Cooker hood smells of burning when first switched on after installation (all brands)
⚠️ This needs a qualified professional
This fault involves gas or mains electrical work. Don't attempt a DIY repair — UK law requires gas work to be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Below is what to check and describe to them, not step-by-step repair instructions.
A faint hot or dusty smell the first few times you run a newly installed or newly serviced cooker hood is usually protective coatings and manufacturing residue burning off the motor — but knowing when that’s normal versus when to stop and check matters.
What’s normal
- A mild, dusty “hot electrical” smell for the first few uses of a genuinely new hood, fading noticeably each time you run it, and gone entirely within the first week or so of normal use.
What’s not normal — stop and check
- Check the smell isn’t accompanied by any visible smoke, sparking, or a distinctly acrid/plastic burning smell rather than a mild dusty one — these point to a genuine fault, not run-in residue.
- Check nothing is touching or resting against the fan motor housing that shouldn’t be — this is worth a visual check (with the hood switched off) if the smell persists past the first week.
- If ducted, check nothing flammable was left in the ducting during installation.
⚠️ Stop using it if the smell persists or worsens
If the smell is still present, or gets stronger, after several uses spanning more than about a week, or if you ever see smoke or sparking, switch the hood off at the isolator and don’t use it again until a qualified electrician or appliance engineer has checked it. A genuine burning smell in any mains electrical appliance is a fire safety matter, not something to keep testing.