Recirculating Venting vs. External Venting in a Microwave Oven

Over-the-Range Microwaves

• Over-the-range microwaves install over your stove. You hang these microwaves from the wall or the bottom side of a shelving unit that sits above your stove. Installing over-the-range microwaves helps save space in the kitchen and takes advantage of venting. The vent function on recirculating and external venting microwaves only works when installed as an over-the-range unit. Over-the-range microwaves come with installation instructions and devices, such as brackets, that help you set them up properly in the kitchen.

Recirculating Venting

• Recirculating venting performs the exact function it describes: recirculating air. A recirculating vent takes air, passes it through a vent system and reintroduces it to the environment from which it took the air. Recirculating microwaves installed over the stove take air, steam and other gaseous materials that rise from your stove, pass them through a filter and reintroduce them to your kitchen. This helps keep the air in your kitchen fresh while you cook, while encouraging the movement of air in your kitchen.

External Venting

• External vents work by connecting to the environment outside of your home. These vents usually comprise one part in a system of vents that removes air from your home. External venting microwaves connect to a vent in your kitchen that leads to the outside, either directly through the kitchen wall or up and through the roof. These vents suck air, steam and more from your stovetop environment using a fan. This fan leads everything through an exhaust system that expels it from the home completely.

Recirculating Versus External

• The obvious, fundamental difference between recirculating and external venting microwaves lies in the type of venting they use. Recirculating vents keep air in your home, but collect, filter and remove them from the stove area. External vents remove air from your come completely. In terms of installation, you can put a recirculation venting microwave in any kitchen space it fits in, because it requires no hook up. External venting microwaves, on the other hand, require connection to a venting system, usually found in a vent hood, which connects to the outside.