Your Home Climate
Cooling · The problem library

Why does my kitchen get so hot during cooking, and what helps most?

Recently reviewed·Reviewed June 2026, next review December 2026

Kitchens generate more heat than any other room because the oven, hob and dishwasher all run at once during meal preparation. In an open-plan kitchen the warm air has nowhere to settle, so it spreads through the living space. The single most effective intervention is usually a properly ducted cooker hood, not air conditioning.

Editorial confidence
High confidence. Multiple regulator, government or academic sources agree.
Evidence status
Recently reviewed · reviewed June 2026 · next review December 2026
Monitoring
Every six months, plus whenever Approved Document F kitchen-extract figures are revised.
Evidence drawn fromBuilding standards: ADFProfessional bodies: EST, FETA

You may not need to read the rest of this page

You probably already have enough to act if:

  • Your kitchen has a recirculating hood or no hood at all
  • Heat and moisture spread quickly into adjoining living spaces
  • You have not yet measured the extract rate against the hob size
Open the ventilation hub

This is probably the wrong page for you if:

  • Your overheating is not linked to cooking activity
  • You already have a correctly commissioned MVHR boost extracting the kitchen

Minimum kitchen extract rate (intermittent, hood over hob)

30 l/s

Source: Building Regulations; Approved Document F · Approved Document F gives 30 l/s as the minimum intermittent extract rate for a cooker hood and 60 l/s for a fan elsewhere in the kitchen.

Who this advice is for

Applies to

  • Kitchens used for hot cooking at least once a day
  • Open-plan kitchen-diners where heat spreads into the living space
  • Properties with a recirculating or under-powered cooker hood

Not intended for

  • Whole-house overheating unrelated to cooking
  • Properties already fitted with a correctly ducted MVHR system serving the kitchen

What it usually looks like

These are the symptoms readers describe most often. None of them alone is diagnostic, but together they build a picture.

  • Living area warm within thirty minutes of cooking
  • Kitchen still hot two hours after dinner
  • Cooker hood loud but not clearing the air
  • Windows steam up during cooking

Most common in: New-build flat · Victorian terrace · Edwardian semi-detached · Postwar semi (1945–1980)

Before you buy anything

Watch the house respond as you scroll.

These checks are listed in the order we would work through them. The illustration on the left changes with each one, so you can see what each check is actually addressing before deciding whether it is worth doing.

A glazed kitchen extension facing west. By the time supper is being cooked, the room already started the evening warm.

01

Confirm the cooker hood is ducted to outside

Recirculating hoods filter smells but return heat and moisture to the room. A proper external duct is the largest single improvement.

02

Measure the extract rate against the hob size

Many hoods are far too weak for a large induction hob. Building regulations give clear guidance on the volumes needed.

03

Check whether the room has a make-up air path

Extract that has no air to replace it will be quietly weakened. A small kitchen window opened during cooking can double the effective extraction.

04

Look at the oven seal and venting

A failing door seal leaks far more heat than the oven was designed to release. It is a low-cost repair.

05

Consider induction over gas if you are replacing the hob

Induction releases substantially less waste heat than gas because almost all the energy goes into the pan rather than the surrounding air.

Before you spend money

The cheapest answer is usually the one nobody sold you.

  1. 01

    Lift the lid of the hood and check whether the duct goes outside or into a charcoal filter.

    A recirculating hood removes smoke but not heat or moisture; that single check decides whether ventilation upgrades are even possible without ducting work.

    Free
  2. 02

    Cook with lids on pans whenever possible and switch the hob off two minutes before the food is plated.

    Cuts steam load and residual radiant heat noticeably; routinely takes the edge off summer-evening kitchen overheating without any kit change.

    Free
  3. 03

    Open a window on the opposite side of the kitchen during and immediately after cooking.

    Creates a cross-flow that vents the hot cell quickly; on a still day, twenty minutes is usually enough to drop the room three to four degrees.

    Free

What we recommend, and why

Every recommendation explains why it comes first, the evidence behind it, how confident we are, and when it would not apply.

01

Duct the cooker hood to outside before considering cooling

Why this comes first

A recirculating hood returns both heat and moisture to the room. Ducting it externally is usually the single most effective intervention, and it costs a fraction of any cooling solution.

Evidence

Part F and FETA hood-installation guidance both require external discharge for any hood expected to control heat and moisture, not only smell.

ADF · FETA

Confidence

High confidence. Multiple independent sources agree on the direction and the order.

Exceptions
  • Listed properties where external penetrations are not permitted
Next step
See the ventilation hub
02

Match the extract rate to the hob, not the kitchen

Why this comes first

Many hoods are sized for the kitchen volume rather than the heat source. A large induction or gas hob produces more moisture and heat than a small hood can ever clear, regardless of how long it runs.

Evidence

Approved Document F bases minimum rates on the activity rather than the room, and EST's kitchen ventilation guidance highlights hob output as the limiting factor.

ADF · EST

Confidence

High confidence.

Exceptions
  • Kitchens where only cold preparation and microwave use occur
Next step
Plan it on the Home Planner

The trade-offs

Every choice gives you something and asks for something back.

  • Re-duct the existing hood properly to outside

    You get

    The cheapest meaningful improvement; recovers the full extract performance the hood was designed to deliver.

    You give up

    A weekend of disruption and a £200 to £600 duct route; cosmetic compromise where the duct exits.

  • Add MVHR boost in the kitchen

    You get

    Continuous extract that responds to humidity; quieter than a cooker hood and improves the whole house, not just the kitchen.

    You give up

    MVHR is only worthwhile in an airtight envelope; in a leaky kitchen, the boost mode does little for room temperature.

  • Fit a small inverter air conditioning unit

    You get

    Quick relief on hot evenings; precise temperature control in the room people use most.

    You give up

    External condenser, planning checks, £1,500 to £2,500, and the running cost of a system that often only earns its keep four months of the year.

Real homes that faced this

Publicly documented UK projects that ran into the same problem and reported what happened.

We did not run these projects. Each links back to the original publisher so you can read the figures in context and judge for yourself what carries over to your home.

How we'd approach this

Move the heat at source before trying to cool the room.

The fastest, cheapest improvement in a hot kitchen is almost always an honest extract upgrade. A properly ducted hood at the right airflow for the hob removes heat and steam before either reaches the room; a recirculating hood pretends to do the same job and leaves both behind.

We would only consider cooling kit once extract is doing its share. An air conditioning unit added to a kitchen with a recirculating hood is treating the wrong half of the problem; you spend on running costs to remove heat the extractor should never have left in the room.

MVHR boost is the right answer in a well-sealed house, the wrong answer in a leaky one. Treat envelope tightness as a precondition for the technology, not a bonus side effect.

Evidence behind this page

Every recommendation on this page is traceable to its source. Click a publication to read the original.

Products that may help

Only consider these once the checks above have been ruled out. A product fitted into the wrong cause is rarely satisfying.

House Summary

The cheapest answer to kitchen too hot when cooking is usually the one that addresses the cause rather than the symptom. The list above is in the order we would work through it, because the checks at the top tend to rule out the most expensive mistakes further down.

Related decisions
Next Best Step

Air Conditioning; the UK guide

Take the next step