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I have an electric oven and a microwave oven. I used to keep the microwave on top of the old refrigerator. Now I've got a taller new refrigerator, and I read it's not safe to keep the microwave oven over the refrigerator. Besides, I shouldn't keep warm stuff near the refrigerator.

Is it safe to keep the electric oven on top of the microwave oven? I'm not expecting to use them both at the same time. The electric oven has small legs that keep it about 3 cm away from the surface. Is this ventilation good enough? As I said, since I'm not going to use them at the same time, one of them will always be cold while the other one is working.

wallyk
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Fernando Briano
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    Microwave ovens themselves do not get all that hot - in fact, your refrigerator probably puts out more heat. Microwaves work by putting out radio waves that are absorbed by water fat and sugars, which causes their atoms to "vibrate", which is what heat is. It's unsafe to have a microwave up high only because you're more likely to spill hot stuff on yourself while pulling it out - especially if you can't see the top. – gregmac Nov 19 '10 at 01:12

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Do you still have the microwave manual? In there it should give the minimum clearances for the oven. These will be required to allow for sufficient airflow around the microwave so that it doesn't overheat.

If it's 3 cm or less (which is unlikely) then you'll be OK.

For the more likely case of it being more than 3 cm, why don't you build a shelf at the right height above the microwave and sit the oven on that?

ChrisF
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If you have the counter space, I'd put the microwave on the counter and put your toaster oven on top of the microwave. If you aren't running them at the sametime it should be ok. Also, you could take the toaster over down and put it somewhere else on the counter when you run it. Regardless of what you do, make sure you have plenty of ventilation around the top and sides. The microwave should run fine with a toaster over on top as long as you don't have the thing totally surrounded by stuff. I wouldn't think that the toaster oven would heat the microwave up too bad when it ran either, the little legs keep it high enough not to melt your counter, so it shouldn't burn your microwave too badly.

Zach
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My toaster oven broke after 3 months of having it atop of my microwave oven, wouldn't recommend it

Veronica
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    EXTREMELY unlikely the toaster oven broke _because_ it was on top of the microwave. (As in, I see no possible mechanism except, _maybe_, fan vibrations.) – keshlam Nov 08 '14 at 19:33