Kitchen reno—where to put microwave

[Anonymous]

One piece of advice: don't build in your microwave, refrig or anything else. We had a built in microwave. When it died, we were left with a custom made space that replacements would not fit it. If you need a built in lock for the microwave, build a finished looking box for it that's a little generous where is can sit. Then a replacement can be sited in the same box and still look good.

[Anonymous]

We are in the process of a kitchen reno and we are going to go with an over the range microwave. I tried all sorts of layouts and this one just made the best use of the space we had available. Lots of people still use OTR units.
If you really want a hood, you can install OTR units over the counter.

[Anonymous]

I'm doing a sort-of renovation. Moving the micro to another cabinet (similar to the PP above this). It will be an "over the range" type of micro b/c we like the handle on the door of those and we like it to be eye-level. I noticed that the counter top micros and the built-in ones often have a "push-button" for opening the door. I don't like those. We want a handle that we pull out to open the door.

Anyway, I have a cabinet refacer-guy who is modifying the existing cabinet to fit the microwave. There won't be any cabinet on the bottom of the microwave -- it'll be just like it is over the cooktop -- but it is going to be over a counter.
We will be putting a vent hood over the cooktop. Never had one of those -- but it might be nice to have when boiling water for pasta and such.

[Anonymous]

We have a really small kitchen and didn't want to lose any additional cabinet or counter space, so the best place for the microwave was over the stove. (Plus, I'm tall, so it doesn't bother me to have the microwave over the stove). However, since the stove and microwave are on an outside wall, we were able to vent the microwave's fan to the outside. It cost us about an extra $1k to do the vent work, but the cost was well worth the money - that fan now does a pretty good job at drawing out cooking smells, even fish or stir fries. It's not the equivalent of a $4000 vent hood, of course, but this isn't a $4000 vent-hood-kind-of-townhouse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in the process of a kitchen reno and we are going to go with an over the range microwave. I tried all sorts of layouts and this one just made the best use of the space we had available. Lots of people still use OTR units.
If you really want a hood, you can install OTR units over the counter.

If this is an OTR one, where does this vent to?

We are moving into a house w/ a shelf space for a "countertop" microwave, with an outlet in the back, located on the lowest section of the upper cabinets, and I'm getting a new microwave with the trip package for a built in look... It looks like this picture but with a stainless frame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are renovating our kitchen. Should we get rid of the microwave above the stove? If so, should we put it in the island. We have a small townhouse so space is important. But it seems no one keeps the microwave above the stove these days.

We have a microwave drawer and a extreme air hood. I really like to cook, but need a strong hood because I don't want my house smelling like food.

Those "hood" microwaves are useless

[Anonymous]

Our contractor just built a shelf for one from an upper cabinet in our Ikea kitchen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in the process of a kitchen reno and we are going to go with an over the range microwave. I tried all sorts of layouts and this one just made the best use of the space we had available. Lots of people still use OTR units.
If you really want a hood, you can install OTR units over the counter.

If this is an OTR one, where does this vent to?

We are moving into a house w/ a shelf space for a "countertop" microwave, with an outlet in the back, located on the lowest section of the upper cabinets, and I'm getting a new microwave with the trip package for a built in look... It looks like this picture but with a stainless frame.

Make sure you allow for the required clearances when you use the trim kit. The microwaves with trim kits typically require more space inside the box around the microwave for proper ventilation and air circulation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in the process of a kitchen reno and we are going to go with an over the range microwave. I tried all sorts of layouts and this one just made the best use of the space we had available. Lots of people still use OTR units.
If you really want a hood, you can install OTR units over the counter.

If this is an OTR one, where does this vent to?

We are moving into a house w/ a shelf space for a "countertop" microwave, with an outlet in the back, located on the lowest section of the upper cabinets, and I'm getting a new microwave with the trip package for a built in look... It looks like this picture but with a stainless frame.

This is Sharp's over the Counter (not over the range) 24" microwave. It mounts underneath an upper wall cabinet. https://www.sharpusa.com/ForHome/HomeAppliances/Microwaves/Models/R1214T.aspx

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in the process of a kitchen reno and we are going to go with an over the range microwave. I tried all sorts of layouts and this one just made the best use of the space we had available. Lots of people still use OTR units.
If you really want a hood, you can install OTR units over the counter.

If this is an OTR one, where does this vent to?

We are moving into a house w/ a shelf space for a "countertop" microwave, with an outlet in the back, located on the lowest section of the upper cabinets, and I'm getting a new microwave with the trip package for a built in look... It looks like this picture but with a stainless frame.

IKEA in College Park has an display with an OTR microwave that is over the counter.
I don't think that they need to be vented. The nice thing about these over the Sharp is that they are standard size and replacing it wouldn't be an issue in 10 years.

[Anonymous]

Isn't the venting for the OTR microwave for venting the stove, not the microwave? Countertop microwaves don't have vents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't the venting for the OTR microwave for venting the stove, not the microwave? Countertop microwaves don't have vents.

It is. Funny most times it is vented to blow back into the kitchen, not vented to the outside.

[Anonymous]

We put ours in at the end of the island and like it there, because we rarely use it.

[Anonymous]

OP, do you vent to outside? In which case, suggest a vent hood system and microwave elsewhere such as below shorter cabinet. I can't imaging not venting to the outside in a kitchen but that's just me.