wall or a proper terminal, with 150 mm duct if the manual allows it. If that route does not exist, recirculate and arrange a different extract. The fireplace chimney is not a spare kitchen duct.

Related pages

60 cm or 90 cm cooker hood

Chimney hood

Best chimney cooker hood: who it suits and who skips

Chimney hood buying guide: hob width, duct and noise

How to install a chimney cooker hood above the hob

Sources

Public UK sources used for this comparison. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts were taken from the listings on 19 October 2026.

  1. Approved Document F, Volume 1, 2021 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. Approved Document F, 2026 edition (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. GOV.UK ventilation collection (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. Homebuilding, cooker hoods (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. Hotpoint UK, hood height FAQ (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. Fisher & Paykel GB/IE hood guide (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. amazon.co.uk listings for this set (retrieved 19 October 2026)