Ray,

Yes, I was planning on having something similar to your first suggestion installed. My gen is 6000W, and has 4-110 and 1-220 outlet. Our water pump is hardwired to the panel, so we couldn't plug it in. I suppose an option would be to have an outlet/plug installed, but I think it will be useful to essentially be able to run anything I want selectively by flipping the breakers. We have oil heat, so in the winter if we lose power due to an ice storm or whatever, we should have the juice to run the blowers and such for the heat. That and running water is all the missus really needs to be happy. Actually, she does ok without both as long as it isn't for too extended a period.

About the comment on running gens for short intervals; I suppose that works well with regards to the fridge and freezers, but the main reason we left ours running was for the sump pumps. When it's wet out, our sumps fill constantly, so shutting off the pumps for very long is really not a good idea. The sumps were the main reason we got the gen, and although they are expensive it is alot cheaper than replacing everything in my basement.

Thanks for the suggestions...

Greg