[quote=martinfocazio Pressure cookers scare me. [/quote]

Yup, I can understand that. I used to be like that but then I started using one a few years ago.

I understand about the toilet flushing too!
It is 5 gallons of water every time somebody goes pee!
Other than shutting the supply valve to the toilet tank or unhooking the chain to the flapper valve inside the tank I don't know how you prevent it.
Besides, you still want to be able to flush turds so that your toilets don't clog right(?).
I guess it is just something you have to live with, it is a very strong habit to overcome even for an adult.

More useless information:

Onan makes nice small diesel gen sets.
Kubota and Isuzu make nice ones too but they seem to be more expensive.
Companies use them a lot for running light plants (illumination) for construction and highway crews.
They are heavier than gasoline engines which is why they are not sold as lightweight portable generators and are usually mounted on small trailers instead.
I am sure you have seen them when driving past crews doing road repairs.

You might be able to find a gently used one fairly cheaply.

At one time Onan made their smaller diesel gen sets so they could be started with a crank or a pull cord, but I doubt if they still do that

If you have a tractor:

My older brother raised pigs (about 2 thousand pigs in the barns) and had a backup generator for the pig barns.
It sat on skids bolted to a concrete pad in a shed beside the barns.
It was strong enough to power all the lights and fans in the barns, plus supply the house.
It was not strong enough to run the manure pumps at the same time. (They tended to be 50 and 65 horsepower pump motors, so no way.)
It did not have its own motor but was designed to run off the tractor's PTO.
(Farmers always have a few spare tractors around doing nothing ;D)
It was a lot larger than the one shown here, http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/lawn_garde...or+Tractors.htm


It would likely be too big for what you need but it saved the capital cost of large motor that was only to be used in an emergency.
Also because the tractor is in constant use with contant maintenance, there was no worry about stale fuel, flat batteries, clogged filters, etc, etc.

I have seen that type of gen set go very cheaply at farm auctions. They are not something you just pick up and throw in the back of a truck.

Sorry to run on like this, but I have no chores to do today and it is still bitterly cold out