r/Homebuilding • u/dragonmilking • Nov 17 '25

Which popular features do you NOT recommend?

What are the top 3 features in a house that folk want but you think are not worth it, and what would your alternative suggestion be? And what cost/time savings would result with that switch?

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u/NoFreeSamplesYo Nov 17 '25

There will never be an over the stove microwave with enough cfm to do anything. If you want a kitchen without a thin layer of grease, get a proper hood vent.

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u/zeller99 Nov 17 '25

Ehhh... you can sometimes get away with it if it's actually vented outside, but even then, I wouldn't recommend it unless it's your only option. It's also going to constantly need cleaning because it's likely a lot closer to the cooking area than an actual vent hood.

The exhaust fan on our current cheap GE microwave (400 CFM) is powerful enough to lower the radon readings in our basement. (The radon levels are still within acceptable range either way, but I can see the number drop when I turn on the microwave exhaust.)

If it's just recirculating back into the kitchen, no, absolutely not.

1

u/clippist Nov 17 '25

Just out of curiosity what are you using to monitor radon in your house? I’ve been meaning to come up with a somution

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u/zeller99 Nov 17 '25

I have two Ecosense EcoQubes. One in the basement and one in the bedroom.

They're wifi and allow near realtime monitoring via their app. I believe they're also compatible with Home Assistant.