Depends on your expected and future loads. (Perhaps you are a woodworker and there is a separate workshop, for instance. Or you've got multiple electric ovens and dryers.) A pool and hot tub don't usually warrant such an upgrade. I've built up to 5,000 sf without putting in more than a 200 AMP service. And that was in the days when 120 100 watt potlights were de rigueur.

There are a number of on-line calculators you can use to estimate expected loads.

This post was edited by worthy on Sat, Nov 8, 14 at 15:05

I appreciate the calculator but I don't know how to fill it out as my knowledge is... slim. Would it help if I posted my entire electrical bid?

Did that in a 3 family building once.

Three 200 amp panels does not necessarily mean that the service is 600 amps. NEC Articles 230.71, 230.79 and 230.80 do not state that the disconnecting means cannot be greater in total than the rating of the service, but that the service must be adequate for the calculated load of the premises. Have the electrician show you his calculations. Buy the 2014 NEC on eBay for less than $100 and compare his calculations to those in Article 220.

We built our last home with 400 amp service (2 x 200 amp panels). Multiple 220V woodshop drops, PLENTY of power and space. House was about 5500 sq ft.

Can't imagine you'd need 600 amps for a house that size unless you are putting multiple electric feeds for charing electric cars and have a large pool and hot tub.

We have 600 amps. But, we also had 70's era electric radiant ceiling heat and the house was built by an electrician. Overkill, even when we added the 1600 square foot heated and cooled workshop full of 220 machinery.

I'm an electrician (not residential) but going by his abbreviations I think you may be a bit confused on how it works. The 1st item item is a 200 amp main breaker (mb) 40 space panel which is a standard in any new home. The 2nd item is a 200 amp disconnect that he's using to either turn off your main power out by the meter cabinet or to disconnect power the power to to the sub panel which is item #3. You'll notice it doesn't say MB which means it will be fed from your main panel. Not knowing if he plans on putting them right next to each other on different sides of the house I can't say for sure his plan.
Basically it seems like your getting a standard 200 amp service but an additional panel that allow you plenty of room to add circuits in the future. I agree with him and did the same in my house because with today's electrical codes your not left with a lot of circuits and adding a panel later would much more of a hassle than it would be now. Hope this might help.

I agree with what "Ibewye" said.

I have a 5,800 Sq.Ft house with a 200 amp disconnect Panel located outdoors by the meter, a 200 amp Main Panel with 40 circuits located upstairs, and an additional 200 amp Sub-Panel with 40 circuits.

My energy requirements may differ from yours however.

I have LED lights, heat pumps, gas water heaters, gas stove, etc.