That sounds like a great gen, we have the 2000w version. To run lower wattage items for long periods of time like your lights and pellet stove, you might want to add a deep cycle battery bank and an inverter. You can quickly charge the batteries/run fridge/cook some food then turn off gen and still have inverted power to run some lights, your pellet stove and charge small items.
For an extension, 12g works for me.

Keep the extension cords as short as you can and the heavier the chord the better. Add up the peak wattage on each device that you wish to run and you will soon see what combination of appliances you can run. Also keep in mind that most smaller generators are not intended to be run constantly. Run them for a few hours followed by a few hours break.

Thanks for the information guys! I love the idea of putting together a batty bank of deep cycle batteries with an inverter. Do you think three deep cycle batteries and a 400 watt inverter would get the job done? I was thinking a 400 watt because my pellet stove says 20 watts but I am thinking at least 200 watts for start-up. As far as the cords go I am going to measure out the length I need so that I can keep them short as possible, thinking the 12ga should work fine. I am going to have an electrictian make me a good HEAVY duty ten foot cord to run from outside to in the house and have a box with four outlets at the end. Next question, I don't have much experience with solar charging or solar anything! If I wanted to be able to charge this battery bank during the day how big of a solar pannel would I need? Would be nice to charge the batteries without having to burn gas in the gen. Thanks again everyone for the help, keep it coming...lol... great forum!

Since you are looking at having a cord made by an electrician, I have a suggestion.
Have the electrician install an outlet on the outside of your home that is wired to the outlets inside.
This way, you have only to plug the generator into this outlet and don't have to run a cord through a window or door.
Also, make sure the cord is long enough to keep the generator well away from any place that the exhaust could enter your home such as doors, windows, vents, etc.
Also, stock up on oil as it will need to be changed often.

Great points Denod! I was thinking of having that done, and I still may. However, I was thinking that by having a cord made up it would be portable, if I had to bug out I could take everything with me. As far as running a cord through a window or door I have the answer for that! Our house is 20 years old and we are the second owners. The people who lived here last moved the washer and dryer when they finished the basement. So in our storage room which is approx 20'x15' and unfinished there is an old dryer vent that is still vented outside, they stuffed it with insulation and put styrofoam over it. I can run the coed through that vent and still insulation around the cord and the paved driveway is on the same side of the house. Thanks for reminding me about the oil...lol...I never even thought of that. I guess I should make sure I have an hour meter as well.

Since you are looking at having a cord made by an electrician, I have a suggestion.
Have the electrician install an outlet on the outside of your home that is wired to the outlets inside.
This way, you have only to plug the generator into this outlet and don't have to run a cord through a window or door.
Also, make sure the cord is long enough to keep the generator well away from any place that the exhaust could enter your home such as doors, windows, vents, etc.
Also, stock up on oil as it will need to be changed often.

A word of caution... and I hope I am reading this correctly....if you are installing an outlet outside the home wired to the outlets inside the home... you have 3 potential hazards. The first is that you will need an extention cord with both ends male...meaning exposed contacts with full voltage. The second is that you MUST disconnect your home from grid power before you attach the generator. Lastly you may have too much amperage draw on the circuit you attach to for your generator capacity. Things to consider.

JAB

Sorry Justabear, I should have been a little more clear. I do know the risks involved with connecting the genny to the home electrical system, that is why I am NOT doing that. I have two options here, one is having a good HD cord made to bring the power in the house or have the electrican put a plug on the outside of the house and wire it to a plug on the inside on the house. This new circuit would be NOT attached to the home circuit.

One another note, I was at Crappy Tire (Canadian Tire) and got a 300 watt inverter on sale from 69.00 to 32.00. I started thinking "hey I could hook that to my booster pac and power stuff with it". Sure enough...lol...got it home and hooked it to my 1500 watt power pack and I have been running 2 lamps with 20 watt bulbs, a radio, cell phone charger and charging my Eton radio. I know I could throw another lamp on there...lol...where can a guy get some good low watt lights?

Costco have very good prices on LED bulbs. Walmart have them but they are about $8.00 each.

Thanks ICRCC! I am in there all the time and never think of looking at them...I will have a boo at them next visit! I amvery impressed with how long the booster pac is holding out!

I have the same Idea,for my house,I have a 1500 watt gen, outside in a dog house (but built for a generator) and I run heavy duty short cords to the wall plug and inside the house,I have wall plugs in every room,seperate from the main grid in the house (using 14/2 wireing).Now for the garage , it is a steel building 40x60 feet coverted to emergencie shelter as well as a party room with a kitchen and two pantry rooms and 3 freezers and 3 furnace (wood.oil,and propane)and for cooking I have a delux BBQ with a hood range built over it,3 hot plate and 4 propane stove,now to power all this,I have built a 16000 watts electic generator with 6 deep cell batteries from golf cart,but I am still putting it together,I have some of the parts,but not all of it,will keep you inform how it will work out!

Curous how much fuel your setup will use in a 24 hour period and how much you plan on storing and stabilizing...

JAB

JustaBear is right on!

We plan on getting a Propane 17KW Generac System. Hooked up to a pony panel with a 1000 Litres tank. You could survive for a very long time comfortably without worries. Propane is cheaper then gas, more available and abundant 9do the research, there is more then enough for our lifetime) and no issues with stabilizers or storing safely. Having the Generac wired to a pony panel gives you flexibility to turn on/off breakers you need or don't need etc. This comes in handy when concidering start up power usage for things like the fridge. With propane where we are, we also use it for the stove and oven, but you can get the dryer propane'd and fridges and freezers as well if you are so enclind. Granted in a SHTF scenerio you will only be able to use the 1000 litres or less you have then you are toast but that then becomes a different suggestion and here in this forum we are talking Generators. I would however even go so far as to have battery back up by having Hydro keep your batteries topped up until power goes out then you can strech the survival rate further by draining the batteries then switching to the Genny. Consider solar and or wind to keep the batteries topped up as well then the Genny is simply a last resort.

By the way, it was mentioned in the beginning that laptops and such were concidered in the kw usage profile? If you are simply trying to survive until power comes back then stay with the gas Genny but if the SHTF then your electronic devices are useless cause there maybe none running things beyond your world to even provide you with information on that precious IPAD. Just saying 😆

The idea of using a laptop or tablet after a SHTF event would be for accessing stored information or possibly entertainment. If you have a ham radio system they can also be used to send email between stations with the appropriate software.

Understood ICRCC but when I say SHTF, I mean KABOOM!!!! I think the idea of SHTF is already happening. I don't beleive in the sudden overnight scenerio in my world, I beleive in the slow take over of the SHTF where the economy is falling, the food and Gas/Utilities prices are rising beyond our grasp, resources are being depleated faster then we can keep up, hell just look at the USA, 8 million people are being fed by 125,000 farms...dam dude that is nothing and those farms are dying off as well yet the pop is still growing at a rate of 3 kids a minute. Large corperations are lab rating our food supply to help stretch an apple for example to feed two people from one apple and never have it die on the shelf. I could go on but my point was made...

But I digress ICRCC cause you did teach me that a Pork radio is great to have if you have the email software, and other reasons. Emails tho I see no reall use for, why don't we just talk to each other...oh ya pictures 🙄