Over stove microwave w/vent clearances?
What is the usual distance from over the range venting microwave bottom to cooktop, both for function and esthetics? 30 inches?
The 30″ wide microwave has fan of 300cfm, to be mounted over a 30″ wide 5-burner lp gas range.
The microwave installation book says MINIMUM distance from cooktop to wall cabinet bottom is 30″, with a 16.5″ height of the microwave. That looks dumb and leaves less than 15″ clearance for pots.
Also, if the kitchen wall cabinets do NOT go to the ceiling, and there is no soffit how do you you “hide” the vent ductwork going through the ceiling?
Do you just box it in with drywall and paint?
Have you ever used a taller wall cabinet (that goes to the ceiling) only over the microwave?
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
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Mine is mounted with the bottom of micro/fan at 18" above the range, same as cabinets, I mounted a dedicated receptacle in the wall cab for power and the ducting elbows out through the wall inside that cabinet
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Is it awkward trying to cook with BIG soup/spaghetti sauce pots (stirring, even splatters)?
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Not at all. We have a large kettle for steaming lobsters in. Front burners are completely clear, but we do have an installation style that pulls the range forward 2-3 inches. That 18" clearance should be a minimum though.too much higher would make it inconvenient to use the micro safely tho.
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Did you put a shelf or some other "feature" above/behind the cooktop? Any pics?
I was thinking of doing something like that.
Also, I might want maybe 21 inches from cooktop, with the cabinet above also 2 or 3 inches proud of the others and a bit higher.
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
The exterior wall this is on is a log wall. So I mounted a backsplash panel to compliment the countertop and have something cleanable and fire-resistant there. It suspends an inch or two off the logs too and becomes a chase for wiring runs.The previous post here mentions fire at this location.The K&B design Association now has some recommendations/guidelines that would discourage a micro in this location. I did not mention this at first because it seemed this decision was already made so I was mostly talking about how to....They now say that for a 30" range, the space above should be designed to have a 36" vent hood, keeping the flanking wall cabs another 3" back laterally to each side. AFAIK, all the micro/vents are all 30"The other rec they have is directly in relation to microwaves in general, and somewhat relative to universal design and aging population. They are saying that a micro should be installed or placed at an elevation where the bottom of the opening is aligned with your elbow or lower.
The idea here is that the older a person is, the more difficult it is with diminishing strength to take a hot bowl of something out of the micro without tipping it and spilling it all over themselves.I have mixed feelings on that issue, but it exemplifies one reason for not going too high with this installation. If the residents are tall and healthy, 21" should not be a problem though.
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Just curious, why up through cabinet and then out vs directly out back? Most I have seen are set up for top or back venting. Maybe I am only looking at the lower end of the breed.
Mine is 20 clearance and plenty accessible for my 5'2" wife. I am getting ready to install one on job with standard 84" high cab, added a 12 high cab over the range. Should give 19 clearance which I find comfortable and functional.
Bob
In my kitchen I have 16" from the bottom of the microwave to the cooktop surface. Works just fine. I do most of the cooking and have used very large pots on back burners without any problems. One thing that does occurs is that when all four burners are being used on high (natural gas), the heat sensor in the microwave turns on the exhaust fan automatically to exhaust all the heat - not a problem at all but just thought I'd mention it as an indication that the 16" proximity kind of traps heats a bit.
Ductwork is like Piffen's - 90 out back of wall cabinet and through exterior wall to spring-louvered exhaust.
Note that our range has front-mounted dials (http://www.frigidaire.com/products/cooking/ranges/slide-in_gas/prod_GLGS389F.asp). I wouldn't want to reach back to back-mounted dials with this set up.
We're doing almost exclusively 36" uppers, with the micro cabinet being an 18" that puts the micro a bit above 18" from the cooktop and leaves us room to wrap the light rails around the adjacent 36" cabinets.
Ded outlet in the right side of the cabinet, and we box in the duct work with finished birch ply.
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The looks aren't everything.
I had a grease fire on my stovetop 2 years ago, with a microwave oven and cabinet not far above the cooktop, maybe 18", and it was not a pretty sight. There wasn't a lot of fire damage, but the smoke damage throughout the first floor of my house was intense and the final bill to clean and repaint was in the $8,500 neighborhood. Most of the smoke was caused by the burning of the microwave and cabinet around it.
So now my new setup is 26" from the (new) stove top to the bottom of the micro.
Ed
Mine is also mounted with the bottom of micro/fan at 17 & 1/2" above the range, same as cabinets
In many states the building code technically adopts the requirement to 'follow manufacturer's instructions' especially in areas like this involving potential fire hazards.
Follow manufacturer miniumums ... and if you can help it don't put a microwave/fan unit over a cooktop.
Jeff