I agree with the responses to the thread you posted on the Kitchens Forum which listed the negatives to an OTR microwave. No, an OTR MW is not sufficient, and will likely be damaged by the 15,000 btu burners of your Viking. And your own subject title actually says it - a $4,000 range with a cheap OTR MW--it sounds like you know they don't belong together. If you didn't want such range power, you would have been better off saving your money for other things and buying a Maytag or lower-end GE range. Those work very well, and your MW would manage them. It sounds like you are reluctant to match the exhaust with your expensive high-power range, which isn't very logical. Can you return the range for something more in line with what you want? If you do decide to buy a good hood, you should read the many threads on this forum about the various brands, or post a new thread asking for recommendations on lower-cost hoods. Ventahood is not well-liked on this forum, although there are some fans of it. But all agree that Ventahood is pricey. Many here are happy with lower-cost hoods bought on eBay. Regardless of brand, what you need is a hood that is 30" or 36" wide, 24" deep, 450-600 cfms (preferably 600), and has baffle filters (not mesh filters). Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchens Thread about Viking Range and OTR MW

Almost a year ago, I did the research to find the best choice for this situation. I came up witht the Samsung 7177 OTR black and stainless with 400 CFM movement and a Panansonic (forget the model) with 420 CFM. They were both large and had great features and had more CFM than the Kenmore vent hood that I had at 360. Trouble was no one near the small town where I live had the Panasonic to actually see so I went with the Samung from Lowe's, which at the time was $300. The price has actually gone down since then! It is vented out the back wall which is right outside our back dore. It will blow your hat off if you have it on Turbofan! The micro does fine and has alll sorts of auto sensors for food, but no convection etc. I highly recommend it for anyobe that does have vent capability. I can't imagine any of them without an outside vent!

They say you should not stand directly in front of a MW while it is on as that is the one place where a leak is possible. With an OTR MW, your head is not only in front of it, but close to it. Whether this is really something you have to worry about, especially w/a new MW, I don't know. I know that I don't stand in front of mine just in case. Regardless, I think the bigger issue is that the MW is over a cooktop or range and is (1) too high for most people to be able to check the food and/or stir safely and (2) you must reach up over a hot surface to get to the food in the MW. I definitely would not want children using one until they were well over 5'...for safety reasons. Another reason I don't like them is that they're just too short! Oh, and if someone wants to use the MW while someone else is working at the cooktop/range, you have a traffic jam! But, to each his or her own! It's your choice. If you like them, go ahead and get/use one.

I live in a townhouse also, and was unable to vent to the facade. The code here is your vent cannot be within 10' of an adjacent house, or 5' of any operable window. (which makes perfect sense.) That condition does not exist on the front of the house. So I ended up with a recirculating OTR microwave. I will be interested if you are allowed to do it and what you end up with. There are certainly some houses around here with vents that don't meet the strict criteria. Code interpretation and enforcement is definitely variable. The OTR microwave is pretty useless as ventilation. I typically open a window. Given the restrictions, I'm still happy with it since I couldn't vent outside anyway.