How Many Recps?

Hi guys. I own 1200 square foot house built in 1940. I have electricians coming a week from today to fix some overloaded circuit problems. One electrician that came to do an estimate spent a lot of time trying to figure out how things are currently broken up, and we came up with some puzzling questions. Forgive this for being in layman's terms, but it's the best I can do. My house has four "double" switches on the left side of the box and four "single" switches (15s and 20s) on the right. The left side is labeled MAIN, RANGE, DRYER, and AC. The right side is labeled LIGHTS, RECEPTS, RECEPTS, LIGHTS. What we found was, the MAIN was labeled correctly, but the RANGE and DRYER switches controlled nothing. We could flip them off and on all day and nothing happened. My range and dryer are both gas fired, so I don't know if that matters or not. On the right side, the top switch (15) controls the two bedrooms, the bathroom, and the hallway between them. This is approximately 5 receptacles and 4 light fixtures. The second switch (15 again), controls my garage (including washer, dryer(gas), HVAC blower, garage door opener, and alarm system), kitchen (three receptacles, which power a microwave, George Foreman grill, refrigerator, igniter on the stove and a light fixture), dining room (light fixture and one recep), living room (three receps), and porch light. The third switch controls a room that was added on to be a laundry room, but due to plumbing issues, i'm not using it that way. It has two recepticles in it. I plan on leaving this one alone since I will be converting it someday when I figure out how to fix the plumbing problem. The fourth switch controls nothing (15). I have three additional blank spaces. What the HECK is going on here? I chose to go with a different electrician than the one that did all the investigation (he was WAYYYYY higher). The one that will be doing the work plans on adding three circuits to relieve the kitchen/garage. He says it doesn't meet modern code, but would cost less since I won't have to get a bigger box. He will also be adding six can lights in the kitchen to replace the existing fluorescent fixture. But I'm wondering if he could actually create a fourth circuit using that third switch mentioned earlier? If it controls nothing, where does it go? And what about those range/dryer switches that don't do anything either? Can those be broken down into smaller circuits? I'm looking for easy ways to get more circuits. Thanks guys! Mark

I was wondering what a good brand of whole house surge protectors are, where they can be purchased, and what can I look at spending? It is a siemens 200 amp panel, brand new. Do I give it it's own 2 pole breaker, or hook it up inline with wirenuts to a different 2 pole breaker? I have read both? What size 2 pole breaker should it be installed on? Thanks