Cool. Yeah their units look pricey.
Have you guys heard of using a transfer switch? Looks like it can be hooked up to the breaker and you plug the generator to the transfer switch. Then you don't have to run extension cords inside the house. Do you need a certain type of generator to be able to use a transfer switch?
Any generator will work but try to get one that is split phase 120/240v that way your 240v stuff will work too. For transfer switch setup, if I was to do it I would put an inlet on the outside of the house, biggest amperage plug that is reasonable (something like a 40 amp split phase twist lock is probably good) then do a transfer switch for the whole house. So basically the transfer switch let's you pick between two sources, the inlet on the side of the house where the generator plugs into, or the regular hydro service. Then the switch feeds the main panel. You can think of the transfer switch as a big A/B switch. If power goes out, you go hook up the generator, power it on, then go inside and turn off your main breaker, switch the transfer switch to the generator, then turn your breaker back on. (transfer switches are normally not raided to switch under load).
Of course, if the generator can't power the whole house you can turn off breakers to mostly everything and only turn on the ones you want. For things like fridges etc you can always go and turn those on and turn off other ones to basically power everything you need as required, just not at same time.
There's different ways to do it, you can also have a separate generator panel for only the critical circuits. But I think those are basically the same as a transfer switch, it's just the switch is built in.
*IF* you're going to do a suicide cord, be EXTRA sure you turn off the main breaker before you do it. But I really don't recommend doing it at all.
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