Looking forward to the first winter storm that knocks out power at the new house, I'm thinking of getting a Honda generator, or similar. My electrician added a lockout to the service panel and a generator outlet as well. I'm trying to figure out how large a generator to buy.

1,000 watt portable, probably too small.

2,000 watt portable, maybe.

3,000 watt portable but has wheels cuz this is getting bigger.

The 3 KW costs about twice what the 2 KW runs.

I don't want to power the whole house during a power outage. I'm interested in keeping power to my refrigerator, freezer, 2 or 3 lights, and the fan that blows the heat out from my fireplace.

I don't expect to run the kitchen stove, the hot water tanks, or the heat pump that are the big energy users.

How much load do you folks serve when the power goes out?

Sg