I spent a couple of days without power a few years back. We use well water, so after four flushes (two toilets), I was packing water up from the creek to flush with. I said, "Never again!" Pipes froze, cooking with a coleman stove, freezing my arse off....dandy stuff.

I got an electric/manual start 6KW Briggs Industrial grade generator on a wheeled cart and had a switch over panel installed. The generator sits in a shed built between the switch over panel and the house. When the power goes out, I switch off the breakers that power the water heater, stove, dryer, and furnace. Everything else, including the 220v well pump are left on line. The power source is "dirty" power, but hasn't given me any problems and I use the TV and theater system without a second thought. That's what surge protectors are for.

I've been using this set up for at least five years now and love it. I can get up and running when the power goes out in no more than five minutes and use the microwave and electric coffee maker with a grin. The noise from the generator is not an issue since it is outside in it's shed.

I also have loaded up the generator in my lawn cart and drug it around the five acres here to use power tools and my AC/DC welder.

The whole thing minus the switch over panel and installation cost me about $1000 including a 25ft heavy duty four prong power cable.

For my uses, I need at least 5KW....1000Watts is good enough for a camp trailer where you have propane for most everything, but remember that 1KW is peaked out with 10 100 watt light bulbs.....not much.

But then any generator is better than no generator when everything goes black. Good Luck.