Is my microwave to high over the range?

11 years ago

Just finishing up a kitchen remodel and need some opinions on weather you thing the microwave is to high above my range? The cabinets above the microwave are 13in, I think the kitchen company may have messed up and should of gave me a 15 in cabinet instead of a 13in cabinet.. They suggested I use a 2 in filler below the cabinets if it would work better for me but Im not sure how a filler would look over the microwave?

[IMG]http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx59/Oldscholl8/2012-08-11130219.jpg[/IMG]

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Comments (8)

Oldscholl8
Original Author
11 years ago
Oldscholl8
Original Author
11 years ago
Correction I just measured the cabinet above the microwave is a 15in should they have given me a bigger one after knowing my microwave was only 16.5? The microwave is 21.5in from the top of the range..
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KBH
11 years ago
Doesn't it depend on how tall you are and whether you're comfortable placing bowls in it? If it's 21.5 higher than counter, it would be about 58" high - about nose height on me. It seemed workable when I roughly measured it.
mrsjoe
11 years ago
My cabinet maker said current code is for microwaves to be at least 20" over the range. Not sure if that is local or national code. Maybe yours put it higher for visual reasons?
suzanne_sl
11 years ago
My MW is 18.5" over the range, which I find quite comfortable. At 21.5", I think you're a bit high, but probably not so much that it will be an issue unless you're on the short side. My mom (about 5'2" at that time) had a MW that was in the neighborhood of 26" above the range. I was always afraid she was going to drop the oatmeal on her head! Fortunately, she fried it by putting in a foil tin, so we replaced it with an on-counter model.

If I were you, I'd stand in front of that MW and place and remove the kinds of containers that you usually put in a MW. If it seems too high, now is the time to get them to lower it. You'll probably have to order a bit of filler and wait for it to come in, but that will be much better than always wishing you'd done it when you had the chance. Maybe you have a bit of filler left from somewhere else in the kitchen?
Oldscholl8
Original Author
11 years ago
I'm 5"9 and it comfortable for me but my girlfriend is only 5'2 she's not to sure if she likes it at that height. They did order me a 2inch filler but I'm not sRue how it will look.. I can't seem to find a picture of a filler above the microwave...
Oldscholl8
Original Author
11 years ago
Also every time I search for photos and most kitchens I see the microwave is about two inches above the bottom of the cabinets. Do you think it's strange mine is about 6 inches from the bottom of the cabinets?
User
11 years ago
18"-24" is considered the standard acceptable range. Yours falls within that. When using 30" tall cabinets, I always order a 12" cabinet for an OTR and that leaves the bottom of the OTR about 19"-20" above the cooking surface. To me, it looks better to be slightly raised rather than hanging below the adjacent cabinets, which it will do if you use a 15" cabinet because OTRs are about 16"-17" tall.