Can wall oven be installed under cooktop?

[Liz]

Hi! I am looking to install a wall oven under a cooktop. The cooktop's dimension is 2 inches height, with a cutout clearance below cooktop of 4.5". The wall oven has height of 29 1/16 inches, with a cutout height of 27 1/4".

I understand standard base cabinets comes in about 34". If I add the height of the cooktop + the clearance + wall oven height, that would come out to be a little over 35.5 inches, 1.5 inches taller than the base cabinet height. So it would seem that this would not work. However, I looked through the Sears.com site and am not able to find a shorter wall oven.

So my question: is it not possible to install wall oven under cooktop w/o custom-made cabinets? I see a lot of houses, as well the Sears show-room, with this setting. How are they done?

thanks,

- Liz

[mike]

Um, so why don't you just get a standard range? They're often less expensive than buying a cooktop or wall oven alone.

[Grandpa]

Show me a link to a website that even shows such a thing, and I'll tell you how its done.

[Liz]

I can't get a standard range for 2 reasons:

1. I'm looking at induction cooktop. The only ones I can find are all cooktops and not standard ranges.
2. The cooktop will be sitting on an island. the ranges have a little backing so the island won't be a single flat surface.

[Liz]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think this page has it set up that way:

If you look at the cooking area, I dont think that's a standalone range but a cooktop on top of a wall oven, right?

I mainly saw this kind of set up in Sears showrooms. Also saw it in a couple of houses a while back.

thanks,

- Liz

[mike]

Standard base cabinets are usually 34.5" with standard countertop elevation of 36". So 36 - 4.5 - 29 1/16 = 2.4375" leftover space. You'd just have to ask yourself if the oven you have hinges too low to be a good idea ergonomically speaking.

[mike]

And if you use the cutout height for the oven (as maybe I should have done above), you have even more room.

[Liz]

Thank you. I guess my calculation method is incorrect...

With regard to the egornomic question, is this worse than a standalone range, where the oven is below the cooking surface?

thanks,

- Liz

[Steve]

When we had our house built 9 years ago, we had the builder install a GE Profile 5-burner cooktop, with a 30-inch oven GE Profile electric wall oven installed in the cabinet below it. It was a fairly close fit, but it worked. So yes, it can be done.

--Steve

[gfretwell]

Have the cabinet guy laminate a riser in the counter top above the cabinet deep enough to take the cooktop.

[mike]

I'd think it'd be worse. Many wall ovens hinge near the bottom, whereas standalone ranges have doors that usually hinge above a storage drawer.

[Grandpa]

OK, thank you. What you are looking at in the kraftmaid site looks like a drop in oven with a trim kit. I can't tell for sure, but it doesn't look like an induction cook surface either. And to compound your problem further, you really don't have 34 inches for a cabinet height. There is a four inch toe kick at the bottom, so you really only have 30 inches for most standard kitchen counter heights. If you have really seen an induction cooktop over a wall oven, I'll be surprised. There's three basic types of oven range combinations; free standing, slide-in, and drop-in. After that, there are cooktops and wall ovens. I tried searching for an induction range/oven combination and came up as short as you seem to have.

[trader4]

And just for the record, the pic in the supplied link looks like a stove consisting of a range and oven together. It doesn't look like a seperate range and wall oven to me.

[Noozer]

Why would you spend all that money on a custom oven and cooktop and then cheap out on the cabinets???

Find someplace else for the oven and mount it high enough to be comfortable!

[Liz]

it's the kitchen space i have to work with. if i mount the oven high up then that's less counter space i have. it also makes the kitchen look really small and closed in when it's all walled up.

thanks,

- Liz

[Liz]

I dont think they are one unit. You can see the counter top going across. Here's another pic I found:

Thanks,

- Liz

[Grandpa]

Thank you. You are right on this one, it has enough detail to show that you have an oven unit under a cook top. Still doesn't look like an induction cooktop though. IIRC, they are a bit deeper than most, which could interfere with putting an oven underneath. It looks very similar to the oven in the kraftmaid site; have you been able to find that particular oven?

[Doug]

Jenn-Aire makes ranges with inductive cooktops. They even make such a range that's designed to be built into cabinets on each side with the option of downdraft venting.

Doug

[dadiOH]

Yes, it is possible.

In your case, if the counter height is 36" and you have a standard 4" kick then you have (36-4) = 32" of space. You need 2"+4.5" for the cooktop so you now have 25.5" for your oven. You need 27.25" for oven so that one won't fit...you are shy by (minimally) 1.75".

I can think of two solutions... 1. Reduce the size of the toe kick in the oven area or raise the counter height. 2. Get a shorter oven. Here is a site with many...

Here are a few specific one from that site (there are many more)

****************** Like others, I suggest you give some real thought to locating the oven in its own cabinet. Under the cooktop they are hard to see into, hard to reach into. Both are *much* easier when the oven is higher.

If you bake, you have pans. You need a pan drawer. Those under ranges are woefully insuffucient...if you have a wall oven cabinet you can have a generouslly sized one - one that is tall enought to stand trays and pans vertically.

Yes, you would lose counter space. Or would you? Are you planning a countertop microwave? It could be placed in the wall oven cabinet. If not - or if you prefer it on the counter - a toaster and/or coffee maker could be placed on a shelf above the oven. In either case, you reclaim counter space.

You would also gain a LARGE cabinet at the top of the wall oven cabinet. No, it isn't easily accessible but it is great for storing large, infrequently needed things.

[trader4]

Simple answer to all this. Go visit a couple of high end appliance stores or kitchen design centers. They have experience as to what is available and works well in this application. And it's worth paying a little more to get a good solution. If it were me, as others have suggested, I'd probably get advice on the overall design too, rather than the specific issue. A good kitchen design house may have ideas you haven't thought of, and that no one can offer without seeing the layout.

Not to say this is where you are headed, but I've seen so many houses with screwed up kitchens that detract from their value. Things like microwaves built in under a center island, where you have to stoop over to get to it. Or refrigerators that stick out 6" past the ends of the cabinets. Or a std size single bowl sink in a kitchen with granite countertops. With a little professional planning, a lot of this could be avoided.