Is your kitchen going to have an island? I'm 5' tall and I plan on putting an Advantium in my island. I'm also going to have the base cab for my cooktop built lower then standard so I can be more comfortable. Hope whoever buys my house one day is also vertically challenged!

One idea is to install a kick drawer below the stack. Then put a platform in the kick drawer, to provide an extra 3-4" extra height.

Why not move the warming drawer to a more useful location? At the bottom of an oven stack is really really low; practically on the floor. Many people find that they prefer their warming drawer to be mounted next to or across from their cooktop, or close to where food is served. Placing it directly under the counter or in the 2nd drawer position will eliminate a lot of squatting. You'll get the added benefit of being able to mount your oven and advantium so that you can reach them better.

I have this set up (WD, oven, Advantium in a stack) and I am more vertically challenged than you are - only 5'0". My advantium is 48" from the floor to the bottom of the trim piece. I've mentioned before in other threads that it really is too high in that location for me. I don't like it this way. The advantium door opens down, so when taking hot dishes out, I have to reach over the oven door which is right in my armpits (and can be hot!). It is a long reach to the center of the oven, and I cannot reach the back wall at all to clean it (without a stepstool). I find changing trays annoying - they are fairly heavy and awkward at that height, and its hard to get them to sit properly on the turning mechanism, especially if the oven is already hot so that I have to use oven mitts. It is usable for me, and I do use the advantium many times daily, but it is far from ideal. Of course you are 4 inches taller, and it sounds like your advantium will be an inch lower than mine. I think it will be functional for you, but may still be a little awkward. cpovey has a great idea there about a pull out platform in the toe kick, although I would not want to bend down to pull it out every time I needed to access the microwave/advantium. Maybe get some kind of foot-operated mechanism to open the drawer?? And make sure it pulls out beyond the advantium door when opened, or it won't do you any good. If you do decide to move the WD to another location, you could put in a shallower storage drawer below the oven or betw oven and advantium to hold the advantium accessories. It really helps if you have a place to store them nearby. Mine are in tray dividers in the cabinet above the advantium, where I can just about reach them. I do find myself changing trays frequently (glass one for microwave use and dark metal for speed cooking). As far as having the WD near the floor, I don't mind it there, but that is because I don't use it daily. There are more convenient places, as alku05 said, but it seemed like the best solution in my kitchen. I wish I had thought about the height issue, though. It wouldn't be so bad if the advantium door opened to the side. What were those designers thinking?

My Advantium is a whopping 50" from the floor! I'm 5'3" and in a perfect world my oven would be lower (it's located where a previous built-in mw was located). My step stool happens to live on the floor right where the oven is, so I just step up onto it. Moving your warming drawer as suggested sounds like a great solution, if it's possible in your kitchen plan.

Thanks to all who have weighed in so far. We have a pretty tight set up, and there is no place to easily move the WD. The layout is a U across from a wall that will hold my refrigerator and a 36" bank of drawers. We may toy with making the cabinet 30" and putting it there, but I really hate to do that now.

remodelfla, I am curious about your mounting of the Advantium under the counter. My DH suggested we put the Advantium between the oven and the WD, so that the oven would be the top of the stack. This would situate the Advantium just below countertop level. The oven would be at a perfect hieght. Here's the problem: GE says the Advantium has to be mounted at >35" off the floor. So how did you get around this, remodelfla? If I do that, will I invalidate my warranty?

Wow! 50" lindawink? Now that's up there! I did measure it out and it doesn't look too bad, but I would need a step stool to clean.

The bottom of my advantium is 48" high and I'm 5'2" and I don't think it's too high, I don't need a step stool or anything - I probably wouldn't want it any higher though...

teched, I haven't installed an Advantium yet. This is all a plan that keeps getting tweaked! I could have sworn I've seen threads on here with people who installed an Advantium in an island. Can any GW'ers out there weigh in? Sorry if I wasn't clear about that. I'll be interested to see the responses.

Hi remodelfla--Yes, I have seen those too. The threads provide a phone # for GE and indicate they have gotten the go ahead to install in a base or island, but the specs say not to. I am playing around with marking the set up to see if I can reach in. I really don't want to move the WD because a lower oven sort of defeats the purpose of not having a range. I am really encouraged by lishaana!

Teched, I have been agonizing over this very thing for weeks. After measuring and measuring, marking the wall, leaning over pieces of cardboard sticking out at various heights, pondering over various Advantium displays in many stores, and reading every related post I could find here, I gave up on the whole Advantium idea completely. Love the concept of a multi-purpose speed cooker on the wall over a regular single oven, but I decided if I have to place the drop-down door Advantium at a height where I could comfortably reach in to get stuff without burning my armpits, or reach in to clean it without a stepstool (don't think these are self-cleaning!) it will be so low that the ergonomic benefit of a wall oven beneath it is negligible. With the layout I want for my kitchen, there are no alternative placements I like. I want my ovens stacked, and there's only one place to do it.

I'm 5'2" if I stand real straight. I decided if I'm going to spend the big bucks to redo this kitchen, it's really going to have to work for ME - yet I don't want it to look too much like a midget's kitchen, in case we ever sell the place!) I'm working to get rid of my little plastic step stool, not put myself in a situation where I have to use it for everyday cooking!

I'm now leaning toward either a side-opening Gaggenau steam oven stacked over the Gaggenau convection (with my old, cheap countertop microwave stashed in the adjacent laundry mudroom to heat up my coffee and canned soup), or just going with a built-in micro over the regular oven (which can be mounted higher because with the swing-out door, I can get right up to it to reach in). Big difference in price, I realize, but I'll make the final decision when the bids for the entire project come in!

My husband says I shouldn't settle for anything I don't really love. It's a philosophy that has served us well in marriage; guess it's worthwhile in kitchen planning, too. BTW, your KD is crazy to call you "short." My husband says I am not short, I am "medium-short." That makes you a "tall-short" at minimum!

Good luck!

I'm 5 foot tall and the bottom of my advantium is 43" off the floor. It's stacked above my oven and there is one small drawer below. It could probably be an inch or two higher - but it's really at a very comfortable height for me. I lowered the oven for this reason (thanks to comments by needanap) and am happy I did.

I bought the advantium because of the many glowing reviews in this forum - and so far, I haven't been disappointed!

My 12 year old daughter is 5'4" and she can reach our microwave without any strain. No standing on her tiptoes either - and the bottom is at 52" above floor level. My 4'5" younger daughter has trouble with it and needs a step stool. But we were thinking that this is only an issue for a couple of years and then she'll be fine with it. That didn't really warrent a complete design change for us.

Keep in mind that eventually we're all going to get shorter. Depending on your age and how long you plan to live with this kitchen, it might be wise not to set it up for the limit of what you can handle now.

It's not just the bottom -- you have to be able to see & operate the controls too, which are at the top. I'm 5'2" and our Advantium is 38" off the floor. DS can operate it easily & safely; although he will eventually be taller than me, he isn't now. We have our Advantium by itself, with drawers below it for the Advantium accessories and all our microwave safe cooking items. Over the Advantium, we have vertical pan & tray storage which is low enough to reach without a stepstool.

Others have posted here and on the Kitchens forum that GE allowed them to mount the Advantium below a counter top. However, a call to GE today nixed that. They are now saying that something about the way speed ovens work means that it just functions better above the counter top. Really?

Meanwhile, I spent the weekend touring appliance stores and checking out oven heights. I think I will be fine as long as I get on a step stool to clean the thing. DH suggested we keep out old mw in the pantry until the kids are tall enough to use the Advantium. Sounds like a good plans since it will take me a while to figure out how to use it.

Thanks!

Requiring the Advantium to be at or above countertop height makes no sense to me, especially after using one. Other posters have wondered if the UL approval was only obtained at countertop height. GE reportedly has said something about heat issues, but that argument applies to ALL ovens, & it's normal for ovens to be below counter height.

Gaggenau also requires its combi-steam oven to be at or above counter height, but that's to make its gravity drain work properly if it is connected to sink plumbing, which is typical. Some owners are able to run the drain line straight down thru the floor, so the height requirement would not apply.

I am 5'4" and my Advantium is at 45". It is just perfect. I wouldn't mount it any lower or higher.

minnt, are you using the Profile WD? Part of the problem is that my oven and WD are Miele, which are a little taller than the Monogram models that GE has planned for.

gizmonike, I can only report what GE says. It makes no sense to me, but I do wonder that a couple of people who have the Advantium mounted below counter top have had warranty service. Maybe GE is right? Seems like all of the speed ovens require above counter mounting.

minnt - your kitchen looks great so far. Please make sure you post the finished kitchen on the kitchen forum. Just curious, in the 2nd photo, what is that "island" off to the right?

Sorry for the hijack.

We're mounting the Advantium at 35". I'm 5'4".

Here are the reasons:
I figured that I am not the only one using it. My mom (5'0") often comes over and cooks, the nanny cooks (5'2"), and the kids (7, 5, 1) use the microwave and sometimes the oven (supervised).

Also, someday if I or my husband, or my mom, or my parents-in-law are in a wheelchair they would be able to reach. All of our bathrooms and doorways are designed to allow wheelchair access as well. I designed a location (currently a closet on main floor and closet upstairs) that could potentially be converted to an elevator if needed.

We are definitely planning ahead just in case.

-Debbie