I installed this Kitchenaide microwave last night.
It is a 2 cubic foot size - 1000 watts of power.
The microwave in our present kitchen was about 10 years old. I installed it when we first bought the house in 2004. Most of Lulu's appliances are stainless steel. When it comes time to sell this old house - it will probably sell better with matching appliances. I decided to look around for a deal.
After lunch at Wendy's - my bowl of chili - I drove across the street to HH Gregg - it is a big box store that is about 1 mile from our house. We have bought several items there - because they have good prices - you can bargain - and I do not have to haul the stuff too far to get it home.
Gregg has a closeout table - usually one of a kind items - that they want to get rid of quickly. I noticed that there were just 2 stainless steel microwaves - nothing else on the table. One had a price on it of $350 - usually $500 - to me that was not much of a deal. I asked the salesman about the other one - a Kitchenaide - it did not have a price. Of course he did not know anything. I took a peek inside.
The sticker said 80% off! They only wanted $104 for an over the range - stainless steel - Kitchenaide microwave oven - with a vent fan and light. There was no box - no owners manual - no bracket - no bolts - just the glass turntable. I carried the oven over to an outlet - plugged it in and everything worked - oven - lights - vent fan. I called Lulu - sent her a picture of it - and she approved.
It took them forever to do the paper work - but finally they carried it to my camper. I just took the camper to Super Lube and sprung for the synthetic oil. So it was ready to haul home the new booty.
Last night after supper I decided to install it. It was easy enough to remove the old one from the wall. Since the lights and fan did not work on the old one - I put it out on the curb. Within minutes - a car stopped - back up - and the driver loaded it into the trunk. So much for disposal. The same thing happened when I bought a new refrigerator from HH Gregg - but that time the picker came by at night. He even knocked on the door to ask if I had the hardware to attached the doors - I did - in the trash can.
Now the fun started. I had no manual - I had no wall bracket - and the old hanging bolts were a different thread from the ones the new oven needed. Lulu downloaded the manual from the Internet - and we went to Home Depot to buy bolts and washers. That was another $1.30 invested in this deal. With a little work with a cutting wheel - I was able to alter the old bracket to accept the new microwave.
It took almost a half hour to line up the bolts - and drill new holes in the above cabinet - the old holes did not match the new oven. Finally - with saw dust all over the place including on the cooktop below -the new bolts with big washers on the top fit through the holes I drilled. After a sniff or two of something burning - not sure if it was the sawdust from the drill - or the flesh on my arm - I quickly vacuumed everything up while Lulu turned off the stove and removed the knobs so I would not accidentally turn it on again.
The pictures above say it all - the oven looks and works great. Notice I did not include the stove in the photos - that is the last appliance which it not stainless steel.
Lulu just pocked out the appliances for her new kitchen - all stainless steel. With my luck - by the time I want to sell this house - or both houses - stainless steel appliances will be out of style - and I will be looking for clear plastic one - or maybe a refrigerator with a TV in the door.
My favorite stainless steel appliance ever was a large urinal about 6 feet wide in a pub in Scotland. There was a TV screen with a soccer game going on. Locals got a lot of joy by peeing on the opponents team. It gave "stainless steel" a whole new meaning to me.
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