Had a 3000w Champion generator (inverter) that kept the the 3 fridges/freezers, some LED lights, wifi and a tv powered during the storm but had to run extension cables across the house which was a pain. My frigging "heater buddy" is in my blind at the lease... After about 6 hours - whatever batteries that were keeping the internet from Xfinity in their "substation" finally died so even with power in my casa - no internet... (Getting fiber in the coming months and those who had it didn't lose internet at all during the outage) Glad I also have a digital antenna in the attic so could still watch crappy local TV. Lesson learned - gas furnace still needs electricity to run the blower fan and thermostats...
Going forward, I'm going to buy a 13,000W portable generator to be able to power most of the house using an external 50A (male) connector and a lockout switch on the fuse panel. I will then manually turn on the fuses in the panel on what I want to power... Costs for the generator - around $1000 and another $6-800 to put in the connector and lockout switch. I have a 5 ton and 3 ton A/C but have the "soft start" switches in both so the start load won't bring the whole system down if running in the summer - would probably just run the smaller one upstairs. VSP pump on pool can be set to slow/low wattage flow. Can't justify a $8000 Generac and another $6-8000 install cost (gas on opposite side of the house from the panel) when I can basically power what I need for $2000 and can take it with me if we move...
Info to consider if you go this route:
Don't buy more generator than you can use - if you put in a 30A connection, a generator larger than 7500W is useless.
The max power you can put into a 30A switch is 7200W.
If you get a larger generator like 12000W, you've better off going with a 50A transfer switch...
Watts / Volts = Amps
A 7200W Gen is only really capable of feeding 30 Amps @ 240V (7200W/240V=30A) If you get a bigger generator like a 12000W unit, go for 50A @240V transfer switch. (12000W/240V=50A)
Put in LED lights as they draw less than incandescent bulbs.
Get a dual-fuel generator and a couple of propane tanks as they don't "spoil" like regular gas and use these first to save your carburetor from getting dirty. If you run out of propane, you can always siphon your truck/auto gas tanks so get a pump.
Buy a small solar panel to trickle charge your batter in the generator when not in use.
Buy a cablelock or chain so your generator won't "walk away" in the middle of the night when it's running outside...
Once you fire up the A/C, set the thermostat (in the summer) to something like 60F so it just keeps running and doesn't have to turn on/off all the time... No need on a gas furnace(s) blower as it barely draws any power.
If you have an attached garage, buy a couple of sheets of the 4x8' sheets of styrofoam with foil on them and cut them to size and put on the back of the garage door - my temp in the garage stayed above freezing this round and in the summer, never gets above 80 degrees even with direct afternoon sun beating on them... Helps the garage freezer and fridge as well...
15" of sprayed insulation in the attic helped keep the internal temp above 50F after 18 hours of no power with sub-freezing temps outside
I'm putting in a separate connector from outside (posted in this tread) to be able to plug in my smaller inverter generator so I can still power my computers/tv/internet/UPS with "clean power" when those batteries die - the large portable generators plugged into the panel produce "dirty" power that can fry electronics...
Total system to power most of the house is around $2k. Wait for the Sales tax holiday in late April to buy new generator as generators under $3K get the sales tax waiver for "hurricane" supplies...