Oklahoma

power outages are a way of life in the country where I live..We are on our 2nd generator in 12 years. The first one I bought in the midst of that ice storm in 2005...paid full retail for it..we were out a week. The second one I watched until there was no demand and bought a near new honda at a great discount off of craigs list. I've thought about watching CL and buying reasonably priced generators, then reselling them when there is a mass outage..

Anyway..if you do get one check the rules with your power company...some require an automatic disconnect. The rural electric co we have does not, however it is VERY important to turn off the electric main before starting the generator. If not your 220v generated current will feed back through your line, into your transformer, out of the transformer at like 2000 volts and can kill a power worker working on the lines...not to mention over work your generator..

We have a 220 electric dryer. I made a heavy gauge 220 extension cord with one end fitting the 220 output on the generator, and the other fitting the dryer receptacle. This feeds the power through the dryer wiring back to the breaker box to power the whole house. You have to be selective what you keep plugged in/breakers on for. If you have an electric water heater or furnace you will either need to buy a higher output generator or turn the breaker off to those appliances. Our small portable will run our refrigerator, tv, computer modem, and a light or 2. It will run our gas furnace fan too if needed. You should check the oil daily and store it with fuel stabilizer in the gasoline..if you can't beat them...