I'm in the planning stages but have put tons of thought into this. Hopefully I won't have to tweak it too much when I do the framing walkthrough. (You really should walk though the framed house before finalizing the locations.) No Christmas package (don't decorate for holidays) or intercom. Outlets at a few locations specifically for nighlights (in bathrooms and in hallways) so we don't have to flip on the overhead lights in order to use the facilities in the middle of the night. Switch for the bathroom fan between the toilet and the vanity (instead of with the other switches near the door) so that it is accessible from the toilet and standing in front of the vanity. Duplex outlets near the TV area. Duplex outlet mounted higher on the wall than normal for the main phone area which will be a nich in the wall. Duplex outlets to either side of all potential bed headboards. Oulets dedicated for cell phone charging in an elevated nich. Duplex outlet, tv cable (for internet) and phone (for fax) anywhere that I plan to (or even might) have a computer. Outlet immediately beside the loft railing in case we ever want to put lights across the railing we can plug them in without a tripping hazzard. Although we probably won't need them, I am putting one oulet just inside each WIC. In my workshop, I'll put an outlet 5' high so that I can put a shelf under it to hold a small radio and clock but still be able to put tables or work space under it. Outlets closer together than Code requires so that it's more convenient. Switches for a room at EVERY entrance into that room. (Our current house doesn't have switches at every entrance and it's a pain.) We will have a small vestibule (for guest entry) and small mudroom for our entry from the garden that are beside each other. Their lights will be on the same switch so that when we walk from outside, into the mudroom, into the entry (from interior access) and then finially into the main house we don't have to flip lights on and off every few steps. Just once when we enter the mudroom and again when we enter the main house. Don't forget electrical service for any undercabinet lights. There are past threads about outlets that are mounted so that they are accessible from inside cabinet drawers so that clothing irons or hairdryers can be left plugged in all of the time and stored in the drawers. I'm considering that, too. In a similar manner, outlet inside of mixer lifter kitchen cabinet for mixer. Outlets and switch for pendant lights on the kitchen island. Outlet for microwave that will be raised above countertop height. Exterior grade outlets at multiple places outside that are easily accessible from the porch and patio areas (not for Christmas lights). Outlet at attic access incase I need to plug in a light there since we will have minimal lighting there.

Cat, Good for you, I turn 75 this summer, my wife turned 75 this month. If she was more mobile I'm sure we would still be riding bikes and hiking, maybe still skiing - we were doing all those things up to at least age 70 or more. I do house work and cooking as well as maintain a 5 acre property (not so good as I should given the time I have). On the tech'y side I just put in a new HDTV and am in the process of changing out set top boxes to get HD from Comcast - I have their minimum package and didn't need the HD when I had only SDTV. I also added Roku (I had that on the previous SDTV which works so well I hate throwing it out). The Roku 2 I have was easy to interface with my home WiFi - but I would have come here if I had experienced problems. Well in truth I did as I wanted to get Youttube on my Roku 2, not available directly but should be possible with the PLEX application, that's something I may think more on if I can work up the energy : ( On photography, I am still sorry digital cameras happened. I had/have a nice B&W darkroom set up and had designs of doing some "Ansal Adams" after retirement. In spit of my lack of expertise on the phone in the camera, I do understand photography better--than-average and have some sophistication in my digital camera arsenal. But I shoot mostly in the 3 mp detail (can do 10 mp) because I don't enlarge anything any more... have a lot from the film camera days. On things I don't get around to I have a 2 GBit SD card that I should put in my main camera...but put it off so long I now can't find it. Aging memory strikes again - as does sitting too much. I guess it's alright to chat with a GW Friend - hope so.

Since this was answered in the "electrical forum" a while ago - let's do the bump.

kensnh, really, if you think it's not safe, I won't do it. However, i do feel obliged to mention that eBay has nothing to do with this - I only referenced someone's EBay auction because the manufacturer's own website doesn't list the specifications and the guy selling the same thing on eBay did. But these devices are not devised by random charlatans on EBay, but rather (in this case) built and sold by Miele, a respected and esteemed appliance manufacturer who I assume wouldn't or couldn't sell unsafe merchandise. I wasn't actually planning to buy this on eBay, but rather directly from Miele or Bosch or their authorized retailers, and if need be have them drive out to my home and install it. The only thing different about my situation than that of a typical buyer is that instead of a 240V/30A outlet near the dryer, I have a 240V/40A outlet about 10 feet away. I thought, maybe, there would be some safe, legal way to use that to power a laundry appliance since it is currently unused. But if not, I can continue to use the more common 120V/15A washer I have now that plugs directly into the nearby outlet. It doesn't heat its own water and draws from the water heater tank, but I can continue to avoid using the washer and the shower at the same time. FWIW, I don't like using extension cords either. I'm very careful with the ones I do have - they're not dangling where they can get tripped on or squashed or have things fall on them. But I *do* tend to believe that if a respected major company sells something, it's probably safe. Not always, obviously.