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Need help replacing built-in microwave

7 years ago

I recently moved into a house with 12 year old GE Monogram appliances, all of which are falling apart. I replaced the fridge with a Subzero Pro 48" and will be replacing the range with a Bluestar Platinum and the dishwasher with a Miele. The microwave recently died - it's a 29.5" built-in. I have no idea what to replace it with. Here are some of my thoughts:

Had a Wolf convection microwave in my last house which I had zero problems with. Sometimes used the convection oven feature, but not enough that I wouldn't miss having it.
There seem to be a bunch of microwaves with features I'm not familiar with - steam oven, speed oven, etc. I love to bake, but with 2 ovens in the Bluestar, do I really need to bake in the microwave? Please tell me if I'm wrong.
If I don't need any bells and whistles, do I need a high-end microwave? I'm open either way but don't necessarily need to pay for a Wolf or Electrolux if it effectively does the same thing.

Comment (1)

laundryvet
7 years ago
Emily,

When end my GE microwave died last fall I was certain I would go with another brand to synchronize the brand strategy a tad in our kitchen. But after looking at several brands, the GE just delivered the best value and I liked how the buttons all worked. To be honest, hard to come down hard on a microwave that lasted 17 + years for me with heavy use. For about $220 I got a GE that I would consider an upgrade vs the old, turn table, better lights, quieter fan, more control options. One surprise was that the bracket Ray was different and could not just drop the new where the old was without switching out the wall bracket. Also, the plug hole was in a different spot, so had to drill a new hole.

One thing your installer will notice is that the new is only about 2/3 the weight of the old.

Anyhow, best of luck with your decision. I'm still very happy with my decision (GE) almost a year later.

Laundryvet
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