I can’t really contribute much as I don’t have one - however if budget is an issue, have you considered IKEA? My brother went with the IKEA venting hob and loves it! It looks fab too. (They don’t have an IKEA kitchen)

Out of those 3 I would suggest Elica as they are a dedicated extraction brand although heard their customer service is not great in the UK. Have a look at AEG and Samsung venting hobs as both are rebadged versions of the Elica hob.

I have a Siemens and you can put the metal filters through the dishwasher. But the Bora Pure is a similar price so that should be on your list too.

Thanks all, I never knew that about AEG and Samsung, I'll check those out. Same with Bora Pure, although I THINK the one we would want, if money was no object, would be Pure X?

Does anyone know if there's a prohibitive cost to ducting out vs. recirculation? My other half would prefer to save ££ so thinking recirculation but I'm not sold on how effective it would be?

A recent kitchen I supplied, the customer purchased an Elica (Nikola Tesla about 1400.00) and the kitchen fitter was so impressed with it he bought one for his own new kitchen.

Always best to duct out and the bigger the pipework (ie 6 inch) the better and the least amount of bends means the less resistance, the more efficient it works and the least noise. So a 2.5m run shouldn't be a problem if done properly. If you fit only 4 inch pipework then its not going to work as well and be noisy. Extraction is governed by building regs Part F which covers new builds, extensions and conversions, for an existing kitchen re fit you can't make the extraction worse than the original kitchen.

The difference between combi/bridge and flex for hobs is that 2 zones can be combined, for bridging its just both zones on but with flex induction it has more heating zones and the hob senses the shape/size of the pans and just works in those zones.

Venting hobs are like icebergs, very little on show but you can lose 2 drawers underneath to fit it all approx 200mm+ needed (including worktop thickness), then you have the ducting to fit down the back even for recirculating to vent at floor level.

All ducted hobs only have 1 filter which is the grease filter and this is suitable for a dishwasher (haven't come across a disposable grease filter for years and then they were a paper filter for integrated extractors), for recirculating you need a carbon filter to clean the air, some of these can be 'recharged' by putting in an oven, others need replacing with a new filter, the manufacturers operating instructions will advise.

Wow thank you for the detailed advice, that's awesome!

We regularly specify the Elica extraction hobs. Feel free to give us a call on 01535 282021

I have a bora pure (not the pure x, didn’t feel the need to link zones) and I love it. You’d be able to move it to a different house but would need to install the ducting again. Ours is venting, longer distance than yours, extracts really well. Recirculating won’t deal with steam.

The Neff and Simens are the same design just different badges, I don't know about the Elica but I always go for the Faber (sorry to chuck another name in!). It only takes the top drawer of space, then runs down the back of the cupboard. It is also made by a company which specialises in extraction who then made a hob, rather than hob people who then made extraction.

I would compare the suction rates and volume between all the models you like to find the one that works for you.

good luck

Emily

Whichever one you go for look at the total cost and the ongoing cost. For example we have the Bora X Pure (which we love) and we went for vented. It does cost more up front as you have to budget for the venting kit but the recirculating has filters that need replacing every 6-12 months or something and they’re quite pricey so over time would likely cost similar or more.

Very helpful as currently doing a kitchen renovation. I, too, had been thinking about Bora but am now mesmerised by the choice. I have two questions. Firstly are there reliability issues with any of the brands? Secondly, is their effectiveness judged by the max airflow rate,in which case Berbel and Faber seem to come out on top?

I have a Neff vented hob. The extraction pipe goes down with a curve and along the back of my peninsular out the external wall. I have a panel then on the other side. You will loose the amount of a cutlery drawer with the workings. The noise on the highest setting is not to bad you can still hold a conversation. I love mine and don’t have to worry about filters.

Thank you, it looks great in your kitchen!