I originally bought mine to run my well pump when the power went out. Now that we are on county water, the only time I start it up is when the power goes out and my sump pump is running like mad. It is absolutely amazing how fast the water level rises in my basement when the power goes out during a storm.

When I installed the switch box in the basement, I hooked up the well pump to two switches, the sump pump, and the kitchen wall sockets. This kept me in water, the basement dry, and I could run the toaster oven / coffee pot / electric skillet / refrigerator / etc. I really need to rethink what is hooked up since the well pump is gone and I have two extra circuits available. I had a marine battery & inverter to run the wood stove fan, but should probably look at adding that circuit to one of the switches.

Dragging the gen set out and hooking it up is a pain, especially when the weather is bad. Dragging it through 10" of snow to hook it up......... It only gets hooked up if the basement is in danger of flooding. Otherwise, I can live without it via other backup means.