The kitchen hoods have got"The Sixth Sense"

The cooker hood is a rather utilitarian appliance. At first glance, it’s simple and straightforward: it draws in air and cleans the air. But modern cooker hoods are getting more and more complicated and “smart”, they’re getting more and more equipped with extra functions and features. More and more manufacturers are embracing new technologies with the aim of making the hood even easier and more enjoyable to use.

Consultants: Maria Shiryaeva Azzurra international , Elena Mozzhukhina Teca Rus , Pavel Keiva Avanti SPb , Oleg Gedzia Campaneco .

And on the panel – the buttons and the “weather bureau

The usual ways of controlling the hood are well known to all – slide switches for continuous adjustment or buttons.

Touch sensors, which can be activated by a light touch, are a more modern solution. Digital readouts are becoming more common and the latest models feature digital LCD screens.

The innovations in this area – the Elica control panel equipped with a weather display. It gives you information about the settings in the hood speed, timer, clock and filter status and can also be used as a “weather office” for your home.

LCD display “communicates” with the station, installed on the outside of the building, which captures data on temperature, pressure and weather conditions. Hood gives you information about the “outside” temperature and helps you choose the weather: cloudy or sunny, raining or snowing.

The control panel DT 4 Sata is equipped with a fairly informative display that shows the actual work of the device – indicates the speed, intensity of lighting, including night, timer activation, sound alarm, time is displayed.

The speed of air extraction is set smoothly, which will be appreciated by people who prefer to choose the optimal mode for themselves.

Buttons and sensors can be accompanied by LEDs for even more transparency. This is the case with the Jetair premium collection, for example, where each sensor is lit up in a soft blue light.

Most often the control panel has a linear shape – all the buttons are arranged in one row. An unusual shape of the panels was chosen by Sata and Turboair: a four-sectional block, reminiscent of a square divided into parts. One more button in the center of the Sata switches on the light. Turboair put a digital speed indicator on this spot to indicate the speed of the motor.

The remote control panel

Remote controls – that’s a separate story. We cannot call this a multifunctional hood, but more and more manufacturers decided to equip it with a remote control option.

The remote control makes it possible to change the appliance settings: turn the motor on and off, choose a suitable speed, change the light.

The original RM 8700 remote controls are available from AEG. The remote control looks like a giant blob, which is placed on the table in a convenient place. You can turn the remote control clockwise to increase the speed of the hood, and you can turn the light on by pushing it lightly.

With Jetair hoods, the remote control operates on radio frequency, you do not need to be in line of sight, you can even control the hood sitting in front of the TV in another room.

For a more intuitive control, Miele, Elica and Imperial Luce appliances are now equipped with joysticks. Joystick is a small rod, which is directed in the right direction to change the parameters of work: control the fan power and light intensity.

Another find. AEG developed and implemented a regulation ball, also a kind of joystick, which you turn to the right and left to select the operating mode, confirmed by pressing. The cooker hood reacts with a soft sound signal and a change of light indication, which is emitted by the same ball.

Timer sets the schedule

Equipping the hoods with timers makes the appliance more independent.

The timers can be conventionally divided into automatic and voluntary.

Automatic – these are special modes or functions.

* The timer is activated by pressing the button of the selected speed, the duration of operation is not determined by the user, but by the time interval programmed in the hood’s memory of 5, 10 or 15 min. Falmec, Jetair, Krona, Quartz , after which the extractor switches itself off.

*The timer automatically changes the cooker hood speed in 5 minute intervals. Sata .

* After switching off the main operating mode, the hood continues to run at minimum speed for a set period of time 10 or 15 minutes . and switches off the so-called “automatic residual run” Sata .

* Ventilation is activated for a short time every hour 5 min at Faber . Siemens, Bosch , but the speed is minimal. This mode is called “interval on”.

* Delayed switch-on for a specified time 30 min can be realized. At Faber .

* The intensive mode is often limited in time, for example ten minutes, after which the air purifier returns to its original speed.

Arbitrary we called the timers, which the user controls, although often deals with the automatics.

* Setting the duration of operation of the hood, based on the time intervals offered by Tek – 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 min. Or “delayed shutdown” on the Axia Faber model, essentially the same function with durations of 15, 30 and 60 min.

* Choice of any operating time according to the cooking cycle Elica, Quartz .

* Setting delayed start time Whirlpool .

“The Sixth Sense – a matter of technology

The cooker hood can decide by itself whether or not it needs to work, set the intensity of the suction and even regulate the light in the worktop area. The “intelligence” of the appliance consists of one or more sensors which respond to changes in certain parameters.

The Teka humidity detector automatically detects the presence of steam and adjusts the humidity level by selecting the right motor speed. When humidity is at a normal level, the hood switches off.

The ultrasonic sensor in the Neff D4692 0 hood works on the same principle, it reacts to cooking fumes and automatically and precisely adjusts the fan speed accordingly.

Whirlpool’s “Sixth Sense” technology includes three types of humidity, temperature and infrared sensors. The hood automatically optimizes performance, operating time and energy consumption. The manufacturers promise that it adapts to different types of food, ambient conditions, size and type of hob.

Automatic sensor technology AST Elica and Jetair Premium based on three sensors: a heat sensor, a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor. The heat sensor is triggered when the temperature in the cooking zone rises.

The temperature filter permanently checks the difference in temperature between the room and the area under the hood. Moisture-sensitive measures the amount of water vapor in the air. The system enables fully automatic hood operation.

Falmec delta sensor is also a few smart sensors that activate one of the functions of the hood. The lighting is controlled by a sensor that detects the movement of a person at the hob. The fan is activated when a certain temperature difference is reached between the room temperature and the cooking fumes, and the correct speed is automatically selected.

An example of automatic interconnection offers Brandt Motus. Two appliances – the hood and the cooktop – are united by a special “ties”. The panel controls the hood by means of infrared beams. The hood turns on at the same time as the start of cooking. Increases or decreases the fan speed depending on the number and capacity of the cooking fires that are operating. Although you can also select the hood settings manually. De Dietrich HCH system works in the same way.

What the landlady forgets, the hood remembers

The cooking process follows the same operations, e.g. simmering on high heat, stewing on medium, simmering on low heat.

The whole cycle can be remembered not only by the hostess, but also by her hood. This is done by memorizing the sequence and duration of operation in the desired modes. So when you’re cooking, you just need to activate the program.

A so-called “memory when switching off” function, where the appliance starts with the settings selected by the user before switching it off.

Just a little bit not eternal

Carbon filter is a must in any hood operating in recirculation mode. It is usually bought separately and discarded when dirty 4 to 6 months on average .

Some companies considered this a waste and came up with long-life filters. They use pressed charcoal. They are washed by hand or in the dishwasher, dried in the oven at 100 *C, and it’s ready to work again.

These filters do not lose their capacity to absorb water vapors for up to three years. Examples of such “long life” appliances are available in the Elica and AEG ranges.

Don’t forget to clean the filter

Hoods require regular maintenance that includes the cleaning of the metal grease filter, which can be stainless steel or aluminium and a durable carbon filter , and the replacement of the normal carbon filter.

It’s a fairly simple operation. The challenge is not to miss the “h” time. The units are equipped with filter pollution indicators, working in one of two circuits.

1. The user specifies, using a special timer, the anticipated operating time after which the cleaning operation should be carried out, for example 1440 hours. The hood is only guided by this value and signals when the time is up with a light indicator.

2. A more advanced version, the device evaluates the degree of contamination of the filters. When it exceeds the limit and the air quality deteriorates, an indicator light comes on.

The intake will be on the perimeter

The cooker hood is a very specific and often has a very specific position. The position of the hood is not always ideal for housewives, because you can bump into the hood.

Hovering over the table, the cooker hood also creates a loss of space by cluttering the space. It’s hard to say whether or not the developers thought about these details, but cooker hoods with a sloping fence were invented.

One of them, the Sata Cor-L hood, resembles a curved leaf. The control system with a panel equipped with a display, the motor, the duct, are placed where they are supposed to be, but the intake area is slightly lowered and tilted.

Despite this specificity, it collects vapors from the stove completely. The back of the hood is folded down towards the worktop, creating a stylish monolithic overall effect.

In addition, the smooth curve line of this panel gives the kitchen a certain elegance.

The Nicole Falmec is another appliance with a characteristic shape. The filter-motor unit tilts forward and the hood ends in an overhanging curve to better capture vapors and odors.

Elica Wall Carpet hood looks really like a flying up carpet, interesting that the zone of air intake is located against the wall, the grid is very narrow, and luxurious curved upwards the wing does not only have a decorative function, its duty – the direction of the flow “in the right direction”.

The same manufacturer’s Ohm chimney hood looks like a picture hanging vertically on the wall.

The Jetair EGO extractor hood is very similar to the Om, the main difference being that different patterns are possible on the top.

The DA 489 from Miele has a large sloping wing made of clear glass underneath. Air intake is made by a plate with horizontal slits, in its upper part there is a control panel. The glass helps direct contaminated air straight to the filters. At first glance, the glass element is very difficult to clean from the underside, but the manufacturers have taken care of that. During cleaning, the glass will smoothly descend to the vertical position.

The wide span is a characteristic of the Libera Valcucine hood. The glass canopy covers the hood from above with a generous margin. Its fence is curved. Despite the size, the appliance as a whole looks lightweight.

The AVI Homeier island hood consists of two arched wings, which are joined together in an unusual structure. Air intake takes place on both sides.

A logical continuation of the idea of a tilted hood were appliances with two levels of filters: in the flat top and in the wall-mounted. The hood is L-shaped. Such is New Style S Faber with the back panel – apron, up to the table top.

Master Falmec can be equipped with a dryer. For this, another L-shaped module is used, on which it is mounted.

Too lazy to hang it up, put it on the table

Can be installed on the table and the hoods that do not have “family ties” among “knuckles” dominoes.

These are complete appliances that have two large parts. The first one is fixed to the worktop – it’s the intake area and the holder. And the second, as in the above hoods, includes all the “stuffing” and ducts, they are placed in a gap between the floor cabinets.

Examples of such unusual solutions are models AF 2500 Turboair and STS Segment Homeier, the latter is equipped with hinges, thanks to which it can rotate around its axis and change the direction of the intake.

Table-top hoods look very innovative and unusual although they resemble a giant desk lamp , although they take up part of the useful area of the countertop, which may not please all housewives. In addition, and the internal volume of the kitchen carries some losses.

If you see a desk, it can be a hood

The idea to build hoods into the table was apparently born at the same time as the dominoes came into being. It is logical to place almost all cooking appliances in a row: grill, deep fryer, Wok burner, glass-ceramic burner, gas burner. Where else can the hood be positioned??

Built directly into the countertop and sucks kitchen fumes before they have had time to rise and mix with the air in the room. Domino collection hoods are fun little appliances, and as a rule, they work in both extraction and recirculation modes. All the equipment – motor, ducts – is concealed in the depths of the cupboard.

The AEG FM 2500 DD-an extractor hood resembles a small desk width only 18 cm , the device looks strict and simple – glass-ceramic and aluminum. And this despite the fact that in its depths there are modern electronics.

It runs in four-speed mode, informs the owner when it’s time to clean the filters, and has a residual-current function. When switching on the hood rises above the table, after work slowly falls smoothly flush with the worktop.

The Gaggenau VL 431 looks like two narrow hatches, which can be opened for operation and closed when not in use: When switched off, it is absolutely invisible.

When you turn the appliance on, the flaps automatically open, and when you turn it off, they stay open for a few more seconds to avoid sudden slamming and excessive noise from the fan running on inertia.

Despite the modest size, the device is quite effective, because the capture of vapors occurs at the level of pots and pans, exactly where they are formed. At the push of a button the ventilation continues on the selected power level for another 10 minutes and then switches off automatically.

The aesthetics of such appliances inevitably come first. Special connection panels harmoniously unite adjacent vario appliances into a single composition.

One more “worker on the level of pans” – “folding” extractor Gaggenau VL 051. The Miele range consists of a tub-like base with a cylindrical holder, crowned by a sampling zone that follows the oval outline of the base.

When not in use the cooker hood is completely concealed in its “bed”, when in use it rises and the fume cupboard area is directed above the cooking zone and can be turned 90° in either direction.

To clean the air above the grill, the swivel element is automatically set at a height of 6 cm and a maximum height of 40 cm above the hob. With the help of a switch, the height of the rotary element is infinitely adjustable between these levels. After it has been switched off, it automatically returns to the central position and sinks to the worktop.

Your hood moves behind you

The mobility of the hoods is an unusual feature. On the one hand, the hood is strictly oriented, the area of its attention is always focused in one place – above the cooktop. On the other hand, mobility increases the possibilities and performance.

Miele offers a range of island hoods equipped with a microlift. This system allows you to adjust the height of the hood from 1 cm to 30 cm. The appliance becomes able to accommodate the height of the user and the ability to cook alternately on a gas or electric cooktop module.

The GSI Homeier hood is attached to the ceiling. It is characterized by two bends that enable you to change the position of your hood.

The appliance is designed for housewives who are the lucky owners of two cooktops, separately located “honeycomb”, like Kuppersbusch, or a large domino set.

By the way, you can choose not only the working position – above the pots or pans with cooked food, but also a “neutral”, in which the hood will not interfere with the hostess to move around the kitchen.

When it’s light and smells better

Hoods can illuminate the surface of the worktop with ordinary incandescent bulbs. But more and more often engineers choose other elements: halogen, fluorescent fluorescent lamps , neon, fiber-optic.

Everyone knows what an incandescent bulb looks like. Halogen bulbs are small, cone-shaped bulbs with a round, glowing base.

Although there are exceptions. Rectangular elements are used in the Sata extraction hood, for example. They look more innovative and technologically advanced, but they also have practical advantages.

The area of these lamps is greater than that of round lamps, and consequently the lighting surface increases. Power consumption is in line with the norm, with a higher light output.

The Sat halogen lights give a pleasant, gentler light, without distorting the colors of the food. Conventional halogen elements create a slightly yellow glow, but this one is whiter.

Neon and fluorescent lamps are tubes, the neon being shorter. Fluorescent light bulbs can also be in the form of minions.

The now-how Elica fiber optic lamps are used in the Optica Collection model a similar technology is used for backlighting suspended ceilings . It’s not cheap.

One lamp is installed inside the appliance, from which go the fiber-optic cables, at the ends of which the bulbs are small, and which are located on the panel of the hood. Lamps of this type create a very beautiful, cozy light, not without reason in the company called “enchanting”.

Most fixtures are placed in a row along one edge of the hood. An interesting “cosmic” atmosphere is created by lighting the whole perimeter of the appliance. This technique is used only in those air purifiers, where the aerodynamic techniques described by us.

Hood lighting plays a major role in setting the atmosphere in your kitchen, making it more austere or homely. Dynamic lighting that changes according to the situation is one of the innovations in air purifiers technical equipment. It is produced both in the manual and automatic modes. For example, the SoftLight function of Neff, Siemens, Bosch appliances allows you to smoothly increase or decrease the light intensity, and thanks to the Dimm-function, you can set the light intensity yourself, focusing it over the worktop or, if you wish, illuminating your whole kitchen.

We have already written about sensors that analyze the situation and, adapting to it, create optimal lighting. Here’s an example. The M@ster Faber cooker hood can be programmed to automatically regulate the lighting level by selecting automatic mode. The signals from the photoelectric cell in the hood are decoded by an electronic circuitry which then regulates the light level.

A number of appliances are equipped with so-called “night light” – a dim backlighting, which acts as stand-by lighting, it works in economy mode.

Night Light System Sata reacts to night-time lighting and increases the light intensity from the lowest standby level to the level you selected when you turn it off. The smooth adjustment is convenient because the light does not “hit the eyes” if you just woke up in the kitchen.

Elica models include a back-up lighting system. It triggers in the case of a sudden power outage.

The light emitted by artificial elements is divided into three types:

Yellow warm – incandescent lamps,

Neutral – halogen, fiber optic,

White cool – nonnovae, fluorescent,

On energy consumption

***neon and halogen are the highest,

** fiber optic – daylight lamps,

*The lowest indicator is incandescent bulbs,

Lifespan

**** Daylight bulbs – highest rating,

*** Neon and halogen,

** fiber optic,

* Incandescent light bulbs – lowest rate,

By price

*Incandescent light bulbs, the lowest,

** halogen and neon

***Daylight bulbs

**** Fiber optic – highest rate.

Beautiful shapes – captivating smells

Hoods are made of beautiful materials, the most popular of which are brushed and glossy stainless steel and aluminum. For all their advantages, they have a drawback: Any contact with the surface leaves behind unpleasant grime.

Not only housewives, but also engineers are concerned with keeping things in perfect order. As a result, cooker hoods are now produced with special coatings that prevent these unpleasant phenomena.

Sata uses DurAlum technology to protect aluminum panels from fingerprints and water droplets. Surfaces are also easier to keep clean.

Chic-glitter-beauty of baked glass

Glass cookers made by the German company VTS using the “fusing” glass sintering technology appeared. The technology consists in the fact that the pattern of the future hood of colored glass pieces or glass pellets is assembled on a solid piece of glass.

Each piece is pre-treated and, like a diamond after cutting, sparkles with all its facets. Then the glass is heated in a special furnace to a certain temperature and sintered into a solid layer.

Thus a unique decorative effect of stained glass is achieved. Every VTS extraction hood is unique.

Technical indicators meet the highest world standards of kitchen air purifiers.

Clocks, paintings and stained-glass windows can be picked up in a single style to complete the hood, transforming any interior into a work of art.

Says and shows the hood

A hood with a TV set wouldn’t surprise anyone. If the hostess likes to cook and at the same time to keep up with the latest news of her favorite TV series – you’re welcome. Siemens offers its LC 8 M 950, equipped with a 17-inch screen.

The combination of two useful functions sets yet another precedent there’s a similar finding in the annals of the history of refrigerators , the appliances tend to “wrest” the field of activity from each other.

With access to the Internet

The smart home system is the universal control of all appliances. The user can be in his or her own bedroom or car, turning appliances on, off, and reconfiguring them through a switch that can be accessed from a computer or cell phone. Some cooker hoods are able to take part in this system.

Manufacturers also offer connection of the appliance via modem or Web-system to the center of technical assistance. This gives the ability to quickly check, solve problems, update or repair the software by downloading information from the main computer center.