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adrienne2011

For those with a 30'' OTR microwave but a larger cooktop:

Adrienne2011
13 years ago

Did you buy filler side pieces for your microwave, or did you do something different? Is there even an alternative that can be done to maintain the width of the cooktop all the way up to the microwave, or is my only choice to buy a stainless steel filler piece to match the micro?

Comments (19)

  • Adrienne2011
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I already bought the appliances, and while I appreciate hoods for their aesthetic quality, I rarely use the vent that I currently have. If I had an extra two thousand to throw away, I would have purchased a hood. But honestly, I never understood the point of spending soooo much on something that does so little.

  • palimpsest
    13 years ago

    The extensions on the 30" microwave hood to make them 36" can't be against code, or they couldn't be produced. In the international building code there are requirements for distances to non flammable surfaces, to my knowlege, and these may vary from the recommendations that come from your cooktop manufacturer and those from the manufacturer may be greater distance than the code minimums.

    I've only seen Kitchen Aid, and GE OTRs configured to 36" and the KA is symmetrical while the GE is not.

    What 36" cooktop are you using? Is it gas or electric?
    One thing to look at is the configuration. My 30" cooktop had the controls all along one side and the burners were really set within a smaller width than 30". The only ones who appear to have this now are a couple Whirlpool and Maytag models.

  • palimpsest
    13 years ago

    Your other option would be to use a 3" filler (pullout?) on each side and line the lower surface of it with metal for added protection.

  • live_wire_oak
    13 years ago

    Code requires a 30" minimum between a cooking surface and a combustable material. You'd have to purchase one of the 36" OTR MWs made to go in a 36" spot in order to comply with code. Cladding a combusible surface with a non combustible material doesn't comply. It still creates a fire hazard by the conduction of the heat to the combusible surface.

    The easiest solution would be to return the OTR and purchase a 36" vent hood or to return your 36" cooktop and get a 30" one.

  • alwaysfixin
    13 years ago

    Palimpsest - I was referring to the OP's idea of using filler pieces above the cooktop as potentially being against Code. I was not referring to the 30" OTR MWs that are made into 36" size by the manufacturers by the addition of "wings".

    Adrienne - You do not need to spend that much on a hood. But it looks like your mind is made up. I was offering advice about what is best to install above a 36" cooktop for exhaust and for appearance, but I understand that is not exactly what you asked.

  • alwaysfixin
    13 years ago

    Thanks Live_wire_oak for backing me up. Your post crossed with mine,

  • palimpsest
    13 years ago

    A = 30 inches minimum clearance between the top of the cooking surface and the bottom of an unprotected wood
    or metal cabinet or A = 24 inches minimum when the bottom of wood or metal cabinet is protected by not less than
    1/4 inch thick flame retardant material covered with not less than #28 gage sheet steel, .015 inch thick stainless
    steel, .024 inch thick aluminum, or .020 inch thick copper

  • Buehl
    13 years ago

    Is your kitchen very, very small? If not...

    "...I rarely use the vent that I currently have..."

    Could that be because it's not effective, too noisy, or both? We didn't use our rangehood much in our old kitchen b/c of both reasons. However, I could often smell what I cooked for dinner all the way upstairs and into my bedroom that night as well as in the rest of the house the next morning (even when I did use it!) Additionally, there was usually a thin layer of grease on the back of the range, the wall above it, and on the sides of the surrounding cabinets...which I wiped down at least once a week. My parents' kitchen, which has no hood at all, has a film of "gunk" (grease+dust) on the cabinet above the range, the wall next to it (it's against the wall on one side), on the cabinet on the other side, and on the ceiling above.

    I knew that I needed to get some decent venting in my new kitchen if I didn't want the film to start developing on my new cabinets & if I didn't want to have to constantly wipe everything down. So I did...much more effective and much quieter. Now, I use my hood every time I cook...no more grease even on the back wall!

    You do not have to pay $2K for a decent hood.

    Here are some:

    $307: Broan Deluxe Series 893600
    http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/893600.html

    $483: Broan Elite Series E64E36SS
    http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/E64E36SS.html

    $499: Vent-A-Hood Emerald Series SLH6K36SS
    http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/SLH6K36SS.html


    This is just to help you think about the reasons you don't use it now and to consider the possibility that you might use it if you had a decent one. It's your kitchen, so the decision is yours...please, just think about it.


    Then, there are the negatives of a MW over a range...safety, height, location.

    If someone is cooking and someone else wants to use the MW, the Cook has to step aside at least twice, then the MW user has to place/remove food while reaching over a hot pot/pan (with steam, grease, etc.) at a height that's really too high for handling hot foods.


    Again, it's your decision, these are just things to think about.

  • Adrienne2011
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    The space of my kitchen is hard to define with square footage. Currently it is 10 by 12 feet, but will become approximately 14 by 15, I guess. It will be a double L shape: an L shaped counter run with another detached L shape counter run mimicking it.
    Anyway, a hood makes it so cabinets cannot go above the cooktop, but with an OTR microwave, I could at least have a short cabinet there. I don't care for the regular smallish vent hoods, though. Unlike to smell the food that I cooked - that is one reason that I cooked it. I almost never fry anything at all. You're right - my current vent is a noisy piece of junk.
    Returning the appliances would be interesting because I bought them at a kick-butt price from someplace in California, and I live in Michigan (I bought them online). So, I will definitely keep them. Anyway, what about tile? Could I use my backsplash tile and tile next to the microwave?

  • palimpsest
    13 years ago

    I have to agree about the microwave positioned over the range. If you are remodeling a kitchen even if you have bought it, I would consider mounting it as an over the counter microwave at a lower height...it sounds as if you haven't finalized the cabinet layout? Or, you could sell it and probably get a decent range hood and countertop microwave for about the same price combined.

    Maybe you rarely used the old hood because it was ineffective.
    I had the OTR microwave in my old kitchen and it worked better than the (lowest quality available, thirty year old) conventional hood that was there. I did this because my kitchen was 35 square feet.

    In the new kitchen which is only a bit larger, I passed on the OTR and went with a countertop model, and a conventional hood. If I *really need the extra counterspace, I can move it.

  • Adrienne2011
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    My computer auto-corrected a word for me.
    I like to smell the food that I have cooked.
    Sorry about that.

  • westsider40
    13 years ago

    An otr for me, too. I could use a good vent for the broiler part of the double oven as often that would smoke and even flame. To my knowledge, a vent is not available in the U.S for wall ovens. But I don't need a vent over the cooktop.

    I hardly ever fry. If I make fish, I use the gas grill outside. Lots of chicken breasts and no bacon. Deli stuff. Well trimmed meat. We just don't have cooktop generated smoke, smells, grease, etc. No greasy cabs. We have a 10 x9 foot cooking area with very small counter space(5feet and adding 4 feet). Why wouldn't I have an otr? Some styles of cooking may scream for a counter/builtin mw, but some don't.

    If I or other otr fans had a 20 x22 foot kitchen, you can bet we'd have a very nice place for a microwave. But we don't.

    P.S. I have an otr in our beach house kitchen and it's perfectly fine. Just hip bump a co-cook. - Works well with lots of cooks cooking!

    Good question Adrienne. No fillers.

  • formerlyflorantha
    13 years ago

    The comment about our parents' kitchens makes me think about something. How often do you wash down a range area walls and ceiling with ammonia or TSP? Or repaint a kitchen because it's changed color? In my childhood, that was essential--the entire range area in those early 1950s hoodless years was yellow and greasy-sticky. I've been cooking for two in my kitchen 8 months with a modest Broan hood and there's no stickiness on the adjacent walls or cabs.

    By the way, we've got storage of seldom-used stuff in cabs above the range over the vent--including a cut-out on shelves to accommodate the exhaust system. Works for us.

  • v70cat
    10 years ago

    The Kitchenaid KHMS2056SSS seems to be the only option.

    I have a small kitchen and the Microwave/Hood seems to save a lot of space. It is also a lower cost.

  • Edward Mock
    8 years ago

    I would love to know how this turned out for Adrienne2011. I am considering a 36" cooktop with an OTR micro/convection with filler panels to cover the 36" width. I am thinking either Jenn-Air or Kitchenaid. I really want the mw for the second oven. In my last 3 houses I had over the range microwaves. I was never crazy about them being over the range, but they worked just fine.

    I have a small kitchen and just have nowhere else to put a micro/convection.

    Adrienne, can you give an update?

  • Buehl
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    It's doubtful Adrienne is still around. If you want to contact her, you should email her (see her page). Note that most people only come here when they need help and then disappear when they've resolved their problem. Emailing is the only hope of contacting most people.

    Please do not bump an old threads like this - we know Adrienne doesn't need help anymore and this is her thread. One of the harmful side effects of bumping a thread over 4.5 years old is that threads from people who need help today are bumped off the page so people aren't as likely to see their pleas for help.

  • Edward Mock
    8 years ago

    Wow, and you have made 12,994 comments! This was just my first. I hope I didn't cause someone to be bumped with my first inquiry. I googled 30" OTR micro over 36" cooktop and this thread came up in early results.

  • funkycamper
    8 years ago

    Don't worry about it but you'll get more responses if you start a new thread as many won't bother to open an old one.

    As to your question, it's not a good idea. Hoods should be 6" wider than the cooktop, not narrower.