We just bought all Kitchen Aid appliances. We got the counter depth french door fridge, the dual fuel slide in range, the wall oven/microwave combo, the dishwasher and the range hood. Sorry we haven't really had a chance to use them all yet but we had the same dilemma and also read about the kitchen aid self clean blow up problem. We bought the extended warranty on the ovens and the fridge but are hoping that we won't need to use it. Mind you, we havent' quite got the range hood working properly yet but hopefully this week someone will solve our problem for us. Good luck with your appliance shopping

A real hood, mounted under-cabinet, will surely be better than an OTR microwave oven attempting to perform kitchen ventilation. A real hood rated at 400 CFM, and not too restricted by the house's ability to provide MUA, given short duct to outside without too many bends, might flow 250 - 300 CFM. I am confidant that any microwave oven claimed to be 400 CFM is actually just a 400 CFM in open air fan buried in the MW's tortuous duct path. I'd be surprised if it could flow even 200 CFM net. Note that the 400 CFM MUA rule is for hoods ducted outside; if a filtered (surely) recirculating hood were used, there is no MUA issue. VaH make an expensive but reportedly adequate for real cooking ARS recirculating hood. It might not fit your circumstances. ralph_zone8_ncwrote: "I agree the microvisor is just an eyebrow but wouldn't it block the air from going up to the ceiling and surrounding cabinets and if I turn the vent of the microwave to pull air, wouldnt it be able to capture some of the air?" With respect to eyebrow capture, it will (temporarily*) capture any part of the cooking plumes that strike it. However, they will reflect out again into the room if the blower flow rate is not high enough. Flow rate needed to assure successful capture and containment depends on the temperature of the grease being vaporized and the area over which the grease plume is being generated and whether combustion products are entrained. I recommend for most a value of 90 ft/min under the entire hood aperture when cooking with gas. This corresponds to 90 CFM per square foot of aperture. The value 60 may suffice if an induction cooktop is being used. But please note from the Figure 4 table on page 9 of Greenheck's guide -- your needed (or at least recommended) flow rate (CFM) may vary. http://www.greenheck.com/media/pdf/otherinfo/KVSApplDesign_catalog.pdf ----- *Because this eyebrow has minimal depth, the blower flow rate in its vicinity will be less than the average over the capture area. Reflection, at least of hot grease vapor may be insurmountable with a microwave oven fan system. Water vapor might be adequately dealt with if it makes it that high.

I had planned my kitchen remodel intending to use a OTR MW. When I had all my ideas down I ran them by a kitchen designer who axed the OTR MW immediately. There were several reasons, one of which is the vent does not work very well. But the most important point I realized was the poor ergonomics of reaching that high. I am trying to keep ergonomics in mind. The Sharp OTC still sits up off the counter but not as high up as an OTR type. We are getting the Sharp R-1214. I also enjoyed looking at the following pictures of where others in this forum put their MW's. Hope it doesn't confuse you more :) see link below Here is a link that might be useful: microwave placement

I struggled with whether or not to put in an OTR microwave as well. Never had one before and heard bad things about them. But the alternative for me was having a microwave in another room because my kitchen is so small. So I went with an OTR. I have IKEA cabinets as well and this was a super low-budget kitchen remodel. My microwave is a Kenmore and it cost me a little over $200. So far, it works great, although I have not had a very long. Installation was very easy and it looks built in with the cabinets. It is supposed to stick out a little bit because there are small vents on the top of the microwave that should not be inside the cabinet. And I am not talking about the actual venting mechanism that's outside the house. This is more like a fan for the microwave that on the very top of the microwave just in front of the cabinet. Also, it needs to stick put a little to allow the door to fully swing open. I think all OTRs are supposed to stick out a little bit. it looks "normal" or unnoticeable. There is a picture of mine in my backsplash post if you want to see it although it is not a side view.