Faber appliances in Bristol

Air is the whole business here. Faber does not make ovens, fridges or dishwashers. It makes hoods, extractor hobs and air units, and it has done so since 1955 from the same town in the Marche region of Italy, where it built some of the first domestic cooker hoods sold in Europe.

The catalogue is broad and fairly practical. Canopy and built-in units disappear into a chimney breast or a cabinet. Wall and island hoods come in glass and steel. Ceiling units sit flush into a plasterboard soffit, and downdraft extractors rise out of the worktop behind the hob. Extractor hobs put induction and extraction into one appliance. Most models can be ducted out or set up to recirculate through filters.

Since 2005 Faber has been part of the Franke group, which is useful if you are already specifying a Franke sink and tap and want the extraction to come from the same place.

It is a specialist rather than a household name in the UK, so most people have not heard of it before a showroom visit. On airflow, noise and the number of ways it can be fitted, it competes with anything.