I have a small kitchen with limited counterspace. Should I install a vent or micro above my oven?

I recently redid my kitchen which consisted of a stove with range and replaced the range with an over the stove microwave and it was the best decision. A range really is a waste of space, especially with the new microwaves that have exhaust fans.

Microwaves with vent/fans installed on the bottom work just as well as standard vent hoods, unless you have a vent hood that is really vented to the outside.

Why not install one that does both jobs? Most over the stove microwaves have an vent and light option .... and running the duct work to vent it outside is usually not that big of a job.

I would say the reason for vents are to dissapate smoke, and odors. If your filters do a good enough job circulating the air I would go with a microwave. Microwaves save so much time, are very convienent and... then you can pop some popcorn!

Vent hoods are useless

my ex had one of these in his house. worked fine, and saved a lot of space

the one you wont the most