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.

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

The UPS was hooked up in August 2015 and worked without any issues until now. It's a 12 amp unit with a system load capability of 900W. She's running a 46 Sony LED TV, DirecTV amp with an amp for surround sound. When I originally hooked it up for her the wiring fault indicator light was on. She had an electrician come out to ground that outlet but he said it was already grounded. (This may be a clue.) I assumed that the unit would continue to act as a surge protector, allowing current to pass to the electronics, even if the battery had failed. I appreciate you continuing to think and problem solve on this.

Short answer: you have to be home to run the generator. We'd worry too much if we were at work or away during rain (or snow melting). Long winded: Went through same (and live in Boston suburb). I assume you are talking about the back-up battery powered sump pump system (that does cost about $1,000 more than the non sump pumps, as its a whole different set up and diff. equip and mason had to make our sump pit bigger (for people reading from other areas: Boston is insanely HCOL, and I'm not installing myself -cost includes my mason's labor to buy the equipment and install). Anyway, before we decided to get the battery back up sump pump, we did buy a generator for exactly the reason you said: to run the sump pump (the older sump pump - which had no battery back up). BUT: generators have to be run outside (not in your basement), use gas (so you have to get the gas like for your mower, and remember to keep gas on hand or go get it if using generator), you test them monthly (super loud (our neighbors are close)), they are big and heavy (I can't move it) and have to 'live' somewhere outside near enough for an extension cord to read it (if you can't move it). (We even priced out the 'whole house' type generator, but those are way more $$$.) So now we have a generator ($400 or so) AND a battery back up sump pump (with all labor etc it was $2k IIRC.) HTH! PS I could easily misunderstand your question, so pardon me if so!!