IF you are planning to run your house on generator power you need to have an isolator that will completely seperate you from line power while running the genny. Secondly you need to determine what you are going to power... your "load" ... and then get a genny to meet that need. If you in an urban environment a generator will be a huge flag telling everyone where you are and that you have power and are "OK". You will need a LARGE stockpile of fuel as well to be viable for any long term use. You can incorperate a generator into your house circuit but it is expensive to do so. It isn't something the average person can do themselves "safely". You can have the genny and run a large gauge extension cord into the house and slave from that to run what you want. Think of what you need to keep going...not to maintain your house as it is now. I have a generator and am seriously considering selling it because of the above issues. I'll put the cash into solar equipment instead.

JAB

JAB gave good advice. If you intend to integrate it into your existing house electrical system you will have to have it done professionally and it MUST be inspected by your electrical authority. To power a whole house you will need a hefty generator. I require 8KW and that size they are not cheap. If you are seriously looking at this you might want to investigate a propane or diesel generator. However if you just want to run a few lights, perhaps a coffee pot, a hot plate or run a freezer intermittently a 4KW gas generator will do the job and can be found on sale at all the big stores. With generators like everything else you get what you pay for, try to avoid the Chinese knock offs. Some generators are quieter than others and all must be operated outside the house.

Hey JAB if you decide you are selling your generator send me a PM with the size, make and asking price. I am always looking for a bargain. 🙂

When I was looking to purchase a generator the advise I received was to first, decide which appliances/accessories I wanted to be able to run and then figure out the total amps/wattage that would be in use at any one time. I was told this was to help me decide which size generator I needed.
What I did was find out the needs of my fridge, washer, dryer, deep freezer, microwave, TV, clocks, computer and every other accessory and appliance (there was a lot more than I first figured on) and then that helped me decide how much power my generator needed to put out.
There are a few more details involved and I would suggest strongly that you check with professionals who know and install generator-to-house hook-ups for a living.
Also, never look for the cheapest set up. Most times you only get what you pay for. If and when your power goes out you don't want to be left in the dark.

Best of luck.

here is a decent worksheet to size a gennie:
https://www.yamahagenuineparts.com/PowerProduct/GeneratorWorksheet.asp

as others have said, it may be better to think outside the box
contemplate how to do it w/o a gennie

critical rooms that can be heated via other means and closed off

water for washing, drinking etc.
or do you have antiseptic wet naps this will save on precious water
(buy them by the 100's cheap at restaurant supply stores)

other toilet besides your flush (separating #1 & #2 will mean no anaerobic reaction takes place)

can you cook with your heater

etc., etc.

Appreciate the info. I'm just looking to run a few appliances and maybe a coffee pot etc. Not looking to be camoflauged, just in case power is lost for short term. Have other means to heat house and other alternatives if SHTF in other ways.

here is another option,
if you are looking for a way to run a few items off a gennie
i have done this in case my inverter dies and i have no power from the batteries

attach an outlet & outdoor box on an outside wall (near where the gennie will be running)
run a 14/2 or 12/2 wire to another outlet & box inside the house (near where you want to run your appliances)

when you run the gennie, simply plug it into the outlet outside
and inside the house you have a dedicated outlet for plugging in your appliances
your gennie should have its own 15 or 20 amp breaker so you should not need one on your outlets
but you could throw a gfci for the inside outlet as a back-up safety feature

Thinking and planning for the generator. I'd like to be able to run my house with it when the lights go out. Can I or what do I do to be able to plug it into my fuse panel to run off the existing circuits? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers 😀

This is a bit of an intensive project.
The first thing you will need is an electrician.
You will have to install a transfer switch that will cut the utility power to the house when the generator is running.
This type of setup can get quite costly.
The best setup I have seen is installing a set of outlets in the house near the appliances you wish to run, such as the refrigerator, etc.
These outlets are not connected to the utility power at all, just to a fuse or breaker box that you plug into the generator.
During a power outage, simply plug in your appliances to these outlets.
I do not recommend trying to run the whole house 24/7 on a generator, as you will need an incredible amount of stored fuel.
Instead, run the gennie for a couple hours at a time to cool down the fridge, pump water, recharge batteries, etc.
2 hours once or twice a day should do the trick.

I have been fortunate enough to spend some time in a house up the indian arm that runs on a generator-battery system. It uses a bank of deep cycle batteries that the generator charges up. I believe that it has a voltage regulator that tells the generator when to start up and shut down. But unfortunately it is not a cheap system

Deob has a very good point about not running the generator for too long at one time. Most smaller generators are NOT designed to run for more that a few hours at a time.

While not necessarily the best option this will work as a temporary solution. Turn off the main breaker for your house. Fire up your generator and just plug it in to any plug. Unplug your unnecessary appliances so that they do not over burden the generator. Keep an eye on your neighbors house and when the lights come back on shut down the generator and turn on the main breaker. DO NOT TRY THIS WITH THE MAIN BREAKER ON IT MUST BE TURNED OFF FIRST. It will feed back into the lines and can become very dangerous for anyone working on the lines.