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Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

post #1 of 31
5/4/09 at 2:39am
Thread Starter 
Most kitchens nowadays come with the ubiquitous microwave oven installed above the range. This microwave oven must do double duty as the range hood/blower fan. The problem is that the microwave only extends about 15" from the wall and therefore the built in fan doesn't have much effect on cooking on the front two burners. Fumes from cooking on the front two burners simply go straight up into the air.

I've been searching on line for a sheet metal extension which could extend another 4" to 6" out from the base of the microwave oven (regular non-microwave range hoods typically extend 20" from the wall). So far I can't find anything. The bottom of the microwave is removable and held in place by sheet metal screws, so these could be removed and slightly longer ones used to attach a sheet metal hood extension.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Have I described what I want clearly? I suppose I could make a cardboard mockup and post a photo of it.
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post #2 of 31
5/5/09 at 5:17pm

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Be sure to check your local code. There may be a restriction as to how close the front of the microwave can be from the front plane of the stove. There has to be a reason that these are not sold.
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post #3 of 31
5/5/09 at 6:57pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Nothing ever turned up on Google.

I finally got some kitchen designer to tell me that the only reason over-range microwaves are legal at 18" over the cooktop is by special consideration by UL. Any such extension such as I outlined would be against national, let alone local, codes.

So I'm now getting a larger range hood that's only a range hood.
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post #4 of 31
5/6/09 at 5:30am

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

The microwave range hood is a strange and pointless contraption. It doesn't cover the front two burners to start. Moreover, at least in my house, is not vented to the outside, so the fan is merely an exercise in futility.

So now, with your hood-only, where does your microwave go? And does your current system even vent outside?
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post #5 of 31
5/6/09 at 5:39am
Thread Starter 

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

My current system vents sideways through the kitchen wall to the outside. If you stand outside you can feel a great blast of air when the microwave's fan is blowing, but as you surmised it misses anything coming from the front two burners. When stir-frying on the front burners, fumes go straight up and set off my smoke alarms.

I have lots of counter space. I'll just get a cheapo stand-alone microwave and craigslist out the over the range one.

Dave, is your range on a exterior wall or an interior wall?

This is the installation guide for the new range hood. http://www.nutone.com/PDF/InstallGuides/99043999.pdf At least the industry has standardized the size, shape, and location of the rectangular through-the-wall fitting so it's a bolt-up installation.
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post #6 of 31
5/6/09 at 10:03am

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Yeah, I've never found those fans to be anything but electricity killers. I turn mine on high and it barely seems to suck air.
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post #7 of 31
5/6/09 at 12:22pm

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Mine is on the garage wall. And there's no other place in the kitchen for the microwave, which is critical to my survival.
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post #8 of 31
5/6/09 at 8:27pm

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Hood, hood on the range.
Where the pronghorn antelope play.
Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word...
except from Dennis.


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post #9 of 31
5/6/09 at 8:34pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Yeah, but you don't need any ventilation in the great outdoors.
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post #10 of 31
5/6/09 at 8:37pm

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis Nicholls
Yeah, but you don't need any ventilation in the great outdoors.

There are times it would help...

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post #11 of 31
5/6/09 at 8:48pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Just stand back and wave your cowboy hat, just like Slim Pickins did.

Unfortunately, that won't work in my kitchen.
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post #12 of 31
5/6/09 at 8:53pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Away out West they have a name
For rain and wind and fire
The rain is Tess, the fire Joe,
And they call the wind Mariah

Mariah blows the stars around
And sends the clouds a’flyin’
Mariah makes the mountains sound
Like folks were up there dying

Mariah
Mariah
They call the wind Mariah



The song right before was called "Hand me down that can of beans".

Hmmm...the same guys wrote "Gigi".
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post #13 of 31
5/7/09 at 6:50am

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis Nicholls

Hmmm...the same guys wrote "Gigi".

So they're also responsible for



MY turn!
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post #14 of 31
5/7/09 at 8:19am

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Tank Heaven? Hmmmm, sounds like a villain on Murder She Wrote.
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post #15 of 31
5/14/09 at 2:04am
Thread Starter 

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Well there was some engineering required in replacing the over-the-range microwave with a range hood, but the results are great. At low speed my new blower is barely audible - about the same as the refer when it's on. The high speed is much louder but boy it pumps out 440 cfm out the side wall of my house.

A cheap $100 microwave sits in a previously underused portion of counter space in my kitchen.
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post #16 of 31
5/14/09 at 6:10am

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Underused counter space?!?

What's that?!?
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post #17 of 31
5/14/09 at 7:46am

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Frezon
Underused counter space?!?

What's that?!?
I know! Everyone always tells me how jealous they are at the amount of counter space I have, yet I have no room for a simple toaster.....

Well, maybe if I got rid of the TV, DVD player and ReplayTV, I'd have room for a toaster, but screw that! Gotta watch my shows!

Reruns of Roseanne beat out Toast any day!!!
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post #18 of 31
5/14/09 at 8:04am

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Mmmmmmm. Toast.

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post #19 of 31
5/14/09 at 12:22pm

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

I guess I'll just have to watch them in reruns on my ReplayTV
525x525px-LL-vbattach1432.jpg
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post #20 of 31
5/14/09 at 1:40pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

I guess I should post a photo of the results.



The hood sure looks a lot cleaner than the microwave did.
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post #21 of 31
5/14/09 at 8:32pm

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkHastings
I guess I'll just have to watch them in reruns on my ReplayTV



Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis Nicholls
I guess I should post a photo of the results.



The hood sure looks a lot cleaner than the microwave did.

And look at all that underused counter space. Want to sell me some!
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post #22 of 31
5/14/09 at 8:53pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

I just went and measured it....

I have 15 linear feet of counter space. That does not include the stovetop nor the sink. It's nice not to feel cramped, and I like having my balsamic vinegar, bottles of olive, peanut, and corn oil, and dry marsala always at the ready.
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post #23 of 31
5/14/09 at 9:10pm

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

To show how the other half can live. I have NO counter space in my kitchen-proper outside of a Hoosier cabinet enamel surface. I do have wooden countertops in my walk-in pantry where microwave, toaster, canisters live.

This is a 100 year old home. They didn't believe in countertops back then!

Or, indoor plumbing all the time, apparently!



For the record, that is NOT my actual home.
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post #24 of 31
5/14/09 at 9:18pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Did your place come with an exterior "summer kitchen"?

IIUC people used a summer kitchen outside so that if it caught on fire it wouldn't burn the house down.

http://www.grit.com/Property/Summer-Kitchen.aspx

On the other hand, my walk-in pantry is only 44" x 44" with a corner lost for the door.

Quote:
This is a 100 year old home. They didn't believe in countertops back then!

That baffles me. Back then there was no "fast food" nor "convenience food": you had to cook everything from scratch for every meal.
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post #25 of 31
5/15/09 at 6:38am

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis Nicholls
Did your place come with an exterior "summer kitchen"?

IIUC people used a summer kitchen outside so that if it caught on fire it wouldn't burn the house down.

Nope. Not that I know of.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis Nicholls
On the other hand, my walk-in pantry is only 44" x 44" with a corner lost for the door.

I'll have to measure mine. It's maybe in the 10' by 4' range. It's got it's own door and is the only part of the house not built over the basement (cold floors in the winter!). The nice thing are built-in cupboards and cabinets (including a huge flour bin--that we use for dog food). The cupboards are attached to the walls and extend from a couple of feet above the countertop all the way to the ceiling--and these are 9'6" ceilings IIRC.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis Nicholls
That baffles me. Back then there was no "fast food" nor "convenience food": you had to cook everything from scratch for every meal.


I think they were heavily into free-standing tables and cabinets (Hoosiers, for example) back then. Our sink is one of those free-standing enamel units with pitched "wings" on each side for dish draining and lame metal cabinets above and below. I would suspect it was added somewhere between the 40s and 60s.
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post #26 of 31
5/15/09 at 9:14am
Thread Starter 

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Do Hoosiers really look like this (housewife not included)?

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post #27 of 31
5/15/09 at 9:33am

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Hey! It looks like she's making a do-it-yourself-pizza!

Honestly that's exactly the type of cabinet I'm talking about. Unfortunately, we don't have the upper hutch to go with the unit we're using. But the idea was to be able to do all your cooking in one compact area. Pretty ingenious actually. You can see the various containers in the section just above the counter (to the right) that held flour and sugar. And the enamel countertop could roll out into the room to provide more workspace.

They would also come with a bread drawer..a common holdover in many more modern kitchen cabinets. Here are some other features hidden away in a Hoosier cabinet:

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post #28 of 31
5/15/09 at 10:59am
Thread Starter 

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

Extract rack? Sounds like an instrument of torture.

Modern kitchens may lack charm but are much more easy to cook in. I'm starting to see why you don't like cooking all that much.
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post #29 of 31
5/15/09 at 11:40am

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

We make do. In fact, I just rolled another whole wheat pizza dough on our enamel Hoosier top last night! Yum! We have another couple of enamel top tables that serve as surface area for cooking and dish-drainer-overflow.

I'll wash the dishes...but I hate putting them away.
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post #30 of 31
5/16/09 at 10:23am
Thread Starter 

Re: Need help finding microwave oven hood extension

I got to thinking...did the separation between kitchen and pantry originally serve some function? Maybe to keep the pantry area thermally separated from the hot kitchen stove?

If so, then you could remodel by taking down any non-loadbearing wall between them.
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