We had a huge (for us) wind storm last night. I was outside working on the tractor when I looked around and felt a little guilty when I realized there wasn't a light on in sight and every light in our house was on, the outside lights, street lights, garage lights, not to mention 8 LED flood lights on my tractor :thumbsup: It's nice to be able to see, but a lot nicer to be able to run the well pump, heat pump, fireplace fans, fridges, stove etc.
We have a Generac 16 KW propane generator. It comes with a transfer switch and panel. Instead of buying a very expensive whole home transfer switch, I just bought a 100 amp breaker for the Generac panel and wired up a large pony panel beside it, works perfectly. I have most circuits backed up with the exception of a few things like my welder.
I wouldn't go gas since the quality of gas is terrible these days. It's stale in 6 weeks and causes nothing but issues with carburetors. Automatic operation is really nice, especially if your away a lot and concerned about sump pumps, freezers etc. They do exercise once a week and chew through fuel in the process, but it's been a great investment over the past 10 years.