How to Choose a Kitchen Hood in Kenya: Size, Suction and Fit

For most Kenyan kitchens, the right kitchen hood is one at least as wide as your hob, ideally 10 to 15cm wider on each side, with a suction rating of at least your kitchen’s volume in cubic metres multiplied by 10. A 32 cubic metre kitchen needs roughly 320 cubic metres per hour of extraction. Everything below explains how to apply that rule to your own kitchen, where it needs bending, and what the specification sheet on a hood box is actually telling you.

If you have stood in a showroom trying to decide between a 60cm and a 90cm hood, unsure whether the bigger number on the box actually matters, or whether you are paying for capacity you will never use, this guide is written for exactly that moment of hesitation. Newmatic already has a three-part series explaining why a kitchen hood matters for health, comfort, and design. This guide assumes you have already accepted that case. It exists to answer the next question: once you know you need one, how do you work out which one, and how do you avoid either under-spending on something that will not keep pace with your cooking, or overspending on capacity and features your kitchen will never actually use.

This guide is organized so you can read it end to end before a purchase, or jump straight to the section that answers your specific question. Either way, by the end, you should be able to walk into a showroom with real numbers rather than guesswork.

How a kitchen hood actually works

Before getting into sizing and specification numbers, it helps to understand what is physically happening inside a hood when it is switched on, since several of the buying decisions below only make sense once this mechanism is clear.

Within its chassis, a kitchen hood is built around a set of core components: a blower or motor, one or more filters, a control panel, illumination lamps, and, in ducted models, a valve and air chamber that route extracted air toward the duct outlet. When the hood is switched on, the blower draws contaminated air upward from above the hob. That air first passes through a grease filter, typically a mesh or aluminium baffle filter, which physically traps airborne grease particles before they can travel further into the appliance or settle on kitchen surfaces. From there, in ducted mode, the air passes through an air chamber and a valve before being expelled outside through the duct. In recirculating mode, the air additionally passes through a charcoal filter, which chemically absorbs odours, before being released back into the kitchen.

This is also why the two operating modes perform so differently. A ducted hood physically removes the contaminated air from the home. A recirculating hood can only filter and clean the air it has, then return it to the same room, which is a fundamentally less complete form of extraction, regardless of how strong the motor is.

1. Sizing against your hob

The starting rule is straightforward. Your hood should be at least as wide as your hob, and ideally 10 to 15cm wider on each side. That overhang is not a stylistic flourish. It exists because smoke, steam, and grease particles rise outward from a pan as they cook, not in a neat vertical column, so a hood that is exactly flush with the hob’s width will miss whatever drifts past its edges. The wider margin gives the extraction fan a better chance of catching that drift before it spreads across the kitchen and, eventually, into the rest of the house.

Matching common hob and hood pairings

A 60cm hob paired with a 60cm hood is the most common configuration in Kenyan kitchens, and it is a reasonable default for compact kitchens, roughly 3 to 5 square metres. This is the pairing that shows up in most starter kitchen packages, and for a household cooking mostly stovetop meals without heavy frying, it performs adequately.

Where it starts to fall short is in slightly larger or more open kitchens. A 90cm hood over a 60cm hob is not overkill; it is a genuine upgrade because the extra width captures more of that outward drift and copes better with a kitchen that has more air volume to clear. This wider pairing is the right call for kitchens of 6 square metres and above, and it becomes close to necessary in open-plan layouts, where the kitchen has no walls to contain cooking smells and an undersized hood lets them spread into the living area instead of pulling them out.

Newmatic’s own range reflects this split. The 60cm models, such as the H64.6S and H64.9G wall-mounted hoods, are built for the compact end. The 90cm and wider models, including the H76.9S, H77.9P, and H86.9SB, are built for kitchens that need the extra reach. If you are working from a package deal rather than buying a hood in isolation, the 60cm starter and 90cm deluxe configurations that Newmatic sells as bundles follow this same logic, matched hood, hood, and oven sizes rather than mismatched components that leave one part of the kitchen underperforming.

How to mount it: the height question nobody explains well

Width is only half the sizing question. Mounting height, how far above the cooker hob the bottom of the hood actually sits, matters just as much for whether it does its job, and it is the detail most buyers never think to ask about until installation day.

As a general rule across the appliance industry, gas hobs need more clearance than electric or induction hobs, because gas produces an open flame and more direct heat that could damage a hood mounted too low, or even pose a fire risk. The widely used range for gas is roughly 65 to 75cm above the hob surface. Electric and induction hobs run cooler at the surface, so hoods above them can typically sit slightly lower, in the region of 60 to 70cm, without any safety concern.

Mount it too low, and you risk heat damage to the hood itself, particularly on a gas hob at full flame. Mount it too high, and the hood’s catchment area effectively grows past what its suction can handle, so smoke and steam drift past the edges before the fan pulls them in, defeating the purpose of buying a correctly sized hood in the first place. If you cook with tall stockpots, wok-style high-flame cooking, or you are simply a taller cook who prefers a bit more headroom, err toward the upper end of the range for your hob type rather than the lower end. These figures are general installation guidance rather than a fixed Newmatic specification, so always check the installation manual for your specific model, since exact recommended heights can vary slightly between designs.

2. What airflow figures actually mean

This is the section most likely to earn this guide its keep, because almost nobody explains it properly to a Kenyan audience, and the number that actually matters is buried under marketing language that makes every hood on a showroom floor sound powerful enough for any kitchen.

The formula, and why it exists

Take your kitchen’s volume in cubic metres and multiply it by ten. That gives you the minimum extraction rating, expressed in cubic metres per hour, that your hood should carry. The idea behind the formula is simple: it is a rough estimate of how many times per hour a hood needs to be able to fully turn over the air in the room to keep pace with steady cooking. A hood rated well below that number is working uphill against a kitchen it cannot keep pace with. A hood rated well above it is, for most households, spending money on capacity that will sit unused most of the time.

A worked example, start to finish.

Measure your kitchen’s length, width, and height in metres. Multiply the three figures together to get the volume. A kitchen measuring 4 metres by 4 metres by 2 metres comes to 32 cubic metres. Apply the formula: 32 multiplied by 10 gives 320. That is the minimum cubic metres per hour rating to look for on a hood’s specification sheet for that room.

Try it again for a smaller kitchen: 3 metres by 3 metres by 2.5 metres comes to 22.5 cubic metres, so the minimum rating to look for is around 225 cubic metres per hour. And for a larger, open-plan kitchen area of 5 metres by 6 metres by 2.7 metres, the volume comes to 81 cubic metres, putting the minimum rating at around 810 cubic metres per hour, well into the range where an island hood with a genuinely powerful motor, rather than a compact wall-mounted unit, becomes the sensible choice.

Quick reference for common Kenyan kitchen sizes

Treat this table as a starting point, not a substitute for measuring your own kitchen. Ceiling height in particular varies more than people expect between buildings, and it has a direct, linear effect on the volume figure the formula uses.

Why a bigger number is not automatically the better buy

More extraction capacity generally means a stronger motor, and a stronger motor generally means more noise, particularly at higher fan speeds. An oversized hood in a small kitchen is money spent on a specification you will rarely, if ever, actually need to use, while living with a louder appliance every time you cook. The goal is to size to your kitchen’s real volume, with a reasonable margin for the way you actually cook, not to buy the highest number available on the shelf on the assumption that more is always safer.

The Kenya-specific point worth making

Most published spec sheets for kitchen hoods, including the general ventilation guidance found online, are written with a European kitchen in mind: shorter cooking sessions, less deep frying, and lower average flame intensity. A significant amount of everyday Kenyan cooking involves deep frying, high heat searing and long simmering, all of which generate more steam, smoke and airborne grease than the cooking those guidelines were calculated around. If your household cooks this way regularly, it is worth sizing toward the higher end of the range the formula gives you, rather than treating the bare minimum as the target. A hood rated at the minimum for your kitchen’s volume, cooking European-style meals, may be undersized for a household that fries several times a week.

Understanding fan speed and boost function

Most Newmatic hoods, including entry-level wall-mounted models, are built with multi-speed touch controls, typically three speeds plus an auto-timer function, rather than a single on-off switch. This matters practically: the maximum extraction rating quoted on a specification sheet is almost always the top speed figure, not what the hood runs at during ordinary cooking. In daily use, most households run a hood on a lower or middle speed for routine simmering and reserve the top speed, sometimes marketed as a boost function on other models, for heavier frying or when a pan is producing a lot of visible smoke. Understanding this helps make sense of why two hoods with similar top-line ratings can feel quite different in daily use, since how usable the lower speeds are, and how much noise they generate, matters more to daily comfort than the peak number on the box.

A note on unit: if you encounter specifications from other markets

Kenyan and most African and European specification sheets quote extraction in cubic metres per hour, sometimes abbreviated CMH. Some international or online marketplace listings, particularly from the United States, instead quote airflow in cubic feet per minute, abbreviated CFM. The two units are not interchangeable without conversion. Roughly, one cubic foot per minute equals about 1.7 cubic metres per hour, so a hood rated at 200 CFM is roughly equivalent to 340 cubic metres per hour. If you are ever comparing a Kenyan market hood against a specification you found on an international site, check which unit is being used before assuming the numbers are directly comparable.

3. Hood types, matched to kitchen layout

Newmatic sells three hood types, and the right choice is dictated by your kitchen’s physical layout far more than by personal taste. Each type solves a different practical problem.

Wall-mounted hoods

This is the default choice, and for good reason: most Kenyan kitchens have the hob positioned against a wall, and a wall-mounted hood, whether a straight canopy design like the H64.6S or a curved model like the H77.9P and H77.6P, sits naturally above it. Ducting tends to be the easiest of the three types to install here, particularly when there is an external wall directly behind or adjacent to the hob, since the extraction duct has the shortest possible run to the outside. Newmatic’s wall-mounted range spans both 60cm and 90cm widths, and includes finish options in stainless steel and glass, such as the black-finished H77.9PB-1 and the clamshell-style H86.9SB.

Island hoods

For a hob set into a kitchen island, a wall-mounted hood is not an option, and this is where island-specific models such as the H95.9P, H97.9S and H98.9M come in, designed to be suspended from the ceiling directly above the island rather than fixed to a wall. Be honest with yourself about the ducting implications before committing to this layout: the extraction run has to travel through the ceiling to reach an external wall or roof vent, which is a longer, more involved and generally more expensive installation than a wall-mounted equivalent. If you are still at the kitchen planning stage and considering an island layout, it is worth confirming the ducting route is actually achievable in your building before the island itself is built, rather than discovering the constraint after the cabinetry is finished.

Slim under-cabinet hoods

For small kitchens where a full chimney-style hood would visually dominate the room, or for layouts where cabinetry already runs directly above the hob, a slim under-cabinet hood, such as Newmatic’s H18.6SB or the H17.9X2 and H17.6X2 undermount models, fits into that constrained space without needing a full chimney profile. These models trade some visual presence and, in some cases, top-line airflow capacity for a compact footprint, which is the right trade to make in a kitchen where a standard chimney hood would not fit above the available cabinet space.

Choosing between them at a glance

4. Ducted or recirculating

The honest position is straightforward: ducted, whenever your building allows it. In ducted mode, a hood vents cooking air outside the home entirely, rather than filtering and returning it to the room. Recirculating mode exists for situations where external ducting genuinely is not possible, a mid-floor apartment kitchen with no access to an external wall or roof void being the most common case in Kenya. Still, it comes with a real, measurable drop in performance compared to ducted operation. It requires an additional charcoal filter that needs replacing roughly every six to eight months, depending on how often and how heavily you cook.

This is a large enough topic that Newmatic already has a dedicated post covering it in full: what happens inside the hood in each mode, the health implications of poor extraction, and the long-term cost of maintaining a charcoal filter. Rather than repeating that explanation here, read the complete breakdown in our post on ducted versus recirculating operation. The short version for this guide: default to ducted if there is any way to make it work in your kitchen, and treat recirculating as the fallback for genuinely constrained layouts, not as a like-for-like alternative.

An alternative to charcoal filters: the Active Plasma Converter

For kitchens where ducting genuinely is not an option, most commonly a mid-floor apartment with no external wall or roof access near the hob, Newmatic also offers an Active Plasma Converter as an alternative to relying purely on a charcoal filter in recirculating mode. Rather than only trapping odours passively in a filter medium, the plasma converter actively converts toxic cooking fumes into atmospheric gases, effectively nitrogen, steam and carbon dioxide, rather than simply absorbing them until the filter medium is saturated. It is rated for five years of maintenance-free performance, which removes the recurring six to eight-month charcoal filter replacement cycle entirely for households using it.

This is worth knowing about specifically because it changes the honest recommendation in section 4 above for one particular situation: a kitchen where ducted operation is genuinely impossible, not just inconvenient. In that specific circumstance, a plasma converter is a meaningfully better long-term option than standard recirculating mode with a charcoal filter, since it avoids both the ongoing filter replacement cost and the gradual performance dip that comes with a saturating charcoal filter between replacements. It does not change the underlying recommendation that ducted operation is preferable wherever it is achievable. Still, for open kitchen setups and layouts where ducting is off the table, it is the strongest available alternative.

5. Filters and maintenance

A hood is only as effective as its filters, and the two types built into most hoods need different maintenance schedules.

The grease filter, typically a mesh or aluminium baffle sitting directly beneath the hood, traps airborne grease before it can travel further into the appliance or settle on kitchen surfaces. This filter is reusable rather than disposable, and it should be washed regularly, roughly once a month for a household cooking daily, more often for a household that fries frequently. A grease filter left uncleaned for months does not just get less effective; it actively restricts airflow through the hood, meaning even a correctly sized and rated hood will underperform if its filter is clogged.

The charcoal filter, only present in recirculating mode, works differently. It chemically absorbs odours rather than trapping grease, and unlike the grease filter, it cannot be washed and reused. It is a consumable part that needs full replacement, typically every six to eight months, depending on cooking frequency, and it is worth factoring this recurring cost into the long-term comparison between ducted and recirculating operation, since it does not show up on the initial price tag of the hood itself.

6. Lighting: the overlooked detail

Illumination lamps are an easy feature to overlook when comparing hoods, but they matter more than their small line on a specification sheet suggests. Cooking in the mornings or evenings, when natural kitchen light is at its weakest, means the hood’s built-in lighting is often the primary light source illuminating the pan.

The colour temperature of that light, not just its brightness, affects how accurately you judge your food while cooking. Under an overly warm light, closer to the yellowish tone typical of older incandescent bulbs, food can appear more done than it actually is, risking undercooked results. Under an overly cool, bluish light, the opposite can happen, and food can appear less done than it is, risking overcooking. Daylight-balanced LED lighting, positioned in the middle of that range, gives the most accurate visual read on how a dish is actually progressing, which is why hood manufacturers, Newmatic included, fit daylight-calibrated LED lamps rather than warm or cool-toned alternatives as standard.

7. Materials, and what actually lasts

Newmatic’s standard chassis material is 304-grade stainless steel, and the grade number is worth understanding rather than glossing over, because not all stainless steel is the same. The 300-series grades, of which 304 is the most common in kitchen appliances, include nickel in the alloy, which significantly improves resistance to corrosion compared with lower grades like 430, which lack nickel and are more prone to staining and pitting over time, particularly in humid conditions. For an appliance that sits above a heat source and is exposed to steam every time you cook, that corrosion resistance is not a cosmetic detail; it is the difference between a hood that still looks and performs well after a decade of ownership and one that starts showing rust spots within a few years.

Why the coast is a different conversation

If you live in Mombasa, Nyali or elsewhere along the coast, this matters more than it does inland. The sustained humidity in coastal climates is measurably harder on lower-grade steel than Nairobi’s drier air. Hence, a coastal buyer has a genuinely stronger reason to prioritize material grade than someone shopping in Nairobi, where the same lower-grade steel might show wear more slowly simply because the climate is less punishing on metal.

Glass versus steel: an aesthetic choice, not a performance one

Newmatic also offers tempered glass finishes on several hood models. It is worth being straightforward that the choice between glass and steel is a design decision, not a durability or performance one, both are backed by the same unconditional lifetime factory warranty on the chassis itself. Glass finishes tend to suit a more minimalist, modern kitchen aesthetic and pair well with lighter cabinetry, while brushed or polished steel finishes tend to suit a more traditional or industrial look and are a natural match for cabinetry in grey or wood-brown tones, both of which are currently the more popular cabinet finishes in the Kenyan market. Choose based on how the hood will sit visually against the rest of your kitchen, not on any expectation that one material will outlast the other.

Caring for the finish

A little routine care extends the life of either finish considerably. Stainless steel hoods should be wiped with a soft cloth and a mild, non-abrasive cleaner, avoiding steel wool or abrasive scouring pads, which can scratch the surface and create micro-grooves where grease and grime accumulate more easily over time. Tempered glass finishes are generally more forgiving of everyday cleaning products, but should still avoid abrasive pads for the same reason. In both cases, wiping down the hood after heavy cooking sessions, rather than letting grease build up over weeks, is the single most effective thing an owner can do to keep either finish looking new for longer.

8. Installation considerations worth knowing before you buy

A few practical details do not fit neatly into the sections above but genuinely affect how well a hood performs once it is installed, and are worth knowing before you commit to a specific model.

Ducting runs perform best short and straight.t

This is a general principle of ventilation engineering that applies to any ducted appliance, not just kitchen hoods. Every bend in a duct run reduces the effective airflow reaching the outside, and a long run loses more performance than a short one, even at the same rated extraction speed. When comparing a wall-mounted installation against a kitchen island, this is the underlying reason the island option is harder and less efficient by default: the ducting run is almost always longer. It involves at least one bend through the ceiling void. Where possible, favour the shortest, straightest duct route available in your kitchen’s layout, since a hood with a slightly lower rated capacity but a clean, short duct run can genuinely outperform a higher-rated hood forced through a long, bent duct path.

Install after construction, not during it.

This is a specific and confirmed point in Newmatic’s own installation guidance: kitchen appliances, hoods included, should be installed only after building construction work is complete. Construction dust and debris can damage internal components, and damage caused this way is explicitly not covered under warranty. If you are renovating or building new, factor the hood installation into the very end of your project timeline, after painting, flooring and general construction dust have settled, rather than trying to have appliances fitted early to keep a renovation schedule moving.

Power supply considerations

Kenya’s power supply is not uniformly stable across all areas, and Newmatic’s own product documentation recommends a voltage regulator in locations with unstable power. Products damaged by power surges or brownouts are explicitly excluded from warranty coverage. This is a genuinely useful, low-cost precaution for any household in an area prone to voltage fluctuation, and it is worth budgeting for alongside the hood itself rather than treating it as an optional extra.

Who installs it matters for your warranty.

On several Newmatic hood models, the warranty is explicitly void if the product is not installed by Newmatic’s own installation team. This is worth knowing before you assume a general electrician or contractor can fit the appliance to save on installation costs, since doing so can forfeit warranty coverage entirely on some models. Confirm the installation terms for your specific model with the showroom team before deciding who will carry out the fitting.

9. Warranty and after-sales support

Trust in a large appliance purchase comes down to what happens if something goes wrong, and this is an area worth being specific about rather than vague.

Newmatic’s hood chassis, whether finished in 304-grade stainless steel or tempered glass, is backed by an unconditional lifetime factory warranty, a considerably stronger position than the standard one-year cover common across the market. Beyond the chassis itself, Newmatic hoods intended for regular retail sale carry a one-year general appliance warranty, and several models additionally carry a five-year motor warranty, covering the component most exposed to continuous wear.

Delivery and installation are free within Nairobi County. For areas outside Nairobi County, delivery and installation costs are calculated separately, and the specifics are laid out on Newmatic’s Delivery and Installation page. As noted above, using an installer other than Newmatic’s own team can void the warranty on certain models, so it is worth confirming this detail for your specific choice before booking any third-party fitting.

10. Why ventilation affects more than smell

It is worth stepping back briefly to explain why any of this matters beyond a clean-smelling kitchen. Cooking, particularly with a gas hob in a poorly ventilated room, depletes oxygen levels in the immediate area and releases fumes, some of which are considered carcinogenic in significant long-term exposure, alongside more immediate effects like dizziness, headaches and eye irritation. A hood run in ducted mode genuinely removes this air from the home rather than simply masking the smell, which is the underlying health reason ducted operation is consistently recommended over recirculating wherever it is achievable. This is also part of why sizing and mounting height matter as much as they do throughout this guide; a hood that is undersized, poorly positioned or run mostly in recirculating mode is not delivering the health benefit a correctly specified one provides, even if it still looks the part in the kitchen.

11. Why Newmatic specifically

Since this guide is published on Newmatic’s own site, it is worth being specific here rather than making a vague trust claim. Newmatic offers 15 hood models across 5 design styles, including a patented curved chimney hood design, which represents the largest range of kitchen hoods available in East Africa. Models are powered by twin propeller motors capable of delivering up to 760 cubic metres per hour of airflow at the top end of the range, and every chassis, in either stainless steel or tempered glass, carries the unconditional lifetime factory warranty already described above. That range and depth of specification is precisely what makes it possible to follow the sizing and layout guidance in this article to an actual matching product, rather than settling for whichever hood happens to be in stock.

Retrofitting an existing kitchen versus planning a new one

The order in which you make these decisions changes depending on whether you are designing a kitchen from scratch or replacing a hood in an existing one, and it is worth treating these as genuinely different projects rather than applying the same process to both.

If you are building or renovating from scratch

This is the easier scenario, because the ducting route, hob position and hood type can all be decided together, before cabinetry, ceilings or an island base are built. Confirm the ducting path first, ideally to the nearest external wall or roof void, since this constraint should influence where the hob itself is positioned, not the other way around. If an island layout is part of the design and the ducting run through the ceiling turns out to be impractical or prohibitively expensive once quoted, it is far cheaper to move the hob to a wall-adjacent position at the planning stage than to discover the problem after the island has been built and tiled around it. Involve whoever is planning your kitchen cabinetry and electrical work early, since the hood’s final position, height and duct route all need to be agreed upon before final measurements are cut.

If you are replacing a hood in an existing kitchen

Retrofitting is more constrained, since the hob position, wall structure and any existing ducting are usually fixed. The main question becomes whether the existing ducting route, if there is one, is compatible with your new hood’s outlet size and position. Most Newmatic hoods use a 150mm diameter outlet, and whether the existing wall or ceiling opening will need modification. If you are upgrading from a smaller hood to a wider one, for instance, moving from a 60cm to a 90cm model to better suit a kitchen that always felt undersized, check that the available wall space and existing cabinetry above the hob can actually accommodate the wider unit before ordering. In older homes without any existing ducting at all, a recirculating model, or a plasma converter if the kitchen is open-plan, is often the more realistic retrofit option than adding a new duct route through walls or ceilings that were not designed with one in mind.

Dust, altitude and other everyday realities

A couple of everyday environmental factors, beyond the coastal humidity point already covered, are worth a brief mention since they affect how a hood performs and how often it needs attention, even if they do not change which model to buy.

Many Kenyan urban environments, particularly around ongoing construction and unpaved roads, carry more ambient dust than the conditions under which most hood specification sheets are tested. Dust settles on and can clog grease filters faster than in a dust-free environment, which is a practical reason to lean toward the more frequent end of the monthly filter cleaning schedule mentioned earlier, rather than assuming a fixed interval applies everywhere equally. Altitude, relevant for Nairobi and other highland areas, has a comparatively minor effect on air density and therefore on a hood’s rated performance, small enough that it is not a factor worth adjusting your sizing calculation for. Still, it is worth knowing that published extraction ratings, like most appliance specifications, are typically tested at sea level conditions.

Design styles: matching a hood to your kitchen’s look

Newmatic’s hood range spans five distinct design styles, which is worth knowing since the right size, type and material can still come in a design language that does not suit your kitchen. Straight canopy designs, such as the H64 series, offer a clean, minimal profile that suits a modern kitchen without drawing much visual attention to the hood itself. Curved designs, including Newmatic’s patented curved chimney hood shape seen on models like the H76.9S and H77.9P, add a softer, more sculptural element and tend to become a visual feature of the kitchen rather than a purely functional fixture. T-shaped wall hoods, such as the H64.6G and H64.9G, offer a distinct silhouette partway between a straight and curved profile. Vertical, clamshell-opening designs like the H86.9SB fold outward when switched on, adding a mechanical, almost architectural presence that suits a statement kitchen. Slim under-cabinet profiles, covered earlier, prioritize disappearing into the cabinetry over making any visual statement at all. None of these design choices affects extraction performance at a given airflow rating, so once you know your required size and type, choosing between them is entirely a matter of matching your kitchen’s visual style.

What actually drives price differences between hood models

Once you understand sizing, type and material, hood pricing across a range starts to make more sense than it does on a showroom floor at first glance. A handful of factors typically explain why one model costs more than another of a similar size.

Width and airflow capacity are the most direct drivers. A 90cm hood with a stronger twin-propeller motor rated for higher airflow costs more to manufacture than a 60cm model with a single, smaller motor, and that difference is passed through to the price. Material finish is the second major factor: tempered glass fronts and more elaborate design work, such as a patented curved canopy rather than a straight one, typically sit at a higher price point than a simple straight stainless steel design, even at the same width and airflow rating, since the tooling and materials involved cost more.

Additional features add further separation within a range. A model fitted with an Active Plasma Converter, multiple fan speeds with a boost function, or a fully touchscreen control panel rather than mechanical buttons will generally cost more than a comparable model without those features, and whether they are worth the difference depends entirely on whether your kitchen and cooking habits will actually use them. An open-plan kitchen with no ducting access genuinely benefits from a plasma converter. In contrast, a small, well-ducted kitchen may not need it at all. Finally, buying as part of a package deal, hob, hood and oven together, is typically more cost-effective than buying each appliance separately at full price, which is worth factoring in if you are furnishing a kitchen from scratch rather than replacing a single existing appliance.

Putting it all together

Choosing a kitchen hood in Kenya comes down to working through five decisions in order, rather than starting with whichever model looks best in a showroom display. Start with your hob’s width and add the recommended overhang to set your minimum hood width. Calculate your kitchen’s volume and multiply by ten to set your minimum extraction rating, adjusting upward if your household cooks with a lot of deep frying or high heat. Confirm whether your hob sits against a wall or within an island, since this decides which of the three hood types is physically achievable in your kitchen. Check whether ducting is realistically available, and if it genuinely is not, weigh a charcoal filter against an Active Plasma Converter for recirculating operation. Finally, choose a material and finish based on your climate and the rest of your kitchen’s design. Coastal buyers should weigh material grade more heavily, and match the finish to your cabinetry.

Work through those five decisions in that order, and the specific model you land on will be one that actually fits your kitchen, rather than one chosen on the size of the number printed on its box.

Glossary of terms used in this guide

Cubic metres per hour (m3/h or CMH): the standard unit used to measure a hood’s extraction rate, describing how much air volume it can move in one hour.

CFM: cubic feet per minute, an alternative airflow unit common on international or American specification sheets. One CFM is roughly equal to 1.7 cubic metres per hour.

Ducted (vented) mode: an operating mode where the hood expels extracted air outside the building through ductwork.

Recirculating (ductless) mode: an operating mode where the hood filters extracted air and returns it to the same room, typically using a charcoal filter to control odour.

Chassis: the main body and structural housing of the hood, typically finished in stainless steel or tempered glass.

Grease filter: a mesh or aluminium baffle filter that traps airborne grease particles, reusable and washable.

Charcoal filter: a consumable filter used only in recirculating mode to chemically absorb odours, requiring periodic replacement.

Chimney hood: an alternative regional name for a kitchen hood, commonly used in markets outside Kenya.

Kitchen extractor: another alternative name for the same appliance, describing its core function of extracting cooking air.

Boost function: a temporary top-speed setting on some hoods, used for heavier cooking sessions rather than continuous daily use.

A decision checklist for the showroom

Work through these five points before you visit a showroom or place an order. Having real answers, rather than estimates, is what lets a showroom consultant size a hood against your actual kitchen instead of a generic recommendation.

Start with your hob’s exact width in centimetres, since this sets the minimum hood width you should be considering. Next, measure your kitchen’s length, width and height in metres and calculate the volume, then multiply by ten to get your minimum extraction rating. Confirm whether an external wall or roof access exists near your hob, since this determines whether ducted operation is realistically achievable. Note whether your hob sits against a wall or within an island, since this decides which of the three hood types applies to you. Finally, set a realistic budget range that includes installation costs, particularly if you are outside Nairobi County.

Common mistakes worth avoiding

A handful of avoidable mistakes come up repeatedly when buyers choose a hood without working through the sizing and layout questions above.

Buying a hood that matches the hob’s width exactly, rather than allowing the recommended overhang, is the single most common sizing mistake, and it quietly reduces how much smoke and steam the hood actually captures compared with a correctly sized model. Choosing an island layout without first confirming a ducting route is achievable is a costly mistake to discover late, sometimes after the kitchen island itself has already been built around the wrong assumption. Ignoring material grade because a lower-grade steel hood looks identical on a showroom floor is a mistake that only becomes visible years later, particularly for coastal buyers. Mounting a hood at an arbitrary height, rather than following the general clearance guidance for a gas or electric hob, undermines even a correctly sized and correctly rated hood’s performance. Neglecting the grease filter cleaning schedule slowly reduces a hood’s real-world performance well below its rated specification, regardless of how correctly it was sized at purchase. And treating the top-line airflow figure on a specification sheet as the only number that matters, without considering noise at that speed or how the hood performs on the lower, more commonly used settings, leads some buyers toward hoods that are technically powerful but unpleasant to live with day to day.

A note on sustainability

Newmatic holds the ESCAP Sustainable Business Network Asia-Pacific Green Deal Green Badge, awarded in partnership with STACS and ESGpedia in recognition of the brand’s sustainability commitments. For a buyer weighing a kitchen hood as a long-term purchase, this sits alongside the lifetime chassis warranty as part of the same underlying argument: an appliance built to last a decade or more, rather than to be replaced every few years, is the more sustainable choice by default, regardless of any specific certification. If a hood needs replacing every few years because of a lower-grade chassis material or an underpowered motor pushed beyond its comfortable operating range, the environmental and financial cost of that repeated replacement outweighs almost any efficiency gain a cheaper model might offer on paper.

Where to read more

This guide is deliberately focused on the practical mechanics of choosing a hood: size, airflow, type, material and installation. If you have not yet read Newmatic’s earlier series making the broader case for why a kitchen hood matters in the first place, it is worth reading alongside this guide rather than instead of it. Part one covers the health case for extraction in detail, part two covers the everyday quality of life improvements a well-functioning hood brings, and part three covers how a hood fits into overall kitchen design. Together with the dedicated post on ducted versus recirculating operation linked earlier, this series and this guide cover both why a hood matters and exactly how to choose the right one for your specific kitchen.

Ready to see the range in person?

Newmatic has 7 showrooms across Kenya, in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu and Eldoret. Bring your kitchen’s measurements in, and the showroom team can size a hood against your specific space rather than a general rule of thumb. Browse the full kitchen hood range here.

Kitchen Hoods in Kenya: Common Questions

What size kitchen hood do I need for a 60cm hob? At minimum a 60cm hood, but a 70cm or 90cm hood over a 60cm hob captures smoke and steam more effectively, since it extends past the edges of your pans. If cabinet space allows it, going wider is the better choice.

How much suction does a kitchen hood need? Multiply your kitchen’s volume in cubic metres by ten to get the minimum cubic metres per hour rating. A kitchen measuring 4 metres by 4 metres by 2 metres is 32 cubic metres ,so you would want a hood rated at around 320 cubic metres per hour or above.

Is a ducted or recirculating kitchen hood better? Ducted, whenever the building allows it. Ducted hoods vent cooking air outside entirely. Recirculating hoods filter the air and return it to the room, which works where external ducting is not possible, but requires a charcoal filter and delivers lower performance.

How often do charcoal filters need replacing? Typically, every six to eight months, depending on how often and how heavily you cook. Households that fry frequently will be at the shorter end of that range.

How often should I clean the grease filter? Roughly once a month for daily cooking, more frequently for households that fry often. A clogged grease filter restricts airflow and reduces performance even on a correctly sized hood.

Does a bigger hood always mean better performance? No. Beyond what your kitchen volume actually calls for, extra suction capacity mostly adds noise and cost. Size your kitchen rather than the largest number available.

Can a kitchen hood be installed above an island hob? Yes, using an island hood designed to be suspended from the ceiling. The ducting run is longer and more involved than a wall-mounted installation, so factor that into both budget and planning.

How high above my hob should the hood be mounted? As a general guide, gas hobs need roughly 65 to 75cm of clearance, while electric or induction hobs can sit slightly lower, around 60 to 70cm. Always confirm the exact recommended height in your specific model’s installation manual, since this can vary slightly between designs.

What is the difference between a kitchen hood, a chimney hood and a kitchen extractor? These are different names for the same appliance. Kitchen hood is the term most commonly used in Kenya, while chimney hood and kitchen extractor describe the same category of product in other markets. All three refer to the appliance installed above a hob to extract smoke, grease and cooking odours.

What warranty comes with a Newmatic kitchen hood? The chassis, in either stainless steel or tempered glass, carries an unconditional lifetime factory warranty. The appliance itself carries a standard one-year warranty, and several models carry an additional five-year motor warranty.

Does the warranty cover installation by any electrician? Not on every model. Several Newmatic hoods have a warranty that is void if the product is not installed by Newmatic’s own team. Confirm the installation terms for your specific model with a showroom consultant before booking a third-party installer.

How much does a Newmatic kitchen hood cost in Kenya? Pricing varies by model, size and finish. Since prices and promotions change, the most accurate figures are on the current hoods category page or from a showroom consultant, rather than a fixed number quoted here.

Should I choose a stainless steel or glass finish? Both are backed by the same lifetime chassis warranty, so the choice comes down to how the finish fits your kitchen’s look. Steel tends to suit grey or wood-toned cabinetry, while glass suits a more minimalist, modern design.

Why does hood lighting colour matter? The colour temperature of a hood’s lighting affects how accurately you can judge whether food is cooked. Daylight-balanced LED lighting, which Newmatic fits as standard, gives the most accurate visual read compared with overly warm or overly cool lighting.