Auto-clean chimney: does it really clean itself?

The name promises more than the feature delivers. An auto-clean chimney heats the fan housing so grease softens and runs into an oil collector. That is genuinely useful. It is not a service.

What the cycle does

A heating element warms the turbine area for a few minutes. Grease that has settled there thins out and drains into the collector cup. Run it after heavy cooking and the fan stays cleaner for longer than it would otherwise.

What it cannot reach

• The baffle filters — they are in front of the heated zone, not inside it
• The duct and its bends
• Grease that has already baked hard on the blades
• The oil collector itself, which fills and needs emptying

So the filters still need washing, the collector still needs emptying, and the duct still needs a look. Owners who skip all of that because the chimney is auto-clean tend to call us with a chimney that has quietly lost half its suction.

Empty the oil collector before running the auto-clean cycle. Heating a full cup pushes oil over the edge and down the wall behind the hob.

How to use the feature well

Run the cycle once or twice a week if you fry regularly. Wash the filters fortnightly regardless. Book a proper service every six months — the technician will also check that the heating element itself is working, which is a fault the chimney will not tell you about.