I'm aware of two basic types -- Gasoline-powered, and natural gas-powered. In general: - The gasoline-powered generators are portable, lower power (can't supply power to as many appliances) and are lower cost -- $400-800 or so depending on power. You also need to be able to get gas to run them, so if electricity's out for a long time over a large area, you could run out of luck when you run out of gas. When a prolonged power outage hits, you drag out the generator, fill it with gas, power it up, and plug extension cords into it. In general, they're also noisy and need to be turned off every few hours to cool down. - The natural gas generators I've seen are designed to be whole-house (or nearly whole-house) replacement power sources that get hooked up to the home's natural gas line and come on automatically near-instantaneously with any power outage. They need to be installed and hooked up by a professional, and home power uses are routed through the generator at the whole-circuit level. Unlike gasoline units, natural gas-powered units are quiet, and are supposed to offer an even enough power supply to operate computers without damaging them. I believe they run around $5,000 installed for a whole-house unit, slightly less for a smaller unit, and slightly more for more powerful ones. There was some speculation that natural-gas units might improve a home's resale value, but I'm not betting on it, except in the most hurricane-prone areas.

Lots of unanswered questions here. Where is your location? Do you have access to natural gas / propane / gasoline / diesel? Why are you wanting a generator? How long do you think you'll need to run it at once? How much interaction are you willing to put up with? Sizing is based on what loads you have. Can't see your house over the 'net. You can opt to power the entire house, but larger generators will chew through fuel faster, be larger, and noisier. Producing power is FAR more expensive than conserving it. Personally, I have a Honda eu2000i that's capable of handling the essentials at one of my houses with a little bit of planning. Limited air con (1st stage only), fridge, lights, fans, TV, wash machine, induction cooktop, computers, etc. Can't run everything simultaneously, but I've not found that to be a major problem. Only sips about 1-2 gallons/day and is relatively quiet -- quieter than most central air conditioners. Cleaner power out of it than the local power company too. At my other home I have an automatic Onan running on propane. Carries the full load and works great until you run out of propane, not to mention how much propane it guzzles. I found this out the hard way, by running out of propane after a hurricane. Trying to get the propane tank refilled after a hurricane is near-impossible. So, I now bring the little Honda along when there's an approaching storm and try to run on it as much as possible. See what your needs and resources are first. Then you can better figure out what's needed. My recommendations are: For portable generators, the Honda Eu series or Yamaha inverter series. For larger standby generators, Kohler or Onan. For even larger (diesel), Caterpillar or Kohler depending on the application.

Thanks for the advise guys. I think I will keep the solar system in place as I might use it down the road. I think I will probably run a 6000-6500 watt generator, which should be more than ample as the cabin is small(700 sqft) and is mainly ran via propane (fridge/heat & I am thinking of running popane lighing). The hot water heater (wall mounted), well pump and lights are primarily what need electricity. I was just hoping I could hookup a generator easily to the fuse box to run the main components. Maybe the best bet is to get an electrician out there to take a look at it. Thanks

petey, after rereading my post i need to clarify a couple things. i don't take your comment as a slam, i think it was the way my post was worded. i hardly have a mini mansion. it is a 30 year old all electric house with 2 HVAC systems. it is not unusual at peak usuage during the summer for me to use 200+KWH a day. last winter i would sometimes even see 300+kwh due to the 2 heaters both having 19.2kw heat srips in them. run both of those at once, and 30kw genny ain't gonna cut it! but with a 30kw i could run one at a time to heat an area of the house, then turn that one off and run the other for a bit. i could run both AC units, but not heat. my post may have sounded like i HAD to have a bigger unit. in truth, if i wanted to run the whole house i would. the unit i have now does just fine, other than if we had an extended outage during the heat of summer i would have to do soemthing else. no way you can stay in an unairconditioned house here during August. i would not even have the genny if it were not given to me. i hardly have the money to buy one, too many other more pressing repairs at home take the money first!