I wasn't exactly sure where to post this question, but I wanted to ask y'all for any recommendations regarding a generator. Application requirement is to power appliances in the house during blackouts or other outages. My family's home is in an area that recently lost a substation and has had power issues in the past.
I'm not home all the time, but the wife and kids are. We keep a deep freezer full of meat and my home barely gets above 80 in the hottest months, so I'm not really concerned with AC, but it would be nice to run it once my wife falls asleep - she likes the house at 80. I like the house at 64 - as do the kids. We compromise at 76 (not much of a compromise, huh? - happy wife, happy life)
In the winter, the house gets down to about 60 if we do not run any heat. We have gas heat with an electric air handler unit.
My limited research has led me to believe that I need at least 5000w for the appliances and about 8000w if I want to add the HVAC into the mix. Most recommendations also point to gas for simplicity sake. I have a budget of ~$2k. Most generators I've priced are in the $500 and above range.
What are your recommendations? What brand? What power? As far as implementation and hook up is concerned - how would you go about it? What mistakes have you learned from? What other considerations am I overlooking?