Where to put a microwave

Five places to put a microwave

The sizes of each type, cutouts and over-the-range heights are on microwave dimensions; this guide is about choosing the place.

1. On the counter

The counter works when you use the microwave often and can spare the space. Pick a spot with room to stand at the door and to set a dish down beside it, and keep the microwave out of the run between the sink and your main prep counter. It takes more counter than its own width: GE asks for 3 in of air at each side and on top and 1 in behind, the door at least 3 in back from the counter’s edge to reduce the risk of tipping, and at least 2 ft between it and a range; it also says not to remove the feet or put anything on top. Before buying a smaller model, mark its body and air space on the counter with paper and cook an ordinary meal around the outline; a compact microwave can still take the one stretch where your cutting board goes.

2. In a tall cabinet

A tall cabinet puts the microwave near the dishes and food without taking counter. Choose the height for the people using it: you should see into a container and lift it out without reaching up or tipping it toward you. Use a built-in model, or a countertop model with the trim kit its maker lists for it: GE’s kits are made for particular models and carry the air the microwave needs as well as the frame, so a homemade surround or another model’s kit is no substitute. Give the cabinet supplier the installation documents before you order; a cabinet’s listed depth is not its inside depth (standard cabinet depth). Then find the nearest counter for unloading: a neat built-in that makes you carry every hot dish across the kitchen is the wrong place.

3. A microwave drawer below the counter

A microwave drawer opens toward you and you load it from above. It suits an island or a run of base cabinets when you want a clear counter and don’t want to lift dishes out of a high oven, and NKBA wants it at least 15 in above the floor. Draw the open drawer on the plan: opposite a dishwasher, a fridge or a busy walkway it can block someone in a way you won’t see with everything closed, and on an island, check the working side against the seating side. Installation is model by model. Sharp’s SMD2480CS instructions, for example, ask for a cabinet floor that holds 100 lb (45.4 kg) and an anti-tip block fitted by the installer, and move the drawer lower under a deep countertop so its controls stay in view; those are that model’s requirements, not a rule for every drawer.

4. Over the range

An over-the-range microwave puts the microwave and the cooktop’s ventilation in one place. The drawback is the lift: you reach over the cooktop to take food out. GE’s instructions put the microwave’s top at least 66 in above the floor with the cabinet above at least 30 in over the cooking surface. For example, a 16½ in tall model mounted with its top at exactly 66 in ends about 49½ in up, inside NKBA’s 54 in; mounted higher, its bottom rises with it. Either way you reach over hot pans: try the height with an empty bowl, especially if the people using it differ in height. Choose a model made for the purpose and have its fit with your range checked; GE says its over-the-range models must not be used on a counter or shelf. If you have a separate range hood you want to keep, look at the other four places first.

5. On an open shelf or in a cubby

An open shelf moves the microwave away from the main prep area, but being open at the front doesn’t make a cabinet suitable. GE allows its countertop models on a counter or a shelf but not in a tight or enclosed cabinet, and a cubby can still close in the sides, top or back with its door off. Treat the shelf, its fixings, its depth and the air space as part of the design: a decorative shelf isn’t automatically strong enough. It works best when you can reach the oven comfortably and unload onto a counter nearby; if getting there means building an enclosure, use a proper built-in installation instead.

Comparing the two best places in your kitchen

Take a kitchen with the microwave beside its main cutting-board counter and an unused stretch of tall cabinet. The owners want more prep space without losing quick reheats. First they mark the microwave’s whole footprint, air space included, at the far end of the counter: that keeps one continuous prep surface, but its door now opens against a wall, so it only works if that model’s door opens fully there. Next they tape a built-in opening on the tall cabinet: one of them unloads easily, the other has to lift a bowl too high, so they lower the opening and check that a counter is still close enough to put food down. Only then do they shortlist models and cabinets. Compare whole routines, opening the door, lifting the dish, putting it down and closing up, not how each place looks.

Check before you order

1. The model: write down the exact model and the installation it is approved for.
2. The opening: check its cutout, support, air space and trim kit or mounting against the cabinet drawings.
3. The reach: try the height with an empty dish, and mark a landing space within reach, 15 in by NKBA’s guideline.
4. The clashes: check doors, handles, other appliances and the walkway, with the microwave door or drawer open.
5. The installer: have the outlet, any venting and service access confirmed before the cabinets are finalized.

The kitchen layout planner checks the cabinet runs, appliances and aisles; sketch the microwave and its open door or drawer separately, because the planner doesn’t check microwave clearances.

Questions people ask