Hob Under a Window: Why an Extractor Hob Works

If your hob sits directly under a window, you already know the problem: there is no wall to fix a cooker hood to, and there is no way to open the window without hitting it. An extractor hob moves the whole ventilation system down into the worktop, so the window stays clear and the cooking smells still get dealt with.

This guide explains why a conventional hood often cannot be fitted in this layout, what an extractor hob actually does, and what to measure before you order one — including the checks most people only discover after the worktop has been cut.

Why a Hob in Front of a Window Rules Out a Wall-mounted Hood

A wall-mounted hood is a simple piece of geometry: it needs a wall behind the hob and around 65–75 cm of clear height above it. A window in that space breaks both requirements.

• The hood has nowhere to hang. There is glass where the fixing bracket should be.
  
• The window cannot open. A hood body sits in exactly the arc a casement window needs.
  
• Curtains and blinds sit too close to heat. Fabric near a hob is a fire risk, and most blind fitters will not warrant it there.
  
• Steam condenses on cold glass. Even with a hood elsewhere, the first surface vapour meets is the window pane, which then runs onto the sill and the frame.
  
• You may not be allowed to change it. In rented flats, listed buildings or properties in a conservation area, adding a flue terminal or altering the façade can be off the table entirely.
  

This layout is not rare. It is common in older farmhouses, in kitchens built into a former outbuilding, in temporary kitchens during a renovation, and on islands — where there is no wall at all, only a walkway.
In a recent renovation we followed, a couple fitted a CIARRA ONE extractor hob in exactly this situation: a temporary kitchen where the window opened directly over the stovetop. The installation was always intended to be temporary — a few months later, the same unit moved to the island in the finished kitchen.

What an Extractor Hob Actually Is

An extractor hob — sometimes called a venting hob, a downdraft hob, or a hob with an integrated extractor — is an induction cooktop with the extraction unit built into its centre.
Instead of a canopy hanging above the cooking surface, the air intake sits in the middle of the hob itself, between the cooking zones. Vapour and grease are drawn down at worktop level rather than being allowed to rise.

That single change solves three problems at once:

1. No wall required. The unit is supported by the worktop and the cabinet below, not by the wall above.
   
2. No canopy in your eyeline. The space above the hob — and the wall cupboard that would normally be blocked by a hood — comes back to you.
   
3. Capture happens earlier. Extraction starts at the source, before vapour has had a chance to spread across the room, which is the main reason kitchen smells travel into the rest of the house.

Ducted Down, or Recirculating: Two Ways to Run the Same Hob

This is the part that trips people up when they read product pages, so it is worth stating plainly: it is one appliance, not two versions.
The same CIARRA ONE can be installed either ducted or recirculating. The choice is made at installation, based on what your building allows — not at the point of purchase. Which one you use does not change the hob, the cooking zones or the controls.

Option 1 — Ducted down and out

The exhaust is taken from the hob body, turned through a 45° elbow, run down through the base cabinet and out at plinth level. This keeps the ducting entirely invisible: nothing runs up a wall, nothing crosses a window reveal, and nothing shows above the worktop.

This is the route used in the temporary-kitchen installation mentioned above, and it is the cleanest option when the cabinet run backs onto an external wall. The duct run is site work around the appliance — the hob itself is the same unit either way.

Option 2 — Recirculating with plasma⁺ filtration

Where drilling through a wall is not possible — a stone façade, a rented property, an internal island, a conversion — the same hob runs in recirculating mode instead. Air is drawn through the metal grease filter, odours are treated inside the unit, and the cleaned air is returned to the room through an outlet at plinth level.

The CIARRA ONE uses a plasma⁺ filtration system for this. Two practical consequences:

• No external vent terminal. Nothing penetrates the building envelope.
  
• No carbon filters to replace. Conventional recirculating hoods need new activated-carbon filters roughly every three to six months. CIARRA puts the consumable saving at around €200 a year — worth checking against your own usage before you treat it as a fixed figure. 
  

Want to know more about plasma⁺ filtration? Read Ciarra Plasma⁺: Stop Breathing Cooking Pollution to learn more.

The air outlet can also be directed to the left or right, which matters when the cabinet run ends against a wall or a doorway. 

What to Check Before You Order the Extractor Hob

Most of the cost and frustration in these installations sits in five measurements. Get them right and the fit is a half-day job.

1. The cut-out, not the hob size. The 60 cm model needs a 560 × 490 mm opening. Measure the opening you are cutting, not the footprint of the appliance — they are not the same number, and the difference is the flange the unit rests on.

2. Worktop depth and overhang. You need the cut-out plus a safe margin to the front edge and to the back. Deep sinks, tap positions and drawer boxes below all compete for the same space.

3. What is under the worktop. The extraction body and the duct run need vertical room inside the cabinet. In a shallow drawer stack this is where a project stalls.

4. Electrical supply. Induction hobs draw serious current and normally need a dedicated circuit. Confirm the rating on the unit's plate and have the connection made by a qualified electrician — in England and Wales, kitchen circuit work falls under Part P.

5. Clearance to the window. Measure from the worktop to the bottom of the window reveal, and check the swing of the sash. You need enough room to operate the window and to clean the glass, and you do not want a blind fitted where it will hang over the hob.

6. Model and zone layout. The range covers two-burner, four-burner and wider units with Flex Zone. Flex Zone pairs two cooking zones into one continuous surface — useful for a large pan, a fish kettle or a plancha — but it only exists on the wider models.

On worktop material: solid surface and quartz should be cut by a fabricator, laminate needs a fine-tooth blade and a support rail to stop the cut edge flexing, and a temporary kitchen can reasonably use whatever is to hand.

In the installation we followed, the temporary worktop was a repurposed cabinet side panel cut with a circular saw and finished with a jigsaw to avoid tear-out.

Living with Extractor Hob Day to Day

The appeal of an extractor hob is not only the space it frees up. It is that the cooking surface and the extraction controls are the same interface.

• Touch controls light up as soon as the unit is powered and respond to a finger swipe rather than a press.
  
• Nine power levels per zone, set by sliding rather than tapping through steps.
  
• Boost on each zone for a fast rise to heat — bringing a large pan of water up, or searing.
  
• Flex Zone for wide cookware, as above.
• Central extraction that pulls from the middle of the hob while you cook, rather than from a canopy an arm's length above it.
  Cleaning is the part that decides whether people keep liking an appliance two years in:
  
• The grille and the metal grease filter lift out in one movement and go in the dishwasher or a bowl of soapy water.
  
• The glass-ceramic surface is flat, with no raised controls and no recessed burner caps, so a microfiber cloth and a scraper handle everyday spills.
  
• There is no canopy to degrease, which is the job most people quietly stop doing.

When an Extractor Hob is Not the Right Answer

It is a good solution to a specific problem, not a universal upgrade. Think twice if:

• You cook with a lot of oil at high heat. A canopy hood has a larger capture area. If you deep-fry or wok-cook daily, a properly sized ducted hood will generally outperform a compact downdraft unit.
  
• The room has no ventilation at all. Recirculation handles odours, not humidity. A sealed internal kitchen needs mechanical extract regardless of the hob.
  
• Your worktop cannot take a cut-out. Some thin or fragile surfaces, and some integrated sink-and-worktop units, rule it out.
  
• You already have a working ducted hood. The gain is aesthetic and spatial, not performance.

FAQs

Can You Install an Extractor Hob in Front of a Window?

Yes — this is one of the main reasons people choose one. Because there is no canopy, the window stays clear and can still be opened. Keep the window reveal clear of blinds and curtains, and leave enough depth to clean the glass.

Does an Extractor Hob Need to Vent Outside?

Not necessarily. It can be ducted down through the cabinet and out at plinth level, or run in recirculating mode with plasma filtration, which needs no external terminal.

Do I Have to Choose a Ducted or Recirculating Version When I Buy?

No. It is one appliance with two installation modes. You choose at the point of fitting, based on whether the room can take a duct run — so the same unit works in a temporary kitchen now and in an island later.

Which Mode Should I Use If Both Are Possible?

Ducted, if the building allows it: extracting to outside takes the moisture out of the room as well as the grease. Use recirculating where there is no route through the envelope — a stone wall, a rented flat, an internal island, or a conversion where you cannot add a terminal.

How Much Does an Extractor Hob Cost to Run?

Running cost depends on fan speed and cooking time, not on the filtration type. What changes with plasma filtration is the absence of replaceable carbon filters, which CIARRA estimates at around €200 a year in consumables.

Can an Extractor Hob Go on a Kitchen Island?

Yes. An island is the layout where the advantage is clearest, since a wall-mounted hood is not an option and a ceiling hood needs structural support and a long duct run.

Does an Extractor Hob work with gas?

The CIARRA ONE range is induction. Gas hobs cannot share this format, because the extraction unit occupies the space a gas burner assembly needs.

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