According to Speedy Jim :
William Morris wrote:
SNIP
--- THE HEART OF THE MATTER.

I called an electrician and gave him the situation, saying I was exploring
having a 200 amp box. He told me flat out that 200 amp was for industrial
applications only, and wouldn't do it.

He's flat out wrong.

The *only* way that the new service can be sized correctly
is to perform a load calculation as required in Art 220 of the NEC.

Do remember that those calculations yield _minimum_ service ampacities.
You can install bigger services if you want (and the power utility is
willing to).

200A services aren't in the slightest bit unusual. Indeed, here, any
ordinary sized home with electric heat has to have a 200A service.

Some upscale and larger homes need 400A services.

Given the details of the "spaghetti bowl" wiring, expect the
inspector to insist upon correcting any existing problems
he may see.

You could be looking at a can of worms...

Could be. It's more likely that most (if not all) of the wiring issues
he'd see will be solved simply by transferring all of the existing
circuits to a new panel.

The code permits the inspector to insist on upgrading circuits that you
didn't intend to be touched if you're altering enough of the system.

This is normally intended for things like having the inspector insist
that you GFCI the bathroom outlet if you're installing a new light
fixture on that circuit.

It's been my experience that inspectors won't carry things so far as
to require large-scale ripping out of existing circuitry just for a panel
upgrade. For example, in an _almost_ full rewire (wall teardown etc),
there was a segment of K&T feeding a fixture in the ceiling of a really
beautifully plastered ceiling. The inspector didn't tell us to rip it out.
He told us how to connect the K&T to the new circuit.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.