Microwave Options: Over-the-Range, Drawer, Built-In and Countertop

The microwave is the appliance most often left until last and then regretted. It is used many times a day, by everyone in the house including children, and its position affects counter space, ventilation and where the cabinets break. There are four places it can go. Each has a clear case for and against.

The four placements compared

Over the range

The over-the-range microwave earns its place in small kitchens. It does two jobs in the width of the range and uses no counter or base cabinet. In a kitchen where every inch of counter is needed, that is a real advantage.

The costs are in reach and in ventilation. The microwave floor sits above shoulder height for many people, so a bowl of hot soup comes down past your face and over a hot cooktop. That is a poor arrangement for children, for shorter adults and for anyone with limited shoulder strength. As a hood, the unit has a flat, shallow underside and a small fan, so it catches less than a real hood. If it is to serve as the kitchen's exhaust it must be rated as a range hood and meet Washington's airflow and sound rules, which are explained on the range hoods and ventilation page. The other hood choices are compared under range hood types.

Microwave drawer

A drawer microwave slides out from a base cabinet. You place food in from above, close it and use controls on the angled front. It needs no bending into a low cavity and no reaching overhead, which is why it appears in so many kitchens planned for aging in place. Children can use it safely, and a parent can lock the controls.

What to weigh:

• It costs a base cabinet. Usually a drawer stack. In a kitchen short on drawers that matters.
• The cutout is specific. Drawers come in 24 and 30 inch width classes, and the cabinet is built to the installation sheet. A replacement years later needs to suit the same opening.
• Position. Put it outside the main cooking zone, near the refrigerator, so someone reheating lunch is not in the cook's way. The end of an island or the end of a run works well.
• Interior height is lower than many countertop models.

Built-in at wall height

A built-in microwave sits in a wall cabinet or a tall cabinet behind a trim kit that frames it and provides the air path it needs. Some models are made only for building in. Others are countertop models with a matching kit from the same manufacturer.

The common position is above a single wall oven in a tall cabinet, which keeps both appliances together and at usable heights. The limit is the door. Most built-in microwaves are hinged at the side, usually on the left, so check that the door will not open into a wall or a refrigerator panel. Models with a drop-down door, like an oven, are available and suit a position below eye level. Planning the tall cabinet is covered on the wall ovens and specialty ovens page.

Height is the thing to get right. As a designer guideline and not a code rule, the bottom of the microwave is most comfortable somewhere between counter height and shoulder height for the main user. Higher than that and you are back to lifting hot dishes down from above.

Countertop, shelf or pantry

A freestanding microwave is the least expensive, has the widest choice of sizes and features, and is replaced in minutes. The objection is that it sits on the counter. There are three ways around that:

• An open shelf or niche in the wall cabinets or a tall cabinet, sized with the clearances in the microwave's manual and with a receptacle inside.
• An appliance garage at counter level, with a door that lifts or slides away. The microwave must still have its required clearances and should not be run with the door closed unless the cabinet is designed for it.
• The pantry. A shelf in a walk-in or cabinet pantry keeps the microwave close and out of sight. See kitchen storage and pantries for how to plan one with power.

Size the shelf generously. A niche built tightly around one model limits what you can buy next time.

Speed ovens as an alternative

A speed oven combines microwave energy with convection heat, and sometimes a broiling element, in a built-in oven. It works as a plain microwave, as a small second oven, or in combination to cook and brown food faster than a conventional oven. In a kitchen with one wall oven or a range, a speed oven above or beside it replaces the microwave and adds a second oven in the same space.

It sits in a higher cost tier than any microwave, it usually needs more electrical capacity than a microwave does, and it is built to a cutout. It makes most sense when you would otherwise want both a microwave and a second oven and do not have room for both.

Power

Wherever the microwave goes, it needs a receptacle or connection in the right place, and that has to be roughed in before drywall. Whether a given microwave needs its own circuit depends on the type of unit, its nameplate and the electrical code in force. That is a question for your electrician, with the installation sheet in hand. The kitchen electrical code page explains how the code treats microwaves and other fixed appliances.

What to check on the spec sheet

• Cutout or opening dimensions, and for countertop models the required clearances at the sides, top and rear.
• Interior capacity and interior height, and turntable diameter where there is one.
• Door type: side-hinged, drop-down or drawer, and which way it opens.
• Whether a trim kit is required, its outside dimensions and which cabinet widths it suits.
• Electrical requirements and the receptacle location.
• For over-the-range units: certified airflow and sound ratings, duct outlet options, and the mounting height above the cooktop.
• Cooking power and whether it has sensor reheat. Higher power heats faster.
• Control lock.

Who should choose which

• Small kitchen, light cooking: over the range, rated as a hood and ducted outdoors.
• Family kitchen with an island: a drawer in the island, near the refrigerator.
• Kitchen with a wall oven: a built-in or a speed oven in the same tall cabinet.
• Budget-conscious remodel, or anyone who replaces small appliances often: a countertop model on a planned shelf or in the pantry.
• Anyone who cooks on gas or sears often: keep the microwave off the range wall and give the range a real hood.
• Limited reach or strength: a drawer, or a built-in set just above counter height.

Decide the microwave's home while the cabinets are still on paper. It changes at least one cabinet whichever option you pick. At JDI Construction our team places the microwave in the 3D design layout along with the other appliances, so you can check reach and door swing before ordering. To start a conversation about your kitchen, visit our Vancouver kitchen remodeling page.