--> Question: The wire sticking out of the walls is solid copper, 12/2 with
>Ground (romex). Is this stuff ok to use? It seems awfully stiff to work
>with.
>
> Question: 14/2wg would be easier to work, but would limit me to 15amp
>breakers. is this a serious limitation. (I could always replace the breakers
>with 4 x 15, and run a gallley-only curcuit.

Can't answer most of your questions. But if you change to a 15 amp system you may not be able to use an air conditioner. I say this because my air conditioner only works with an extension cable that supports 30 amps and I believe it will not work if I plug into 15 amp service.

I once tried attaching a 15 amp rated extension cord and it caused by circuit breaker to trip after the a/c was on for a minutes.

Sincerely,

Pete
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Peter K. Kaiser
Thornhill, Ontario
http://members.home.com/pkaiser