Over the range microwave install question

[Cindy B]

Our countertop microwave is dying a slow and painful death.


We went out last night to look at them, but I didn't buy one (see spending money post!)


Anyway, counter tops and OTR (over the range) microwaves were about the same price. (We want one that is about 2.0 cubic feet or more)


Counter ones were $159-169/OTR were maybe ten dollars more.

Has anyone done this? Replaced the rangehood with a OTR microwave? How do you install it.? Do you need venting into the walls? My rangehood is a stainless steel thing that is well slightly dated. (on the list to go sometime eventually.)

It would go over my burners in the counter.

We have put a micro under a cabinet before., is it the same principle?

 

[Fantasia Girl]

We put one in, and we have no venting in the walls, there is an air vent/fan built into the top of the microwave. We love ours, it frees up counterspace, and looks nice too!

 

[Amy]

We've had an OTR microwave for 16-17 years, and I love it! It takes up absolutely no counter space (which we don't have much of to begin with). DH is an electrical engineer, and I remember he had to run a separate line thru the wall that's just for the microwave. Now, our house was built in 1978, so if you have a newer house you might not need the new wiring. (The wiring and plug are "hidden" inside the cabinet that's above the microwave.)

We also have no outside venting; there are vents built into the microwave.

 

[Steve H.]

Yep, we put one in when we redid our kitchen. It required having an outlet inside one of the cabinets above the range, but otherwise, it's not a hard thing to install.

Like others said, the venting is built into the microwave.

 

[Towncrier]

We got our OTR microwave back when they were substantially more expensive than the counter models. Our old microwave died and I made the mistake of throwing it out before buying a replacement. Sue loved the extra counter space, so we ended up tracking down a replacement cupboard for over the stove to accommodate the increased size of an OTR microwave. I have a friend in the building trades who helped me vent the microwave to the outside. This was an optional step as my original range hood was not setup that way.

My only complaint about the microwave is that it is difficult to clean the vents on the top. Even though the unit is vented to the outside, when the microwave is on, it circulates kitchen air through those vents on the font and they tend to get a bit greasy.

BTW - If you are ever at Old Key West Resort, the microwaves that they have in the 1BR, 2BR, and Grand Villas are identical to the model that we have at home.

 

[Cindy B]

Well the house was built in 1962, so we would have some older wiring. However the kitchen was redone in the 80's.. so we "MAY" have the wiring.


I looked at the instructions for installations and it said something about a "vent pipe"


Extra plug in the wall.. hmmm.. Is that diffulcult to do?

 

[luv2nascar]

My DH installed ours
He had to drill holds in the bottom of the cabinets
It came with a template
We have the outlet inside the cabinet
it really didn't take very long (1/2 hr or so)

 

[ahutton]

We were given one as a gift, and were fortunate enough that they included the installation. I recall it being very reasonable (around $50 a few years ago) and we decided that if we needed one ever again it was well worth that much money!

 

[Cindy B]

Ok, so you take off range hood
Then you drill holes on the bottom of the cabinet above range hood

Plug may be something that we need

 

[Buckalew]

Cindy,
I want one of these also. I am sure someday soon I'll NEED one. Thanks for asking the question!

 

[Cindy B]

Ok, I just looked at my kitchen...

I have a plug outside not inside the cabinet.


I guess I couldn't use that plug, I guess. The install instructions didn't seem that bad.. basically attach mounting bracket on top of cabinet, and put plug in cabinet.



You can tell that I 've never had one of these things before.