yeshwant91, A bit off topic but related... I'm not familar with all the combi units your considering, but consider carefully if those units will meet your needs. Some of the combi boilers I'm aware of have significant limitations. For example, in their instant hot water production mode if you exceed their max flow spec they will allow the additional flow and just start lowering the temperature of the heated water. In reality this may mean certain units are only good for a single point of use at any given time. So you might not be able to take a shower and wash your clothes at the same time. A couple years ago I was considering a Rinnai whole house instant DHW heater. They are very powerful units and have flow limiters so requested hot water temperature is always achieved. If you ask for more hot water than it can produce they will just ignore the demand for additional flow. Not sure which (if any) combi units also incorporate this feature. I agree with dross - if you can swing a 220V line do it for the sake of a much wider choice of washing machines with proven track records. I believe Miele/Asko/Bosch all use 220V-15A circuits for their washers. I understand you won't need it for the dryer.

Both fuses are changed to 15 amp. A 240v circuit is two 120v circuits (legs, L1 & L2) working together, each half takes the same size fuse or breaker, whatever required size that may be. It's not OK to upsize fuses or breakers on a circuit that's smaller than needed because the wire may be too small to carry the higher current safely. But it is OK to downsize fuses or breakers ... actually it's required or the appliance involved won't be properly protected. The wire was installed large enough to carry the original higher level of current (40 amps) so can safely carry the lower current (12 or 15 amps). Sounds like you don't have much experience with electrical so I'd strongly suggest hiring an electrician to do the job. Either or both fuses or breakers on a 240v circuit may blow or trip, depending on the nature of the electrical fault. Short of disassembling the machine, best you can do for cleaning the interior is run a cycle with liquid chlorine bleach (IF Miele allows it), or a commercial washer-cleaning product such as Affresh or Tide Washing Machine Cleaner. I don't have direct experience with Miele, but my understanding is that parts are available only from them, or perhaps if there's a given item on eBay, and the cost is typically high. This post was edited by dadoes on Thu, Dec 6, 12 at 9:08

"Are you sure all these receptacles are not chained off the first GFCI? If you push the test button on the GFCI do the other receptacles stop working? " Positive. They're on totally separate circuits, for one thing. If testing the GFCI on one circuit causes outlets on totally different circuits to stop working, there is a big, big problem somewhere. "There's nothing wrong with all the bathroom receptacles on a single circuit with one GFCI as long as there's nothing else on that circuit. " No, but it is weird. I've not seen that before, ever. However I am unused to some of the shoddy things I've seen in newer tract housing. That's as opposed to some of the things I've seen in much older homes - such as wiring so old that it was still legal when the wiring was put in to have in-line fuses. My guess is that wiring it this way was a way to save money on having to put in another GFCI for the 2nd bathroom. Not putting one on the washing machine outlet was just sheer incompetence. But its still shoddy because now if someone in each bathroom switches on a hair dryer, you risk overloading that circuit. A hair dryer can draw 12.5A - and 2 of them on the same 15A circuit (and lets hope Dad isn't shaving at the other sink at the same time - or, come to think of it, running his OWN hair dryer, in this day of equal opportunity primping) is not something you want to do on a regular basis. "There's nothing wrong with the refrigerator being shared with a dining room receptacle if it is a 20A circuit (and it feeds nothing other than receptacles in the kitchen and dining room and like areas). " There most certainly is. There are power spikes on lines running something with a motor like a refrigerator. Plug your computer into a line on the same circuit as the refrigerator, and see how far you get. (Well, actually, the microwave would be worse, but it still wouldn't be that great). It's not even in the same room - there would be no reason for anyone to suspect that that outlet is not on the same circuit as all the other outlets in the room. This is not an attached dining "area". It is a totally separate room that is listed on the floor plans as "home office/formal dining". The dining "area" is on the other side of the kitchen, congruent with the living room. I doubt that you can lump THREE areas - kitchen, "dining area", and a "dual-use" office/formal dining room all into one under building codes. Also, it is a 15A circuit. Given that there is an outlet in the hallway that is closer to it than is the line for the fridge, I fail to see any advantage to hooking that one circuit in to the kitchen, fridge or no fridge. For all I know - I haven't checked yet - the microwave could be on the same circuit. I kind of doubt it, but at this point I have no idea what circuit the microwave is on (its built in) which raises the potential for problems should I find out the hard way that my Vita-mix is on the same circuit as the microwave. If for no other reason than I end up having to run out in the snow and switch the breaker back. The microwave also ought to be on a dedicated circuit - but it clearly is not. My guess is that it is on the same circuit as the rest of the outlets on that side of the room, which puts anything you have plugged into those other outlets at risk when the microwave comes on. And before you scoff at the idea of a dedicated circuit for the microwave - a 1200W microwave draws 10A to 11A (depending on how close your supply voltage is to 120V). It should be on a 15A circuit to account for the spike it causes when it comes on. That leaves little or no room for other things on the same circuit. Some fluorescent lighting - probably OK. Other high-draw appliances, such as food processors or powerful blenders or mixers - not OK. The microwave should be on its own circuit. Oh, and here's another Really Stupid Way To Wire Your House - the hall lights are on a 3 way switch. There is a switch over by the living room. A switch outside the doors to the Master bedroom and the bedroom next to it. And the 3rd switch is outside the bathroom door. Which means the 3rd bedroom has no switch within reach. Which means when you get up in the middle of the night, you either risk breaking your neck getting to the bathroom, or you take a flashlight with you. Having a switch next to the bathroom, and none within reach of the 3rd bedroom, is sheer stupidity. Outside of TV shows about teenage cyborgs, nobody sleeps in the bathroom. And if you did - you wouldn't need access to the hall lights to get there. "Prewiring for an electric cooktop even when a gas is installed is quite commonly done for practical reasons" Well yes, it is. I mentioned it because I see the breaker in the box, but I can't see the outlet for it. I ASSUME it is wired to an outlet behind the current gas stove, but I have no way to test or check that without removing the stove, which I am not about to do. Another weirdness is where they mounted the breaker box. The breaker box is mounted on the OUTSIDE WALL of the garage, IN FRONT of the backyard fence to boot. It has to be locked - which is actually no protection from meddling because the only kind of lock you can put on it (because the place for it will only accept a small hasp) is easily snipped off. There is just no reason that couldn't have been mounted inside the garage or elsewhere inside the house. In addition, having to lock the box (and then having to keep track of the keys for it) means an extra thing you have to fiddle around with in the cold/dark/snow/rain/ice or whatever. I'm no spring chicken any more and I don't relish having to find the keys (possibly in the dark) go outside and fiddle with my breaker box in the rain (which raises potential safety issues on top of everything else) because my VitaMix blew the circuit breaker when my housemate unknowingly turns on the microwave at the same time. Or whatever other circuit gets unknowingly overloaded because things are not as they should be. Which is why I always map the breakers in a new place - hence this recent exercise. "There's absolutely no requirement that each bedroom be on it's own circuit, and in fact, many designs specifically don't do that. " If there isn't, there ought to be. Now instead of having 15A for each bedroom, the 2 rooms have to share 15A. It is bad design, whether or not "many designs specifically don't do that", especially in the era of a computer and TV in practically every room. Keep in mind, its not just the lights or just the outlets that are all on the same circuit - it is ALL the lights AND outlets in both rooms. In the meantime, there is a 15A circuit in the laundry that has only that one outlet on it (and maybe the lights in there, I forgot to write that down). Then there is ANOTHER outlet on the other side of that room that is on the same circuit as some of the garage outlets. And no real use for either outlet as the room is way too small to try to iron in there, not to mention how inaccessible the one behind the dryer is anyway. I'm sure its not against code. It's just against common sense. "Frankly other than the fact your panel is mislabeled, nothing seems out of code or even contrary to normal practice. " The only thing I said was against code - except possibly the refrigerator situation, which, if it isn't against code, certainly OUGHT to be - is the fact that the outlet the washing machine is plugged in to is not GFCI. Frankly, if you think that isn't against code, I hope you're not a professional electrician - or an amateur one either, for that matter. The rest of it is just sheer stupid design, and - as I said - I strongly doubt the inspection for this place was done properly, looking at the situation in the "laundry room" with the washing machine plugged in to a dedicated circuit (good) but without GFCI (bad). There was another thread where people were jumping all over a guy who was trying to get a layout from his electrical contractor, because some folks felt that the consumer/customer has NO RIGHT to have things done his/her way. This sort of stupidity is EXACTLY why anybody with any common sense gets a layout before allowing the electrician (or plumber, or the guy who is going to put in the interior walls, or anything else) to go to work. Otherwise you end up with all sorts of stupidity - like a shortfall of amperage in 2 of the bedrooms, one of which is supposed, after all, to be the MASTER bedroom, and outlets in a room the size of a closet that will never ever be used. And fridges on a circuit that feeds an outlet in a totally separate room, and god knows where the microwave is drawing power. And the panel being improperly labeled at the time of installation, by the guy who actually did the wiring, IS a big deal. That's just another indicator of shoddy work. The information should have been on the plans - and if the plans were not followed, then that's yet another sign of crappy work.

We are on the cusp of placing orders for our appliances. So I wandered back by this thread and noticed the new responses. Mikelock, I love your "after" photo. We're about the finalize our layout, and I keep considering going under-counter instead of stacked. It's a lot of fun to see another real life installation. That extra run of counter must be so nice. Chris Park, thanks for your perspective on how the condensing dryer is performing for you. I was scared off initially by the many negative comments about condensing dryers, but I later became more hopeful when I noticed that many comments note that clothes come out with only an initial dampness - if that makes sense. We're finally going to place our order this week, after much heel dragging from me. The plan for a long time has been Blomberg units (the heat pump dryer sounds like a good idea), although in the 11th hour there is some temptation to order Asko units (condensing dryer) that would match the SS appliances. I guess we'll panic and select one soon!