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Buying guide

Ducted or recirculating cooker hood?

A ducted hood pushes cooking air outside through a duct; a recirculating hood filters that air and returns it to the kitchen. If you have a route to an outside wall or a ceiling void, ducting extracts better. If you do not, recirculation is the practical choice and the filters become a maintenance item.

What each type actually does

A ducted installation pulls cooking vapour, grease and odour out of the kitchen and discharges it outdoors. Extraction performance depends on the duct route as much as on the hood, because every bend, every metre of duct and every reduction in diameter costs airflow.

A recirculating hood draws air through a grease filter and then through a carbon or charcoal filter before returning it to the room. Grease and some odour are captured, but moisture and heat stay in the kitchen.

  • Ducted: needs a wall, roof or ceiling discharge point and a duct route of the correct diameter.
  • Recirculating: needs no duct; needs the correct grease and odour filters, kept clean and replaced on schedule.
  • Combination models: many hoods are sold as ducted but can run recirculating with a filter kit, so check the product page before assuming.

How to decide for a UAE kitchen

In apartments the deciding factor is usually whether a duct can reach outside without crossing another apartment, a corridor or a structural element that cannot be penetrated. Where that route does not exist, a duct route is not a preference, it is unavailable.

In villas and new builds, plan the duct before the ceiling is closed. A short, straight duct with as few bends as possible will outperform a longer, more convoluted route on the same hood.

  • Measure the distance from the hood position to the nearest outside surface.
  • Count the bends you would need; each turn reduces effective extraction.
  • Confirm the ceiling or wall material can be penetrated and made good afterwards.

Maintenance and what it costs you over time

Both types need the grease filter cleaned regularly; on most models it can be washed, and some are dishwasher safe. A recirculating hood additionally needs the odour filter replaced, and a saturated odour filter is the commonest reason a recirculating hood starts to feel ineffective.

Ducting needs checking too, especially the outside terminal, because a blocked or bird-nested terminal shows up as poor extraction with a perfectly healthy hood.

Installation

KitchenByPro supplies the appliance. Physical installation is carried out by the brand's authorised service centre or your own fitter; the ducting work itself is a building job, not part of the appliance.

Before ordering, confirm the hood's mounting style against your cabinetry: wall-mounted, built-in or telescopic, island and ceiling hoods all fix differently.

90cm Cooker Hoods in the catalogue

113 products match this guide's recommendation, 55 of them in stock today. Showing 8, in-stock first.

See the full selection on 90cm Cooker Hoods or browse Hoods.

Ducted or recirculating cooker hood: common questions

Can I convert a ducted hood to recirculating?

Often yes, with a filter kit for that model, but not every hood supports it. Check the product page or ask Pro before ordering, and do not assume a recirculating kit exists for an older model.

Do I need an outside wall for a cooker hood?

Only for a ducted installation. A recirculating hood needs no outside wall; it filters the air and returns it to the kitchen, so it is the usual answer for an internal kitchen.

How wide should the hood be?

At least as wide as the hob below it, so a 60cm hob is normally paired with a 60cm hood and a 90cm hob with a 90cm or wider hood. Cooker hood sizes and the full range are listed in our 90cm and 60cm hood pages.