Quote: "I would like a portable, and don't need to run the entire house, any ideas on what's best?"

I installed a small, 6 circuit Gentran transfer box on my house to manage power from the generator to my house. I picked the 6 most important circuits in the house and run them through the transfer box. Each circuit in the Gentran has its own circuit breaker and transfer switch (allowing me to select any/all in any combination). The circuits are internally wired in two banks of three (six total). The switches are “break before make” so that there is no risk of generator power flowing to the outside power grid.

The generator sends in two legs of 110v, total 220v. It is best to balance the loads on each leg, and there are two gauges on the generator to monitor this. The transfer box corresponds with two banks of three circuits (six total). I selected the circuits I wanted in the house and roughly balanced them on each side of the transfer box. Example: a lighting circuit on each side, the freezer circuit on one side and the refrigerator circuit on the other side, etc. If the two sides get too far out of balance I can shut down a circuit on one side to bring things back in spec. Sorry, but this sounds more complex than it really is. One bonus of this, I leave lights turned “ON” on circuits not powered by the generator as an “alert” system. When these lights “light up” I immediately know the outside power is back on and I can power down the generator.

The main reason for at least installing a small transfer box is the complete peace of mind that I will not make a mistake and kill a lineman working on the power lines down the street. Initially, I planned on just fabricating a male to male 220v power cord to go from the generator to the 220v dryer outlet. If you open the primary circuit to the house from the outside power lines, you can then drive your whole house (with no ability to balance loads) from this single connection. It is simple, inexpensive, and foolish. Just one small mistake on your part can allow power to flow to the outside world with potentially fatal results. During an outage the power repair guys listen for generators. If they hear yours running they may ask for a “look-see”. If you are running your house without a transfer switch you could be in some legal troubles. In another newsgroup I frequented at the time it was unanimous that the "reverse circuit" is a bad, bad idea. Don’t do it.

My advice if you don’t want to go whole hog on the house, either get a small transfer box, or run extension cords directly to critical appliances (completely bypassing the house wiring).

Good luck, TR