Kitchens – replace a microwave with a range hood exhaust vent without doing carpentry

kitchensvent

My fairly small kitchen has a standard (30") four-burner slide-in gas range, and above it a microwave with a built-in vent. All over 10 years old. The vent exhausts to the exterior via a duct that goes up into the cabinet above the microwave.

photo of overall situation
photo of vent behind bottles

I've read that, as vents, microwaves ovens are pretty good ovens. Consumer Reports indicates that some are less mediocre than others. Their latest rating is not very up to date.

If I pull out the microwave, will a pure vent drop into the space left behind, or am I likely to be looking at carpentry?

Best Answer

Having recently done the exact same thing you are mentioning, here are my tips and observations. For reference, this was the range hood I bought.

  • Make sure to buy a range hood that is the same width as your microwave. This wasn't an issue for me since the microwave was a standard size for most range hoods.
  • The only "carpentry" work I had to do was creating/adjusting the vent hole in the bottom of the cabinet. The new range hood should come with a nice template to show you were the vent cutout needs to be. You may get lucky with being able to use the existing hole but I was not this lucky. This was the ONLY cutting that I had to do.
  • The new range hood was super easy to install under the cabinet (4 screws!) with the included brackets. The exception to this is that you may need to buy the cable that plugs into the outlet and directly wire it to the hood.
  • You may have an unsightly backsplash area from where the microwave was previously installed. I didn't have any paint behind the microwave so there was a bare patch that I had to repaint. I also had to fill a couple holes in the wall that were used to secure the microwave.
  • You may need to get different ducting if the new range hood doesn't include the appropriate adapter/connection for your existing duct.

Hope that helps!

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