If you examine the photos of the interiors and control panels, it's pretty clear that all the brands -- including Wolf -- are selling the same products (24" or 30"); just the exteriors vary. Note the design of the rails, the positions of the vents, latches and screws. But the prices are all over the place with Sharp being the lowest.

All microwave drawers are made by Sharp so unless you like paying extra for a name plate, stick to Sharp.

I went with the Sharp 30" microwave with the tilt up controls - tilt up is critical because what is the point of a microwave drawer if you have to stoop to access and read the control panel.

I deliberately didn't go with the one with "wave" technology - e.g. the one that opened if you waved your hand in front of it. I would have paid the difference if I thought it would be functional - but my thought was that this was a feature that seemed to be unnecessary and might prove to be a problem down the road.

That said, I installed a Toto washlet that has the technology which opens and closes the lid automatically. I didn't think I would love it but thought what the heck - why not and I absolutely love this feature :-).

Thanks everyone!

@Helen I absolutely agree on the Toto toilet feature!! I don't need the wave technology for the microwave.

@Karen Rose - Thanks for testing the butter melting thing. In the thread they suggested to put a cup of water along with the butter to avoid the problems! Just FYI.

@Lawrence - Yes I agree.

I just freaked out after reading the SHARP drawer microwave thread where it had multiple problems and with not so good response from the company. I wish some other company also makes these drawer microwaves for some competition for SHARP otherwise they think they can just ignore customers since they have a monopoly or something on drawer microwaves!!!

Reading reviews on the internet isn't often the best way to determine reliability because people who are happy with their purchase don't tend to post because the don't have a strong need to vent. I use reviews from individuals more as a way to determine function and features - e.g. when I was researching induction cook tops, I realized that I wanted to be able to regulate power directly instead of having to cycle through various power levels.

The internet reviews I rely on and put some weight on are the houzz ones. It is such a great community!

I had a SHARP micro drawer installed in our last house (moved 2.5 years ago) and we loved it, no issues. We will install one again as we are getting ready to re-do the kitchen in this house.

@megs1030 - did you do anything special for venting - so there is no condensation on the cabinet below?

@paddykk -- Not that I remember. Pretty sure we did not do anything special for venting, but we had it installed almost 4 years ago and don't live in that house anymore.

I briefly considered a microwave drawer. But in the end, we got a SpeedOven instead. It solves the problem of finding a convenient location for the microwave. But in our case, it uses the available space more efficiently; I get both an extra wall oven and a microwave for the price of one 24" opening.

We use the SpeedOven function rarely. But I do use the microwave about once a day to warm up drinks. And I use the extra oven frequently. So, for us, this turned out to be a great use of space -- albeit maybe not a cheap way of doing it. A microwave drawer plus an extra wall oven would have cost more space that we are glad we didn't have to give up.

On the other hand, if you use your microwave more frequently than we do, and if it is an important tool in your kitchen. Then a drawer of course makes more sense. It is a lot more accessible than pretty much any other solution. I understand the appeal.

So, this is not intended to distract you from buying a microwave drawer. But it is food for thought, if you are looking for alternative options to installing a microwave without sacrificing too much valuable space, or if you are concerned about buying Sharp's design.

I agree with your concern that reliability is worrisome for all of these expensive appliances. Reading scary stories on Houzz does have me concerned. It's the reason why we paid for extended warranty for both our SpeedOven and our CSO. I rarely worry about extended warranties. But these are expensive appliances that are sufficiently complex that failures become more likely and out-of-warranty repairs become expensive.

Ok I have decided to go with Sharp drawer microwave - Both the 24" and 30" are the same interior. The microwave drawer will be in the island. Any advantages or disadvantages on going with either 24" or 30" that I should consider? Thanks!

No advantage - the difference is whether you want a large or small cabinet.

Since my microwave drawer is below my 30" wall oven, I got the 30" drawer since it made no sense to by a 24" drawer and then get the trim so it would fit a 30" cabinet.

Therefore you should get the cabinet size that you want for the island - I would suspect that it would be sized for the 24" drawer but that really depends since you would be selecting based on both aesthetics (does a large drawer look better) and functionality (does a large drawer function better).

Thanks. Since mine is just under the counter in an island - I will possibly have space a drawer below - so I will base my decision based on the aesthetics of the rest of the drawers and cabinets on that side of the island.

Im also thinking about - if in the future I have to replace this microwave with something else maybe 30” is better because for most Speed ovens like adbatiun etc. do come in a standard 30” size.

Personally I wouldn't want any kind of oven other than a drawer below the counter so that consideration is moot for me.

The reason I have a microwave drawer with a tilt up control is because it ergonomically and functionally works perfectly for installation below the counter.

However, if a 30" cabinet works for you in that space, there is no reason not to get the 30" model and preserve any kind of future options.

SpeedOvens and combination steam ovens all come in 24". They also have 30" models, but quite frequently it is just larger trim around an oven that is essentially 24". So, while I hear you in general about future proofing, you might discover that 24" isn't as limiting as it sounds at first. On the other hand, if there is plenty of usable space in your kitchen, then 30" obviously provides more potential future options.

The other caveat is that some of these other options have very specific venting requirements. This might make it impossible to replace your microwave drawer with a hypothetical future SpeedOven unless you already planned for having a vent chase in the back of the cabinet.

One thing that I would suggest you do is run a large 240V circuit to the back of the cabinet, and also install plumbing, if that's possible. This will give you a lot more options in the future and it is relatively easy to do when you are remodeling anyway.

We have now had our combination speed oven for about half a year. I would say it isn't a 100% substitute for a microwave. But if I was forced to pick one over the other, I would very clearly pick the CSO instead of the microwave or the SpeedOven. Also, I am very glad that we got a SpeedOven instead of a microwave (i.e. we now have one CSO, one SpeedOven, and one large in-range oven). Having several fully-functional small ovens has been a game changer.

We do have a lot of space - so it would just be aesthetics and functionality. Good to know that there are plenty of 24” options too!!

Will tell our contractor to put plumbing and 240V circuit. It’s just in the framing stage right now.

In our current home we have the GE 240V advantium that we use as a microwave and used it as an oven a couple times and loved it.

Maybe be I should look into the CSO and a SpeedOven.

Here is the list we are considering so far;

Wolfe 36” induction (in the island)

Sharp drawer microwave (in the island)

42” or 36” subzero

Wall oven (Wolfe E or GE monogram) - two singles or a double stack. Or one Advantium and one standard wall oven.

Weird that my comment above cane up as “HU......” instead my userid “paddykk”

You have a pretty good selection of appliances right there. I don't think you can go wrong with these. Here are some comments, but feel free to ignore if you don't think they apply.

People in the Houzz forum generally advise against stoves in an island. And for good reasons. Much harder to vent, potentially a safety hazard (although that's less of a concern with induction), and often not as useful in real life as it looks on paper. If you are up to reconsidering basic design, post your kitchen layout for review. Reviews here tend to be brutal, but often provide great input.

I'd stay clear of any oven that has a blue interior. They all seem to fail after a couple of years, requiring prohibitively expensive repairs. Wolf has gained a particularly bad reputation for how they deal or rather fail to deal with this problem. But the other manufacturers don't seem much better.

I am positively surprised how much I enjoy cooking with my 24" Miele CSO and SpeedOven. The only time that I find I use the 30" Bluestar oven is when I need a better broiler element. For everything else, much to my surprise, the smaller ovens have not been a limitation. In fact, the smaller size results in much faster preheating which is awesome. Maybe that helps in your decision making

Thanks for the input. I forgot to add the Dacor downdraft Behind the induction for venting.

We have the cooktop (gas) in the island in our current home and like that better than having a sink of dirty dishes in the center.

I will draw the design out better and then take a picture and post it.

I only know about Advatium and no other speed ovens or steam ovens. No idea what else exists in that space. In our current home we got the Advantium because for re-sale(I know) they said it's good to have two ovens (although for the amount of cooking we do in the oven we only needed one) - so found a good medium in Advatium which we use mostly as a microwave and a couple times we used as an oven. IT was fast and beautiful but had to change plates to use it as an oven (glass to metal)

I plan to go to the appliance store and get educated. If you have time @M can you educate me some about my options in this space?

M, i hope you copy your amazingly thorough and thoughtful CSO answer to be re-posted on all future threads!

<3

Thank you!

And feel free to link to or copy from as appropriate, if I forget to. These discussions are fun and hopefully for everybody's benefit

Just wanted to put in a word for Sharp, although it sounds like you're already there. We just replaced a basic Sharp microwave after 10 years of use. For just under $100 bucks, we're not complaining. And we can recycle the old one at Best Buy. We use our microwave strictly for heating water/leftovers/potatoes/popcorn, using about 3 buttons out of the 10+ available. In general, we go for simple in appliances, less to go wrong.

And ditto on the thanks for generous sharing of information and expertise, it's really helpful and appreciated!