Building own home wish list--

- If you don't want to plumb for a full-blown water recirculation system ( to ensure instant hot water at spigots ), consider using something like the Auto-Circ pump. It installs under a sink ( preferably at the end of a plumbing run ) and plugs in to an outlet also under the sink.

- If you will have trees, try to design your roof so that the gutters have as few right angles as possible. Even with Gutter Helmet and the like, I suspect that if you have a lot of trees you will still get leaf build up ( perhaps not in the gutter ) on the roof due to leaves/pine needles/etc backing up in the corners.

- "Christmas circuit" ( or at least conveniently placed outlets for Christmas decorations ). These can include, but are not limited to, plenty of outdoor outlets, outlets in the eaves for roofline/gutter lighting, outlets under windows ( indoors ) for those candle lights, outlets up in any nooks or shelves where you might consider putting a small tree or Christmas lights.

- If you think you might build an outbuilding in the future, run some conduit to that location to make it easier to pull wire for power to the building.

- "Ufer" ground. I don't how common this is, but from what I understand ( I am far from an expert ), this can provide superior grounding for your electrical system than ground rods. At its most basic level, the rebar in the slab/foundation is tied into the grounding system. You can probably find out more by searching this group for "Ufer".

- Quiet bathroom fans. Panasonic makes a very quiet one. Remote mounted fans ( such as Fantech ) are also a good choice.

- Radiant heating under tile in bathroom, especially if over an unheated space on directly on slab. This heating does not necessarily have to provide all heat for the bathroom, but it is nice for taking the coldness out of the floor. Electrical products are available.

Reply to
Eddie
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Security risk without special precautions.

MB

On 01/21/04 08:57 am EmbErna put fingers to keyboard and launched the following message into cyberspace:

Reply to
Minnie Bannister

We have a Siemens wireless phone system in the house. I have the main unit on a small UPS so we don't lose phone service when the power goes out.

...Jim Thompson

Reply to
Jim Thompson

Don't limit your thinking to networks. I said "whatever" comes along in the future. In an earlier post someone mentioned pneumatic tubing. If that's what I want to put in, that's what I'll be able to put in. I'm doing things today that bordered on science fiction when I started working 35 + years ago.

Reply to
Lorence M

|On 20-Jan-2004, snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (HA HA Budys Here) wrote: | |> Definately design and wire for use of CF bulbs. That means fewer dimmers though |> too. | |There are dimmable CFLs on the market now.

Stay tuned, low-cost LEDs are just around the corner and will probably obsolete CFs and incandescents both. Rex in Fort Worth

Reply to
Rex B

Very interesting.....I would like to view that list as well. Maybe even find a copy and super glue a copy to my ex wife's windshield as an "I Told You So". In the 13 years I have been in my home here in New York I had fought with her on so much of what makes sense. For example I have a shed that is half wired for electric to get the battery powered weed eater out of my kitchen that she bought five years ago. She was very impulsive as a consumer buying things without the fore thought of how to make it work, then complain about it for the next five years (Really kind of glad she left me ). The idea of the outlets on the eves is great idea, but to go a step further....I own a mobile home and I found that the pitch of the roof is so slight that I have huge problems with ice damming. Two 30 amp outlets for the roof heat tape on the eves would have been the ticket if they were installed at the factory. Of course this brings back fond memories of spending six months arguing with the ex to buy the electrical stuff needed to install the heat tape! Boy I miss those days---NOT! LOL

In all I would like to see in a house if I were to build, LAN network outlets in walls, running both the cable and LAN outlets in the same panel in all the rooms. This would make multi- computer home users very happy and allow flexibility in where the computer could be moved around the home. I would also run common speaker outlets in all the rooms and a dedicated home theater system in one room.

Further I would build the kitchen walls with outlets just below the cabinets for "space saver" appliances so as not to have unsightly wires running down the walls. Of course too the outlets would be better built into the bottom of the cabinets themselves.

Other thoughts I have had include the use of a boiler system in a garage I have yet to build (now without the wife to slow me down thank God), which during designing the garage I thought a heated floor would be the ticket there and then logic happened to strike, and I thought "if I included a cement driveway I could heat that as well", putting a huge cap on having to hand shovel all 110 feet of it! I would set the system up like those in homes allowing the driveway to by heated on demand by turning the section on and off as I needed. I know from experience with former companies some company buildings have this very same design in their walkways into the buildings. Also in the area of garages I would install windows and perhaps skylights, as electric here in New York is so flippin' high natural light would be a great thing over electric costs. Also being am into cars myself I would have to include a lift in my garage if money wasn't an issue, though I have found some lifts in Hemmings that were a mere $2500 for two post above ground lifts. Another idea would be to use French (double) doors for access to the building allowing large items (such as the family fake Christmas tree) to pass through it without a host of problems due to size.

While my daughter decided to move in with my ex I have opened up another room for my use, turning her room into a den. I became aware of a design idea while drawing plans for my new computer station. The desk with have a shelf unit attached to the wall, then between the bottom of the shelf and the desktop I will place faux columns to hide the wire runs to my printer and other computer hardware on the shelf above. This will allow the wires to pass through in the front in plain view when adding or upgrading hardware and what not. Then hide them away without anybody's knowledge that they are there!

Reply to
E5I5O

One other thing I would add to my list would be an emergency generator with an auto on circuit. Of course I would have to agree with the yard outlets I could use more power in the yard and with all the electric weed eaters, outdoor lighting and such it really would be nice to have.

Jeigh

Reply to
E5I5O

I had to reply to this one, since I am building a home in Northern Wisconsin now, and most likely will be for some time... It is a chalet style with loft, window wall, etc. Some of the things I have decided to do are: a foam block poured foundation, it has a R24 ra

Reply to
markherm

I had to reply to this one, since I am building a home in Northern Wisconsin now, and most likely will be for some time... It is a chalet style with loft, window wall, etc. Some of the things I have decided to do are: a foam block poured foundation, it has a R24 ra

Reply to
markherm

I had to reply since I am buiding a chalet style home in Wi. now and will be doing so for some time, I'm sure. Here are some things I've added: A styrofoam insulated poured foundation,it's rated R24 and not much more expensive than block. Floor joists on the main floor so everything is tucked inside, ie. ducting and plumbing. It makes it nice to have a flat basement ceiling all the way through. A.Walkout basement. (nothing spectacular there) A 90+ furnace, pre-wired w/cat6, RG6 coax. And extra, but not overboard electric service. No fiber optic, too far in the country. A ground source heat pump would be nice, but I'm spending as much on sq. feet now, while it is easy to. Some like a central vac system installed also. Plan the electrical carefully, now is the time to make it right...

Reply to
markherm

I think this is a near-impossible task. If there were perfectly-designed houses (or houses by committee) all new construction would be the same. I can only think of things I'd change/improve/eliminate in my present home. I'm fairly sure if I 'fixed' all these problems, I'd soon come up with a new set.

The "functionality" of a home with toddlers might be quite different than that of elderly people. Maybe a new universe of modular features is called for. An extremely efficient engineer friend built his kitchen (in a mild climate) with a central floor drain for easy cleaning! I don't do roof Christmas lighting, but would like to have an outlet under every window for electric candles (a local fashion). More closet space may mean more junk collected/stored.

The only thing I can come up with is *accessible* features. That is, whatever the feature, it ought to be easy to get to and repair/replace/resupply.

Reply to
Frogleg

All doors 36 in, bathroom,bedroom,utility room,outside doors. Switchable plug for the Xmas Tree. 220 plug for the hot water heater.

Mike K

Reply to
Mjk9234

Uh, how about gas or oil for the water heater?

Reply to
Brad

And a 220 plug for the Christmas tree too.

Yes, I do.

Reply to
HA HA Budys Here

Hi, No matter how much storage space I create, always not enough. Tony

Reply to
Tony Hwang

The solution to that problem is to learn to throw shit away.

Reply to
Brad

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