I will not have an over the range microwave because the thought of removing hot dishes near eye level scares me. One slip or spill from that position could dump the hot contents on your chest or face! I wonder what OSHA would do about OTR microwaves in a commercial setting. Good luck with the range.

A good deal depends on your cooking habits. If you plan to do a lot of very hot stir frying or grilling, you will heat up your kitchen very fast and, if you cannot vent out, the heat and smells will linger. My guess is that the gas range you are considering would ordinarily be paired with a 300 cfm (cubic feet per minute) exhaust capacity venting hood. A recirculating system will handle SOME of the smell, but do nothing to alleviate the heat build up. If you have a window in your kitchen, better put an exhaust fan in it. If your kitchen has no window, plan to go easy on the heavy, greasy cooking which, after all, is not that good for your health.

The burnt plastic smell from the OTR will linger on in your apartment well after you manage to put the fire out.

If all the ventilation that you can manage is a recirculating OTR, then get a range that's suited to an OTR. Like a simple gas range with regular 9K BTU burners and maybe 1 12K power boil burner.

Thanks. I have been concerned but the NYC appliance distributors all seem to say that Viking and Dacor designed the OTRs, so they should be sufficient. I don have a window in mya kitchen, but perhaps I should go back to the old drawing board.