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adevine

Stacking Wall Ovens with a French Door Oven

8 years ago

I have just run into a problem with a new kitchen in a new house. I purchased a GE Cafe French Door Oven with a GE Cafe Advantium Oven to be mounted together in a wall cabinet. My opinion is that to get the advantage of a french door oven, it should be mounted higher than an oven with a traditional door so that you don't have to bend over to take things out. The wall cabinet was made to build in the french door so that the bottom is 27" off the floor, with the advantium oven above it. Admittedly, this made the advantium oven rather high but I decided this was OK because it was the same height as my current over the range microwave. The bottom of the advantium is at 56" and the top is at 75". I can reach the top mounted controls without trouble. What I did not factor in is that my current over the range microwave is a side open door, while the advantium opens from the top down! Ugh!! I cannot reach inside without a stool or having my arms touch the door!


There are various options, but I'm not really liking any of them. One is to replace the advantium oven with a side open microwave. GE Cafe makes one but it's small with a big trim kit - doesn't look very classy in my opinion.


Another is to replace the advantium oven with a microwave from another manufacturer but then how can I be sure that the stainless will look OK together? It's actually hard to find built in microwaves to fit a 30" space and reviews sometimes comment that trim kits are plastic! Yuck!


With some cabinet modifications, I could move the french door oven up to counter height and put the advantium oven below it. The advantium oven will be used often as a microwave and I've never had an under-counter microwave (nor have I wanted one). Are they as bad as I think they are? I'm 5'7".


I would appreciate comments or ideas you may have to help me solve this problem! Thank you!




GE Cafe Built in Microwave


GE Cafe Advantium Oven


GE Cafe French Door Oven


Frigidaire Professional Built in Microwave


Comments (21)

  • 8 years ago

    First of all Lucky you to be 5'7 When I installed the GE French door wall oven it was because I was getting burned opening and reaching over a regular oven door lifting out heavy things. I'm 5'4. I also had an advantium oven but located in a different spot. I would not put the French door oven down low like that, it defeats the purpose. Can you move it up to ordinary operating level for your hight and place the adventium at a realistic hight where you're not over reaching; maybe at another spot if necessary. They are both great appliances but your set up is not ideal. I would not get rid of the advantium and replace it with a microwave. The advantium is way more than a microwave. People who buy it for a microwave are wasting their money, It is and can be used as a second oven for Turkey Day party day, etc. If all you want is a micro wave buy one, they are a lot less money. Just my opinion.

    Best wishes with whatever you decide.

    Inga

    adevine thanked ifoco
  • PRO
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Can you swap the two? Your cabinet builder will have to make some adjustments in the tall cabinet and it may require ordering new doors/drawers but I think you could re position both at that point with the Advantium below so it is not too low and you can still reach inside the french doors as well as the controls.

    adevine thanked Lauren Jacobsen Design
  • 8 years ago

    Swapping the two would put the one with the door hinge on the bottom too low and the knobs on the oven with the side hinges too high.

    You should keep your favorite of the two ovens -- but raised to the appropriate eye level -- in a cabinet where these ovens now are. Then, either move the other oven to another part of the kitchen where it can be placed at the appropriate level or exchange it for another kind of oven or just do without it.


    adevine thanked suezbell
  • PRO
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I'd leave it alone, stand off to the side and use the big advantage of setting a hot meal ON the open door for a quick stir or easy grab when you remove it!! Microwave doors don't get hot anyway......your arm touching it won't hurt you or the door. You probably won't be wearing your coat, either.

    Other than that, there are seven million GE microwaves at 30 inches, that will match all other stainless, just fine. With swing open doors. I'd wait, use it ......and decide later.: ) I have clients with Advantium in the same position, and it is NO issue, even for their kids. Who are not tall. Yet.

    adevine thanked JAN MOYER
  • 8 years ago

    Thank you for your comments! I appreciate them very much! I haven't totally decided what to do, primarily because there isn't a perfect solution and I prefer perfect! Tonight I'm considering moving the entire oven set down about 8". That will put the french door lower than I'd like. I think the advantium oven will be the one I use most often and it will then be in a comfortable position. I wish I could move one oven to another wall, but unfortunately, that is not an option in my kitchen. I looked at a Bosch side open door oven at a friend's house today that is placed at the same level I am thinking for the french door. Although not ideal, it was still much better than a range oven or a wall oven that opens down.

  • 8 years ago

    I look at you wrestling the heavy steaming-hot (at some point in the future) casserole and my first thought was 'that's too high to the point of being dangerous'. I agree with your thought of moving the entire oven set down about 6- 8", or engineering another solution so you can more comfortably use your ovens for the long run. You have the opportunity now, and the relatively small money in modifications is worth your safety and comfort with the config. Question: can that 3" divider between the two be brought down to a 1" ? That would take up 2" of your height without bringing you any closer to the floor - then you are only lowering the pair 4-6". Just a thought. My double 30" ovens w/ traditional hinged doors both seem to be at a fine height for me (5 10) and my wife (5 2) so there's got to be a solution for these. Good luck.

  • 8 years ago

    I am going with a Bosch side opening oven for ergonomic reasons.

    Have you considered that you will have an oven door slightly blocking your only landing spot to the right of your wall ovens?

  • 8 years ago

    Two houses ago I had the Advantium mounted down low (I had a Miele coffee station above it), while GE tries to tell you not to do that, it's really NOT a problem.


    We went with the Bosch side door ovens as well but only because we wanted double ovens and GE doesn't do the french doors in a double.

  • 8 years ago

    I like the modification as you described it with the french door oven just above counter height and the advantium just below. That puts your advantium slightly low but no different than using an undercounter oven or range oven. It'll be fine and certainly not a safety issue like what you have now.

  • 8 years ago

    I just love that GE French door oven! I wanted it very badly for my kitchen remodel, but my height (way shorter than you) and to a lesser degree, cost, ,prevented it. The salesman at the appliance store steered me away from mounting an Advantium above the French door oven because of the very issues you are facing. I do think you're likely to use the Advantium more and would prioritize ease of use on that one over the French door oven.

  • 6 years ago

    Adevine, I’m curious what you ended up doing as I am faced with a similar situation. Thank you.

  • 6 years ago

    @adevine, I would be curious as well. Am considering similar options! Thanks.

  • 6 years ago

    If your oven is to be at the end of a countertop, one option might be to have a taller base cabinet at the very end of a row of base cabinets to enable the oven in the base cabinet to be a bit closer to eye level similar to the dual height of this island. (larger upper right pic)


    https://www.google.com/search?q=Kitchen+with+multilevel+countertop&client=firefox-b-1-d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwib7NbL7pjpAhXrmOAKHaB8AGoQ_AUoAXoECAwQAw&biw=1348&bih=648#imgrc=C2bBOPNTswmLBM&imgdii=VKr0u-FAgwrDWM.

  • 6 years ago

    New as of March 2020 just in time to be quarantined! I was also advised that the Advantium had to be above and the French door oven had to be below. My kitchen is too small to not have stacking ovens and I wanted to avoid stooping to get into an oven below a cooktop. (I'm almost 60, so I do not stoop so well anymore) I am also 5'7" & I agree that it is hard to reach the back corners of the Advantium to clean it - so cleaning back corners has to wait until the oven cools down, but hey that's what step stools are for. I have also discovered that I use the Avantium exclusively as a microwave (daily) and I use the French Door oven for all oven cooking - 3 to 4 times a week. I love how the French Door oven looks. However, because it is situated below the Advantium, stooping is still required to put dishes in and remove them from the French Door Oven. More importantly however is to make sure the doors open all the way & click open so that they stay open and do not burn my arms! Trying to just barely open the doors when adding an ingredient in order to conserve the A/C is just not a good idea. Also the oven racks slide out and back in - which seemed like a good idea in the store - until dealing with a hot oven, racks that want to slide back in and hot doors that want to close on you. Perhaps I am just not used to these modern conveniences yet. If I were to do over, I would raise the entire stack about 4" to 6" as I cook more than I clean. First World Problems.

  • 6 years ago

    I am considering a range with french oven doors below the range. Mainly because it is not self cleaning and I think it will be easier to clean an oven with french doors rather than with the doors sticking out.


    How far open do french oven doors open? Do they only open to 90 degrees or do they open wider?



  • 4 years ago

    French door wall oven was my dream. I have a double oven and a warming drawer. I want to put the warming drawer under the cooktop so i wont have to bend so low. I think it can be done. Is that a good idea?

  • 4 years ago

    Are you remodeling or are you just swapping appliances around and moving the warming drawer from where it currently is to under your current cooktop.


    Lots of people have real ovens installed below cooktops for aesthetic reasons and so I don't think there is a functional reason why a warming drawer couldn't be installed.


    However you would have to make sure that the actual warming drawer and the cooktop are compatible in terms of this configuration as my understanding is that cooktops might have a minimum requirement in terms of what can be installed under them. I have an induction cooktop so there isn't that issue but as I recall the recomendation was to not install metal right under my induction cookbook so I have a narrow drawer directly under where I store flat items like place mats, dish towels and my silicone baking mats.

  • 3 years ago

    Michelle, you mentioned that you were advised that the Advantium had to be ABOVE and the French door oven had to be BELOW. I keep reading this around the interwebs, too, but I can't find an explanation as to why. Being 5' 2", having the Advantium door (that opens down) on the bottom, and the french doors (swinging out to the side) on the top, seems like the ideal configuration. Did anyone tell you WHY they can be arranged one way and not the other? Thanks!

  • 3 years ago

    Hi, did you ever get a answer on how u wanted to place your Advantium and French Door oven ? I am wanting to do mind this way and was checking to see if it has worked for you ? thank you , Cindy

  • 2 years ago

    I also have the advantium on top of my french door oven and I am only 5 feet tall and find it hard to take out hot items in the advantium. i was told that if you put the advantium on the bottom that ge would not honor the warrenty on the advantium Also I could not put the advantium in my island for that same reason and also for safety reasons because of how hot the advantium gets i dont understand that because all ovens get hot but that is what ge said when I called them when we built our kitchen Hope this helps