I recently purchased and fitted a new kitchen from Benchmarx. They are a trade only joinery outlet, a bit like Howdens. They basically sell Wickes kitchens but at a discounted rate for tradesman like myself. They can supply a whole range of kitchen appliances including a brand that i've only seen at Benchmarx called CDA. I was trying to keep the price down so opted for a CDA cooker hood. It's the stainless steel chimney type with the curved glass hood, very nice looking.
I had the option of using filters or running the fumes out through ducting(the best choice). Building Regs state that the ducting run should be no more than 3 metres and being that the hood was to be sited on a wall opposite to the outside I decided to use filters.
Benchmarx had none in stock so I ordered a pair of charcoal filters from amazon. They arrived and thats when the problems started.
To fit them you have to remove the mesh grill underneath the hood, no problem there. You then have to get them inside the hood and fit them vertically to the motor on each side. The thing is they wouldn't go in! No matter how I turned or twisted them they would not go through the opening at the bottom (a bit like a square peg in a round hole situation).
Eventually I found a way, by distorting them slightly and brute force and in they went. Once inside they fit perfectly onto the motor.
Obviously its the hood itself that is the bad design and you wonder why they built it so that the filters are impossible to get through the opening. So this review is more about the CDA hood than the filters but be wary about buying a CDA cooker hood and if you are buying these filters they will test your patience to the hilt. If you can afford it go for a better brand such as Neff or Bosch.