The oven will be lower than an oven in a range. I suggest you go to an appliance store, EXPO Design Center, or The Great Indoors store to test it out.

When we considered an undercounter oven, our KD showed us one that was mounted undercounter and when it was open the handle practically hit the floor! If you're short, it may not be an issue...but what about the others who will be using it? Do you plan to "age in place"? As you get older bending over and reaching in & out to lift things out may become a challenge.

Before you decide, please check it out yourself!

HTH!

Many people do it but you have to be careful about the clearance specs for both the cooktop and the oven. Particularly with an induction cooktop in which the electronics can overheat, you have to make sure you meet all the venting clearances.

I have space constraints as well (approx. 8' x 10' kitchen) and wanted induction for the same reasons as you: preference for induction (per the enthusiastic recommendations in these forums) and a seamless countertop.

I got an induction unit with fairly low clearance requirements (~2 inches) and the oven is low. I've gotten used to it but don't really like the bending for the low opening. If I had it to do over again I'd check into the possibility of raising the entire countertop by an inch. Placing the cooktop somewhere other than above the oven was not an option.

I have a Maytag Gemini range that has one small oven right under the top of the stovetop with the large oven below the small oven. I know it's totally different than what you are getting, but the large oven is very low and when you open the door it is very close to the floor. Although it's not as convenient as the height of a wall oven, I am very happy with my decision. It allows me to have 2 ovens in my small kitchen. I feel the trade off of having a "low" oven was well worth it. Do whatever makes you happy with the space you have. Good luck!
Barb

We have done it in our last three kitchens. Some cooktops work out better than others due to height requirements. In each case we installed a gas cooktop and an electric oven.

Never used a cabinet base, just built a base keeping the heigth as high as possible, and used matching cabinet material for the stiles across the bottom and top. In our case the top stile was no more that 3/4 inch. Side to side opening was established by the placement of the cabinets on each side.

Our current configuration is a Viking cooktop and a Dacor oven.

I have that arrangement and it's fine. It's only a few inches lower than the oven was in my (awful) range. I don't bake 8 hours a day (maybe twice a month), so bending a little lower isn't a problem. You'll never notice the difference.

I was also considering that configuration and I bake a lot.

When I tried it out at an appliance store, I thought it was awful - opening it meant going almost all the way down to the floor. I am not getting younger! It is personal taste, but I wouldn't do it. You have to consider your needs and think about the trade offs.

Judy

I also have a speed-oven/microwave from electrolux that I will be wall mounting....This will get the most use, so the undercounter oven will almost be like the second oven. Although it may be the first oven for someone who cooks a lot of bigger things.

Here is a link that might be useful: Speed Oven

As others have said, the ergonomics of such an arrangement don't always work out very well. One exception was a Gaggenau gas cooktop and electric oven we saw on a catering job that was as convenient to work with as a standard range, but I suspect they were designed specifically for that arrangement.

I would take a close look at the rest of your kitchen layout - in three dimensions. Is there something that you could move to drawers under the induction cooktop to make room for more pantry space and still have room for a wall oven at a more convenient height?

Here is my layout
[IMG]http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r32/lynchmob723/KitchenSmallSink-Model.jpg[/IMG]

Oops lets try this again. I am also making a separate post on a few other issues I am having

As of now, I am using the pantry as my main source of storage, if I put the wall oven there with the speed oven (creating a double stack), all my pantry is gone. Then I have underneath the cooktop open for pots pans, and the two adjacent 24" bases for food storage. The room is open to the living room/dining room (where the bar stools are). So I dont have many uppers

I had to log into a different name to post, that is my old name sorry for the confusion

I have a 27" Bosch mounted beneath a 36" Bertazzoni drop-in cooktop. I don't have any issues about the door opening too low - this arrangement is so common in the UK that it was obvious to me to go this route. Besides, how often do you cook something on the bottom of the oven, that you have to bend down that low? Most of the time, you'll be using a rack positioned a bit higher than the oven floor :)

But DO get the clearances calculated carefully! We ended up raising the countertop level by a little to ensure the right gap.

I have that now and don't like it -- too low. But in the remodel I am considering putting two small (24 inches) Miele's back to back in the island. I would build the island to 38 or maybe 40 so the ovens will be at a comfortable height even though they are below the top. Since they are small the clearance required to open the door is relatively smaller too. But I would not put a full size oven below the counter or below the cooktop.

You probably couldn't post b/c not enough time had passed since your last post. All you have to do is change the Subject line by one character for it to post (I usually change "RE:" to "RE2:")

Kitchen-specific measurements would be helpful (such as how long is the refrigerator wall, etc.) + an idea of where rooms in the rest of the house are relative to your kitchen,

How wide is the pantry/Speed Oven cabinet? How wide does it have to be for the Speed Oven? What Speed Oven are you getting? Is it a full-size oven (i.e., 30")? Can it function as a "regular" oven (convection or thermal) as well? If so, then the undercounter would function as a true second oven...and it may not be as important where it is (but I wouldn't want to use it that low...especially if I had to use it for holiday baking when I'm using the ovens a lot!)

Do I see 2 refrigerators (one CD, the other undercounter)? Do you really need 2 in the kitchen? A lot of space is taken up by that second refrigerator that could be used for dishes, etc.

If you move the oven to the wall, you only have to move the items from the area taken from the oven to the 24" drawer bases....w/pots & pans, etc. under the cooktop; dishes on the sink wall; etc.

You may even be able to shrink the oven cabinet and then install a pullout pantry next to it....many people here like theirs. These suggestions are all pending information on the actual kitchen measurements depends on your measurements.

the pantry wall is 80" so the pantry itself is 40" wide
Yes thats 2 refrigerators, it is actually a wine cooler, im still torn on keeping it, I really want it but it may not be practical. the speed oven is linked above (electrolux). It is a 1.5 CU FT Speed Oven/Microwave

"Cooking Mode Options - This high performance oven allows you to bake, brown, grill or roast with ease."

Good idea with the pull out pantry, Although would ~10" be wide enough?

I have this layout. The oven is lowish, especially since our counter is only about 35" tall (to allow room for outlets under windows), but for us it was a satisfactory tradeoff and I'd do it again. I don't do much baking for pleasure, though, making oven placement lower on the priority scale for me. Unless it spoils one's fun, tho, IMO a little extra bending and squatting exercise is a tradeoff worth considering.

Bluestar makes a french door 30 inch oven that would solve the problem of the oven door handle hitting the floor when opened. BlueStar also makes a 24 inch oven with a single door that swings open to the right or left. You would need to make sure you had the space needed for the doors to open. I think these ovens will be out end of September. Also check out the one made by America Range.

We are still in the final decision mode and my thoughts are that under the cooktop will mean the vent works for the oven. Many people post about venting issues, so I was trying to factor that in.
If our timing is OK, we hope to get the 30" GE ovens that are dual ovens in a 30" space, so the doors would be similar to the Gemini and if we use the top oven more often, no huge issue with the door.
Of course, DH hasn't committed to the final layout yet, so who knows what I'll get.

We've had this arrangement in our last 4 kitchens, it's pretty normal over here and I much prefer it to a wall mounted oven, seems sort of natural to lift things out of the oven and onto the cooktop. I'm 5' 10' and don't find it too low.

Here's a pic of our last kitchen, which DH and I fitted ourselves.The oven is an AEG and the cooktop is a Baumatic.

Here is a link that might be useful:

karen, that looks sharp

Thanks so much you guys for all the help and making me think about the pros and cons of this. I think one way or the other sometime is going under the cooktop (Either the high speed oven from electrolux, which is pretty much identical in size to the 240v advantium) or the wall oven.

The wall oven is 6" shorter than the oven so mounting it under the cooktop wouldnt be as bad as the wall oven, however i think im going to be using the speed cook 240v much more than the traditional oven, so having it wall mounted at eye level is probably a better choice

sorry i meant the high speed oven is 6" shorter height wise than the oven.

Something no one has mentioned yet....wall ovens, regardless of placement, generally vent out the front. Ovens in ranges vent out the top.

(1) How is it to stand in front of an undercounter mounted wall oven while cooking (when under a cooktop)? I would think the hot vented air would be an issue....

(2) Someone mentioned venting...if it vents out the front, your vent hood is not going to do you much good unless it sticks out at least 3 inches beyond the front of the oven (which puts it 3" beyond the countertop). Even then, if you're standing in front of it (to cook), it's probably still not much good.

Just more things to think about!

in Italy is always like that in small kitchen, we don't use ranges

kitchen Napa CA,