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Replacing combination oven/microwave unit with separate oven & microw

Christie Roberts

5 years ago

We currently have a combination GE microwave and oven unit that the previous owners installed. Now, the microwave control panel is beyond repair. We've had to flip the breaker temporarily since the panel constantly beeps... thus the oven is unusable. I'd like to replace the combination unit with 2 separate appliances and not run into this again. Has anyone had experience in doing this? Pros and cons? Thanks in advance.

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Comments (2)

Michelle misses Sophie
5 years ago
If they truly are the same appliance (a single control panel operates both), the only downside is going to be cost to remodel the cabinet and possibly add a 120V outlet for the microwave. The positives are exactly as you expect - you don't have to replace both when one dies.

It's possibly you would have to remodel that cabinet if you went with a combo unit anyway. Can you find the installation spec's for the opening size and compare to what you would be able to replace it with?
badgergal
5 years ago
My daughter replaced her double oven wall unit with a single wall oven and a microwave/speed oven. Since her cabinet could only accommodate a 24” wide oven ( She was not replacing her cabinets and consequently her countertops), her replacement appliance options were very limited. If your cabinet is for a 30” wide oven you won’t have that problem.

My daughter needed to add a shelf to the cabinet for the microwave to sit on. She needed to add some wood trim between the 2 new appliances to cover that shelf and a gap because the cabinet cutout height was slightly taller than what see now needed. She also needed a 120V outlet added inside the cabinet for the microwave.

As Michelle stated in her post you need to look very carefully at the specs for the new appliances to find those that best fit your cabinet height and width.

AJMadison’s website is good for researching appliances because it allows you to filter by height and width among other parameters.

Here is a before picture
The after picture below is from the opposite angle but you can still see the wood that was added between the 2 appliances. You can also see that changing to 2 separate appliances allowed her to get rid of the over the cooktop microwave and get a vent hood.
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@brickeyee - Good distinction. Would it be better to say the tap can be 25 feet maximum at demand size for the device and that if it must be longer it needs to be the same size as the main? how do you calculate demand/wire gauge? Edit: Code in my area says the following about load calculations. For a range 12kw or smaller add 6000watts if greater than 12kw add 40% of the amount over 12kw If adding a second Range/oven add 25% of its total wattage. so a 14kw range with a 10 kw secondary should be as follows. First 12kw = 6000watts load 14kw - 12 kw = 2kw = 2000 watts 2000watts x 40% = 800watts Load Second oven 10kw x 25% = 2500 watts First oven = 6800 watts Second oven = 2500watts Total = 9300 watts I have read else where that we can only consider a 85% efficiency so that total needs to be upped to compensate for that. 9300watts x 1.25 = 11625 watts in this hypothetical scenario. This is what i get according to the numbers, but that second oven only getting 25% of its capacity bugs me. Is this because they expect you to not use both at once? Turning everything on would trip the breaker wouldn't it? All this says nothing about cable size. Here is a link that might be useful: Found a link about wire type/temp and size. This post was edited by Noctua on Sun, Apr 7, 13 at 15:44
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I had a double oven in my former home and now have a MW/single oven combo in my new home. NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS. If I had a choice today, I would opt for double ovens and a separate microwave, either on the counter or under counter. Also, it's highly unlikely that you will be able to fit the new unit into the same space without some cabinet modification. Good luck.
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