I have a 3-story semi-detached home with a full basement that is going to
be completely rehabbed. All of the old lath and plaster is currently being
removed down to the studs and joists. Then it will get all new wiring, new
kitchen and baths, new plumbing, new sheetrock, insulation, etc.

This is a question about the design for the all new wiring. The house is
one side of a side-by-side twin, so in our area it is called a
semi-detached home. It has a full basement with high open ceilings.
Access to all areas of the other walls and ceilings is easy because the
interior of the property is being gutted down to the studs and joists.

A new 200-amp service panel has already been installed, and it is located
on the front wall of the basement.

The basement goes straight back under the living room, dining room, and
kitchen which are on the first floor. The second floor has a front
bedroom, middle bedroom, back bedroom, and bath next to the back bedroom.
The third floor has a small bathroom in the front corner, a main
front/middle bedroom, and a back bedroom.

My question is about how to plan the wiring.

Since this is a long and high house, does it make sense to just run all of
the wiring directly from the main panel in the basement? Or, would it
make more sense to strategically locate one or two subpanels (such as on
the second and third floors), run power to those subpanels, and then run
local circuits to each of those areas off of the subpanels?


*Having a subpanel on each floor would save a lot of labor and copper during
construction and make it convenient later if a circuit was to trip. I would
put in the largest panels possible. Murray makes a 20/40 100 amp panel and
Square D makes a 32 circuit 100 amp panel and each are sold at Home Depot.
Lowes sell GE panels with white covers.