Stove & Over-the-Range Microwave Size Finder

How to use the stove and microwave size finder

1. Measure the stove’s opening between the base cabinets, and the cooktop’s height from the floor (the counter’s height if the range sits level with it).
2. Measure the cabinet above: the space between the upper cabinets either side, and the height of the cabinet’s bottom from the floor. Add its depth and the range’s backguard if you have them.
3. Pick the microwave: GE, Samsung or Frigidaire, each judged by its own installation guide, named below.
4. You get the range size that fits, whether the microwave goes in, how far its bottom hangs above the cooktop, and the wall drawn to scale.

The rule behind the numbers

A range fits an opening as wide as its size: GE’s sheets draw a 24″ opening for its 24″ range and a 30″ opening for its 29⅞″ wide 30″ range. GE approves its ranges for 0″ beside them above the cooktop, and recommends 6″ to surfaces less than 15″ above it.

An over-the-range microwave hangs from the cabinet above, so every guide read asks the same three things: a space 30″ wide between the cabinets, the cabinet’s bottom 30″ or more above the cooking surface, and a cabinet no deeper than 13″ (Samsung: 12″). GE and Frigidaire add 66″ or more from the floor to the microwave’s top and 2″ between its bottom and the range’s backguard. Its bottom is the cabinet’s height less its own: a 16½″ microwave under a cabinet 30″ above the cooktop leaves 13½″, and Samsung’s sheet says “the practical use of the range will likely require you to provide more”.

The ranges read

From each range’s Dimensions and Installation Information sheet: the JAS640RMSS (rev. 1/25) cooks at 36″ ± ½″, the JB645 (rev. 6/18) at 35¾″ to 36½″; both ask 30″ to the cabinets above.

The over-the-range microwaves read

Every one asks the cabinet’s bottom 30″ or more above the cooking surface. GE’s and Samsung’s go over ranges up to 36″ wide; GE’s guide allows a 15″ deep cabinet with its JX15 bump-out kit, and a space wider than 30″ with a filler panel kit. A dash means the guide read prints no number.

Five worked examples

A 30″ opening, the cabinet at 66″, a 36″ cooktop. A 30″ range fits, and the cabinet is exactly 30″ over the cooktop, so all three microwaves go in. GE’s 16½″ JVM3160 hangs 13½″ above the cooktop, Samsung’s 17 1⁄16″ ME21D6500 12 15⁄16″.

The same cabinet, the range raised to 36½″ (GE’s JB645 adjusts from 35¾″ to 36½″). The cabinet is now 29½″ over the cooktop: none of the microwaves read is allowed there.

A range with an 11″ backguard, like the JB645’s. GE’s microwave clears it by 2½″, more than the 2″ GE and Frigidaire ask.

A 24″ apartment opening. It takes a 24″ range, such as GE’s JAS640RMSS, and a 30″ microwave still goes over it: the microwave needs the 30″ space between the upper cabinets, not a 30″ range.

A 33″ space between the upper cabinets. The microwave goes in with a gap at the sides; GE’s guide closes it with a filler panel kit.

Common mistakes

• Measuring the range for the microwave. The microwave’s 30″ is the space between the upper cabinets; the range below it may be 24″ to 36″ wide.
• Forgetting the cooktop’s height. A range levelled higher than the counter brings the cooktop closer to the cabinet: 66″ is 30″ only over a 36″ cooktop.
• Ignoring a tall backguard. GE’s 30″ range has an 11″ backguard; under a 16½″ microwave at 66″ it leaves 2½″.
• A deep cabinet above. Past 13″ (Samsung: 12″) the microwave must be spaced out from the wall.

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