Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: Refrigerators/ovens in individuals' houses

[Rob Sandelin (robsan]

One of the things working with banks and the County and such has taught 
me is that we often plan for our own needs and don't think about who 
will own the home next.  Keep in mind, the choices you make today, 
especially about kitchens, may very well effect your ability to sell 
your home tomorrow.  There are reasonable limits to this of course, but 
in some cases, you can plan the infrastructure, put it in very cheaply, 
then choose not to use it.  One such infrastructure would be wiring in 
220 circuits for ovens and clothes dryers.

In the spirit of cooperation, even if you decide as a group not to have 
personal ovens or whatever, my advice would be to allow for them by 
wiring in 220 into the kitchen in a logical spot.  You can cover it 
with a cabinet or something, but it's there for later if the next owner 
wants an oven.  This is also true for dryers.  Many electric clothes 
dryers run on 220 so adding that into a place where such a thing could 
go is really inexpensive during construction.