COMFEE' 60cm Chimney Black

Is the COMFEE' 60cm Chimney Black worth buying?

The COMFEE' 60cm Chimney Black is worth buying at £49.99 if you want 400 m³/h over a 60cm hob and would rather not cross the £50 line. It moves 30 m³/h more than the £79.99 CIARRA CBCS6201 while costing £30 less, and 609 owners rate it 4.4.

It is the wrong hood if the kitchen opens into the living room, because 67 dB at full speed is 7 dB above the CIARRA and that gap covers a normal conversation. In a kitchen with a door you can close, the extra £30 buys nothing you will hear.

What does 400 m³/h for £49.99 actually mean?

Divide the price by the airflow and this hood returns £12.50 for every 100 m³/h it shifts, since 400 m³/h is four lots of 100. The sum is £49.99 divided by four.

The £54.99 SIA CHL60BL asks £13.75 per 100 m³/h and the £79.99 CIARRA CBCS6201 asks £21.62, so each pound spent here moves more air than on either. In practice that means speed one or two handles a normal dinner, and the top setting is there for the night a steak pan smokes out the room.

What comes in the box and how does it fit?

One machine body arrives, 59.8 cm wide, 44.8 cm deep and 56.9 cm tall, weighing 5.3 kg, so one person can lift it onto the wall bracket. The chimney adjusts in height to reach the ceiling, and the 400 m³/h motor runs on 230 V through a three-speed push button panel with an LED lamp over the hob.

Duct this hood to an outside wall and it needs no filter at all; run it as a recirculating hood and you buy the B098XFSKXH carbon filter separately. The 5-layer aluminium grease filter detaches for washing, and the hood comes with a two-year manufacturer warranty and spare parts available for seven years.

Where does the COMFEE' 60cm Chimney Black fall short?

Noise is the first thing you notice, at 67 dB on the top speed against 60 dB on the CIARRA CBCS6201. That figure belongs to full power only, so everyday cooking on speed one sits well below it.

The recirculating kit is not in the box, so add the B098XFSKXH filter to the £49.99 before treating this as the cheaper hood. The painted black finish also shows splashes faster than brushed steel, and three speeds with no booster leaves nothing in reserve for a heavy cooking day.

How does it compare with the CIARRA CBCS6201 and the SIA CHL60BL?

The CIARRA CBCS6201 costs £30 more at £79.99 and shifts 370 m³/h, which is 30 m³/h less, but it runs at 60 dB and 12,710 owners rate it 4.4 against 609 here. Take the CIARRA when the hood runs while people talk in the kitchen, and this COMFEE' when the £30 matters more than 7 dB.

The SIA CHL60BL is the closer call at £54.99 for the same 400 m³/h, £5 more, and it runs at 66 dB with two years of parts and labour. It brings two dishwasher-safe grease filters against one here, so the SIA suits anyone who wants a spare filter ready in the cupboard.