Cooker Hood Not Working in Hounslow - Common Faults and What to Do

Published August 2026 | Cooker Hood Not Working Common Faults

You're cooking dinner, the hob's on full blast, and you reach up to switch on the extractor - nothing. No fan, no light, no response. It's one of those faults that feels minor until the kitchen fills with steam and your smoke alarm starts going off at 7pm on a Tuesday. If your cooker hood has stopped working in Hounslow, you're not alone - our engineers see this fault regularly across the borough, and most of the time there's a clear reason why.

Understanding What's Actually Going Wrong

A cooker hood - sometimes called an extractor fan or range hood - does two jobs. It pulls steam, smoke, grease, and cooking odours away from your hob, either by venting them outside through ducting or by filtering and recirculating the air back into the kitchen. When it stops working, the fault could be electrical, mechanical, or simply down to maintenance that's been put off too long.

The tricky part is that "not working" can mean several different things. The hood might be completely dead - no power, no lights, no fan. Or the fan might run but barely shift any air. Or the lights work but the extraction doesn't. Or you're getting a strange noise. Each of these points to a different cause, and diagnosing which one you're dealing with is the first step. That's exactly what our engineers use the Voltrade GoFIX diagnostic tool for - it helps map symptoms to likely faults before anyone opens a screwdriver.

The Most Common Causes of a Cooker Hood Failing

Loss of Power to the Unit

This is the first thing to check, and it catches more people out than you'd expect. Cooker hoods are typically wired to a dedicated spur or plug socket above the unit. If that spur's fuse has blown, or if the circuit has tripped at the consumer unit, the hood will be completely dead - no response to any button.

Test the socket or spur with a different appliance first. Then check your consumer unit (fuse box) for a tripped MCB - a miniature circuit breaker. Fan motors can draw a surge of current when they start up, especially in older units, and this can occasionally trip a breaker. If the MCB keeps tripping after you reset it, don't keep resetting it. That's a sign of a deeper electrical fault, and it needs a proper look.

Blocked or Saturated Grease Filters

This is by far the most common reason a cooker hood loses extraction performance without fully stopping. Grease filters - the metal mesh panels you can see when you look up into the hood - catch airborne fat and grease before it reaches the fan or ductwork. In an active kitchen, these fill up faster than most homeowners realise.

When filters are saturated, airflow drops dramatically. The fan is still running, but it's fighting against a wall of blocked mesh. In serious cases, a build-up of grease can also become a fire risk. Most manufacturers, including Bosch, Hotpoint, and Beko, recommend washing grease filters every four to six weeks with hot soapy water or in the dishwasher. Many Hounslow households we visit haven't cleaned them in months - sometimes years.

Faulty or Failing Fan Motor

The extraction motor is the heart of the hood. If it fails, you lose all airflow - even if the lights and controls still work. A common sign of a motor problem is a humming sound when you switch the fan on, but with little or no actual extraction. This typically points to a motor that's seized, has a shorted winding, or is running on a failing capacitor.

Motors on budget units from brands like Beko or older Hotpoint hoods tend to fail sooner than those on higher-end models from Bosch or Elica. A replacement motor typically costs between 60 and 120 pounds for the part, with labour bringing the total to somewhere between 150 and 250 pounds depending on the model and how accessible the unit is.

Failed Electronic Control Module or Switches

After power supply issues and dirty filters, the control electronics are the next most common point of failure. The touch controls or push buttons on your hood communicate with a PCB (printed circuit board) that runs the fan and lights. Contacts corrode, tracks lift, and relays fail - particularly on hoods that have been in service for more than five years.

A control board failure can show up in odd ways. Individual fan speeds might stop working while others are fine. The display might flicker. Buttons might become unresponsive. If the fan runs fine when bypassed directly but won't respond to controls, the PCB or switch assembly is the likely culprit. Replacement boards can range from 50 to 180 pounds depending on the manufacturer, and availability varies - older Hotpoint and Beko models can be harder to source than current Bosch or Samsung units.

Blocked Charcoal Filters on Recirculating Hoods

If your kitchen doesn't have external ducting, your hood works by passing air through a charcoal filter to absorb odours before blowing the air back into the room. Unlike metal grease filters, charcoal filters can't be washed - they need replacing entirely, typically every three to six months in a regularly used kitchen.

When a charcoal filter is exhausted, you lose odour removal entirely and airflow drops noticeably. This is commonly misdiagnosed as a fan fault when the fix is a 15 to 30 pound filter replacement. Check your hood's model number and order the correct filter - fitting the wrong size is a frequent mistake.

Light Fitting or Bulb Failure

If the fan works but the hood light doesn't, this is usually the simplest fix of all. LED modules in modern hoods can be replaced relatively cheaply, though on some integrated designs the light assembly is part of a larger unit. Check whether your hood uses replaceable bulbs or a sealed LED strip before assuming you need a full repair.

Solutions That Actually Work

Some of these faults you can tackle yourself without needing to call anyone. Others need a professional. Here's how to work through the most common ones.

For a completely dead hood, start here:

1. Check the plug socket or spur switch above the unit - make sure it's switched on.
2. Plug a different appliance into the same socket to confirm it has power.
3. Check your consumer unit for a tripped MCB and reset it once if it's tripped.
4. If the MCB trips again immediately, stop and call an engineer.
5. If there's power but the hood still doesn't respond, the fault is in the hood itself.

For poor extraction:

1. Remove the grease filters and hold them up to the light - if you can't see through them, they need cleaning.
2. Soak metal filters in hot water with washing-up liquid for 20 minutes, or run them through the dishwasher.
3. If you have a recirculating hood, locate and check the charcoal filter. It's usually behind the grease filters.
4. If your hood has external ducting, check the duct exit point is clear of debris and the flap opens freely.
5. Reinstall filters and test. If performance hasn't improved significantly, the motor or a duct blockage may be the issue.

For light faults, check the bulb or LED module first. If it's a sealed unit, you may need a replacement light assembly specific to your model.

When You Need Professional Help vs Sorting It Yourself

Cleaning filters and replacing a bulb are well within most homeowners' abilities. Beyond that, the risk of making things worse - or creating a safety issue - increases quickly.

Call a professional if:

• The MCB trips repeatedly after being reset - this points to a wiring or motor fault that needs investigation.
• The motor hums but doesn't turn - trying to force it risks burning out the winding entirely.
• The hood was sparking or smelled of burning before it stopped - this needs to be properly assessed before the unit is used again.
• You need a replacement control board fitted - PCB work involves mains wiring and should be handled by a competent person.
• The hood is integrated or hard-wired and you're not confident working around fixed wiring.

In Hounslow and across Greater London, our engineers regularly attend call-outs where a homeowner has had a go at a fault themselves, made it worse, and then had to pay more to put it right. If you're not certain, getting a professional diagnosis first usually saves money overall.

What to Expect from a Repair Visit

A standard diagnostic visit for a cooker hood fault in the Hounslow area typically takes 30 to 60 minutes. The engineer will confirm the fault using a structured check - power supply, filter condition, motor function, control board response - before recommending a repair.

Diagnostic charges in Greater London commonly run between 60 and 90 pounds. If you go ahead with a repair on the same visit, many engineers will absorb the diagnostic cost into the overall job price. Ask about this upfront.

For common repairs, here's a rough guide to what you might pay in 2026:

• Filter replacement (supply and fit): typically 30 to 60 pounds
• Motor replacement: typically 150 to 280 pounds depending on the model
• Control board replacement: typically 180 to 350 pounds for parts and labour
• Light assembly replacement: typically 50 to 100 pounds

If your hood is more than eight to ten years old and needs a motor or control board, it's worth asking the engineer whether repair or replacement makes more financial sense. A mid-range recirculating hood from a reputable brand like Bosch or LG can be installed for 250 to 500 pounds including fitting, and may be more cost-effective than major repairs on an ageing unit.

When the engineer arrives, be ready to tell them: when the fault started, whether it came on gradually or suddenly, any unusual sounds or smells beforehand, and the make and model of the hood if you know it. The model number is usually on a label inside the hood, behind the grease filters. This information speeds up diagnosis and helps with parts ordering if anything needs to be sourced.

Common Questions from Hounslow Homeowners

Why has my cooker hood stopped extracting properly but the fan is still running?

This is almost always a filter issue. Blocked grease filters restrict airflow significantly even when the motor is working fine. On recirculating hoods, an exhausted charcoal filter causes the same symptom. Remove and clean the grease filters first - it's the most common cause we see in Hounslow kitchens and takes around 20 minutes to sort. If extraction is still poor after that, the ductwork may be partially blocked or the motor may be losing power.

Is it safe to keep using my cooker hood if it's making a humming noise?

In most cases, no - or at least not in any meaningful sense. A humming noise with little or no airflow typically means the motor is trying to run but can't turn properly. Continuing to operate it risks burning out the motor winding entirely, which turns a 150 to 200 pound motor swap into a write-off. Switch the unit off, avoid using it until it's been checked, and book a diagnostic visit. In Greater London, most appliance engineers can attend within a few days for a non-urgent fault like this.

How often should I be cleaning my cooker hood filters?

For a typical Hounslow household cooking daily, metal grease filters should be cleaned every four to six weeks. If you cook a lot of fried or high-heat food, every three weeks is more realistic. Charcoal filters on recirculating hoods need full replacement every three to six months - they can't be washed. Most modern hoods have a filter saturation indicator light that tells you when it's time, though not all homeowners realise that's what it means when it comes on.

Can I replace the control board on my cooker hood myself?

Technically yes, if you're confident working with mains electrical appliances and can source the correct board for your model. In practice, it's not something we'd recommend to most homeowners. The wiring connections need to be correct, the board must be the right specification, and if anything goes wrong you could damage the unit further or create a safety risk. For a branded hood like a Bosch or Samsung where parts are readily available, having a competent engineer fit the board is the safer option and typically adds 60 to 80 pounds to the parts cost - which is usually worth it for the assurance.