Fitting built under ovens

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December 3, 2003 at 12:01 pm #5097
Anonymous	Fell across the website yesterday while looking for appliances – great idea having a BB / advice board & Tim, it’s nice to come across an expert who’s prepared to give the time. I’m having trouble understanding sizes and fitting for built under double ovens. Most of the base cabinets supplied by the retail barns seem to be 700mm high, yet all the double built unders I’ve come across so far seem to be 720 – 750 high, often with fitting apertures shown as more than 700; the smallest I’ve found is a Whirlpool one at 712, although they do give the aperture required as 697. How do these things fit in a cabinet, and if they go between two cabinets how do they not stick out at the bottom – a problem if you’re having legs rather than plinths? I’m an engineer, so I want to make sure I’ve understood the problems and got the right stuff before I build the kitchen rather than finding out as I go along! Thanks
December 6, 2003 at 12:54 am #5098
timfoley	Thanks for the kind comments. Hope you find our forum useful. Actually the majority of base cabinets are 720mm excluding the plinth and vary slightly above this size dependant on where you purchase them. Double built under ovens were introduced as an alternative to single built under ovens in order to accommodate the need for a seperate cooking facility whlilst maintaining extra worktop space. They have since become very popular and a number of manufacturers include them in their ranges. Certainly the ones I am aware of such as the AEG C5212BU, Hotpoint UD47CH, Neff 1721, Siemens HB90355, Bosch HBN 7052 and Baumatic B725SS fall within or to a maximum of 720mm in height. The majority of manufacturers employ steel runners to accommodate installation and these are screwed to the side gables of the adjacent units prior to sliding the oven into place. For added strength, the oven is then fixed to the underside of the worktop and to the cabinet sides, again using prefixed steel brackets supplied by the manufacturer. Perhaps the confusion is concerning your assumed cabinet height of 700mm and I hope the answer clarifies this for you. Sorry I can’t address you by your name as I would like and maybe you’d like to join the forum as a member. Being an engineer I’m certain you could make some valuable contributions to future posts. Tim
December 7, 2003 at 6:46 pm #5099
Anonymous	Cheers Tim, that does help. I hadn’t quite grasped that they normally hang between two cabinets, or the normal cabinet heights. Part of the problem is, I think, the manufacturer’s blurb; most seem to refer to the total installed height including plinth or legs, but aren’t clear about the height of the cabinet alone, so you’ve got to infer it from the heights of doors, corner posts etc. The appliance manufacturers don’t help here either; for example, the Whirlpool catalogue says ‘appliances may also be fitted between units…’ implying that they’re normally fitted inside – that may be the case with the single built unders and not the double, but they don’t distinguish. I’ve also been concentrating mainly on Ikea Faktum cabinets, as that’s my partner’s preferred choice, and I think they use slightly odd sizes – their installed height is 860, with a plinth height of 160, hence the 700, and it may be if we go for this that we’ll have to think carefully about the fitting of the built under. I’ve posted a couple of comments about Ikea under ‘ban-all-sheds’ post. I’m not sure whether being an engineer is a help or a hindrance, but if I can put in any input or pass on anything I learn doing this kitchen I will. Sean
December 7, 2003 at 7:18 pm #5101
Captain Lockheed	Mind you, I can’t even get the hang of this logging in thing – I spend so long composing my text I get logged out again!
December 7, 2003 at 9:15 pm #5102
timfoley	I agree, it does help to know the size of the door and the plinth but it’s an astute move for future business if you can only match your door size from one manufacturer. This eliminates buying standard door heights should you fancy a facelift in the future and ensures your doors are available from the original supplier unless you obtain bespoke. As with the products they make, manufacturers offer different levels of service in their information brochures, websites etc. I am in favour of those who offer full technical specifications and installation instructions and these are consistent with the more reputable manufacturers. A reflection on the product, in my opinion, is the provision of information by the manufacturer. Not all “put in what they get out” so to speak. For built under double ovens I believe Ikea’s 700mm door size would not be suitable as the bottom line would be broken by most built under ovens manufactured to suit the more general 720mm height. 20mm is a large difference and disrupts the continual design line we try to attain when installing a kitchen. Particularly if, as you stated earlier, you are fitting plinthless cabinetry. Well at least now I have no shortage of names for you and I look forward to hearing of your progress with the kitchen.
December 8, 2003 at 12:05 pm #5104
Captain Lockheed	It occured to me that perhaps they’re blurring the dimensions for that reason – particularly Ikea and their apparently non standard heigts. I’ve found all the manufacturer’s catalogues, both cabinets and appliances, very variable in the quality of their information and dimensioning, I can’t help feeling it reflects the attitude and ethos of the company and certainly affects my decision as to whether to buy from them – further, if I can’t work out whether something will fit or not I certainly won’t buy it in the hope it might! As to the ikea kitchens, more in response to your other post!