Quiet hood - check out installation tricks and clever features
A quiet hood ensures clean air and proper acoustic hygiene, leading to higher comfort while preparing meals and spending time in the kitchen. An efficient device effectively collects vapours, and thanks to its discreet operation, it protects your ears from excessive noise levels, allows you to talk freely with household members, and makes cooking, frying, and baking a pleasure.
Noise is harmful to health, so it's essential to protect yourself from it. While you may have little control over noise at work or on the street, there is much you can do to ensure your home offers the most soothing conditions for your sense of hearing.
Harmful and Non-Harmful Noise Levels
The body's reaction to sounds is, of course, individual to each person. However, it is generally accepted that noise levels:
- below 35 dB – are harmless, though they can sometimes be annoying and reduce concentration. Examples: whispering, water flowing in pipes, rustling leaves in the wind, a quiet street;
- from 35 dB to 70 dB – are harmless, but excessive exposure can cause fatigue, reduced efficiency, and difficulty concentrating and resting. Examples: murmurs at home and in the office, vacuum cleaner;
- from 70 dB to 85 dB – may be harmful and lead to fatigue, headaches, or nervous system disorders. Examples: noise in a restaurant, honking, loud music;
- from 85 dB to 120 dB – are harmful and can damage hearing, as well as cause disorders of the circulatory, nervous, and balance systems, among others. Examples: heavy traffic, motorcycle without a silencer, chainsaw;
- over 120 dB – are extremely harmful; continuous noise over 150 dB for just 5 minutes can completely paralyse the body and cause (even fatal) disorders in the functioning of various organs. Examples: jet fighter take-off, bomb explosion.
As you can imagine, it’s worth choosing proven, quietly operating home devices to protect your ears, especially those used frequently. This includes the hood – an essential piece of equipment in every kitchen, ensuring the cleanliness of your home and the well-being and health of its occupants. It’s worth knowing that the secret to a quiet hood consists of three things: thoughtful design, modern technologies, and proper installation. Consider these, and you will certainly… hear a big difference!
Quiet Hood – Device Construction
It’s best to choose hoods made from solid, durable materials such as tempered glass, stainless steel (inox, Fasteel), or lacquered steel.
Before purchasing, it's also good to check the fittings of the hood components. Screws should be tightly fastened. The device should not show any assembly flaws – any looseness or poor workmanship can contribute to greater noise. A low-quality hood, additionally poorly installed on a light construction surface, e.g., plasterboard or wooden (see mounting advice in the later part of the article), can transfer resonance vibrations to the wall, which only amplifies unpleasant noise.
It’s also important that the hood has a efficient, high-quality motor. A weak motor turns the device into a resonant box – even a small sound is amplified inside the hood and can be transmitted to furniture and walls, causing unbearable noise.
In well-designed hoods, the noise level is only 40–50 dB on the first speed, which is less than during a regular conversation! For example, the Loteo built-in hood operates this quietly (48 dB).
The Globalo Loteo kitchen hood operates at below 50 dB on the first speed, as guaranteed by tests conducted in an anechoic chamber.
Quiet Hood – Technologies That Will Make You Love Cooking
An efficient hood ensures fresh air and cleanliness not only in the kitchen but throughout the house. However, at higher speeds, the device operates louder, which can be irritating during prolonged cooking. To avoid bothersome noise, you have several options.
You can opt for a hood where the motor is located at the top of the device. This technology – found in hoods such as GLOBALO Cylindro or GLOBALO Toredo, which are among the quietest island hoods on the market (46 and 47 dB respectively on the first speed) – significantly reduces the noise level.
If you live in a house, you can install a hood with an external motor. The only model on the market compatible with an external turbine is the GLOBALO Silentio. With this solution, the hood is installed in the kitchen, and the external motor is placed where it won’t disturb anyone, such as in the attic. During operation, only a gentle air hum can be heard in the kitchen.
There’s also good news for those who, due to the technical conditions of their flat, must choose a hood operating as a recirculator, i.e., equipped with carbon filters. Such a device is generally slightly louder than a hood functioning as an extractor. To enjoy discreet operation from a recirculator, simply choose a unit with a maximum motor capacity of 600 m3/h. Such a hood will still effectively collect vapours, but thanks to the slightly lower-powered motor, it will offer higher acoustic comfort in the kitchen.
Thanks to technological solutions, the Globalo Loteo built-in hood operates quietly even at higher speeds.
Quiet Hood – Proper Installation is Key to Success
Finally, use a few smart installation tips. Remember, proper hood installation is crucial for its correct and quiet operation.
- Always install the hood on a solid and stable surface, such as walls or ceilings made of concrete, bricks, or blocks, which do not tend to resonate, crack, dent, or crumble (never install a hood on plasterboard or wooden surfaces).
- Maintain the same diameter of exhaust ducts as the motor outlet (do not reduce the diameter, e.g., by using narrowing adapters – this will increase the device's noise level and may also impair its air filtering efficiency).
- Ensure the hood’s ventilation duct is as short as possible (the optimal length is 2–3 m, and the maximum should not exceed 6–7 m). Also, make sure the duct is clear, and its cross-section complies with the recommendations given in the hood’s manual.
- Use only straight, smooth pipes of adequate width to the motor outlet (e.g., 15 cm for round pipes or 9 × 22 cm for square pipes). Route them at a 45° angle or in a curve (never use flexible, spiral, or leftover pipes from other installations). For better results, soundproof the pipes, e.g., with mineral wool.
Detailed information on hood installation guidelines can be found in the article Connecting a Kitchen Hood: How to Do It Right.
These simple ideas will lead to quieter hood operation and provide you with significantly greater comfort during everyday cooking.